KING OF PRUSSIA PA – Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township congressman Rep. Charlie Dent, and Rep. Jim Gerlach – who represents Limerick Township and the borough of Pottstown in Congress – both are scheduled to attend a Monday (March 7, 2011) discussion of pipeline safety issues with federal, state, and local officials. The meeting is set for 9-10:30 a.m. in the Upper Merion Municipal Building, 175 W. Valley Forge Rd., King of Prussia PA.
- This event has been added to The Post calendar.
Gerlach spokesman Kori Walter said the meeting, conducted by the House Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials, was intended to seek comment on pipeline safety within the state. The event is open to the public. A press conference on the subject will immediately follow, according to Walter.
Photo from Google Images
I live adjacent to a pipeline that runs through Woodgate. Our home were built in the late 70s and the pipeline was here before them. This pipeline runs adjacent to numerous residences here.
What is the life of these pipes? Can we expect them to be dug up and replaced at some point? The recent gas explosions in Allentown and Philadelphia are a reminder of the unseen infrastructure that is aging and deteriorating. It is too late when a pipe ruptures and spills out its natural gas, oil, gasoline, and or other volatiles onto the landscape.
Routine requirements for replacement and inspection need to be in place when they are constructed to establish a lifecycle and replacement, repair, or removal.
I appreciate our representatives looking into this, and want to see proper legislation in place to make sure our neighborhoods don’t go up in smoke or get drowned by oils.
Ed, from what I know of this roundtable session, your concerns mirror those of the participants. It’s my understanding the meeting was indeed prompted by what occurred in Allentown.
Thanks for taking the time to comment.