Archive: Opinions

In the late 1970s, the United States Department of Energy commissioned the Stone and Webster Engineering Corporation to develop an extensive investigation into the safety of storing nuclear waste in the salt caverns that underlie much of Central New York. The report was entitled “Regional Geology of the Salina Basin.”

Among the three hefty volumes, are many maps that show locations of geological strike-slip faults that cross Central New York.

The Stone and Webster report states: “Faulting in the New York study area is more widespread than previously thought. Thrust faults, both within and above the salt section, have been well documented previously. Nearly vertical faults in the Finger Lakes region have been proposed to explain a number of subsurface anomalies. These faults are not yet confirmed by field investigations...” (Volume 3, p. 49-50, 1979)

The report summarizes, “...there is insufficient geologic information available to qualify any site within the Salina Basin as a repository. Thus, these studies...point to what we know and what we do not know about the geology of the basin relative to siting.” (Volume 1, p.1, 1979).

In other words: keep the dangerous materials out of the salt caverns until we know more about the geology of the region. I have not seen any evidence of further studies conducted that put Stone and Webster's warnings to rest.

This exhaustive study was not even referenced in the Inergy DSEIS, nor were subsequent follow-up studies as recent at 2002 by University at Buffalo geologist Dr. Robert Jacobi, who refined the geology of the region, still showing the presence of similar fault lines running through the region.

Instead, the DSEIS attempts to assure us there were no earthquake risks “within a half mile of any of the subject Galleries.”

Also: “Having reviewed all the evidence of the past operating data....Finger Lakes’ underground storage permit application demonstrates the suitability of these caverns to safely contain and store LPG for the life of the facility.”

How can the DSEIS look only at studies of the past 20 years of seismic activity to draw their conclusions? The most significant earthquakes often occur because of long-term build-up of pressure.

In the northeast US, strong earthquakes, admittedly, are “few and far between”. But when they happen, there is damage. One of the most powerful earthquakes ever registered in Western or Central NY occurred in 1929. This magnitude 5.2 quake was centered in near Attica, NY—107 miles from Watkins Glen, and did extensive damage to buildings in Attica. A more distant, but ten times more powerful earthquake of magnitude 6.4, occurred in 1935 in Quebec, and was felt across New York State.

And a magnitude 5.1 quake occurred in 1983, centered in the Adirondacks.

The 5.9 earthquake this past August, with its epicenter in Mineral, VA, was strong enough to damage the National Cathedral in Washington, DC, 91 miles away—only slightly closer than Attica is to Watkins Glen. The motion of this quake also shifted 25 of the huge radioactive waste storage tanks at the nearby North Anna nuclear plant. Many of us felt that quake locally.

Some important news that was not mentioned in the Finger Lakes DSEIS: One of those strike-slip fault-lines—the same kind that moved the earth in Mineral, VA this past summer--runs parallel to the west side of Seneca Lake. The fault line appears on Stone and Webster’s maps, and Jacobi’s maps, to be within a half-mile of the proposed LP gas storage and brine pond.

If the strike-slip fault parallel to Seneca Lake were to move, the results could very easily be disastrous for people of the Watkins Glen area.

Industrial-scale gas explosions have major consequences for their “host” communities, such as the massive explosion of a gas line that ruptured in San Bruno, California last year. That explosion injured 660 people, killed eight, and destroyed dozens of homes.

If this sloppy DSEIS is the best industry can offer, Inergy, we do not want your operations here. Even a simple Google search can turn up information about seismic activity and geological fault lines that the DSEIS claimed didn't exist. The DSEIS fails to demonstrate to this community that the Missouri-based Inergy’s LP gas storage project can safely go forward. Our community’s safety is more important than Inergy’s profits.

Thank you.

Reference
Regional Geology of the Salina Basin, Report of the Geologic Project Manager
Volumes 1 and 2, Phase I, August 1977-January 1978, and Volume 3 Update, October 1979. Prepared by Stone and Webster Engineering Corporation for the Office of Nuclear Waste Isolation, Battelle Memorial Institute, Project Management Division, US Department of Energy.

Karen Edelstein
Lansing, NY

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