After Hurricane, Cheney Diverted Power Crews From Hospitals to Oil Pipeline
- From: "CaliforniaLyme" <CaliforniaLyme1@xxxxxxx>
- Date: 16 Sep 2005 11:04:44 -0700
After hurricane, Cheney's office diverted power crews from hospitals to
oil
pipeline
Posted on Thursday, September 15 @ 10:20:30 EDT
By Nikki Davis Maute, Hattiesburg American
Shortly after Hurricane Katrina roared through South Mississippi
knocking
out electricity and communication systems, the White House ordered
power
restored to a pipeline that sends fuel to the Northeast.
That order - to restart two power substations in Collins that serve
Colonial
Pipeline Co. - delayed efforts by at least 24 hours to restore power to
two
rural hospitals and a number of water systems in the Pine Belt.
At the time, gasoline was in short supply across the country because of
Katrina. Prices increased dramatically and lines formed at pumps across
the
South.
"I considered it a presidential directive to get those pipelines
operating,"
said Jim Compton, general manager of the South Mississippi Electric
Power
Association - which distributes power that rural electric cooperatives
sell
to consumers and businesses.
"I reluctantly agreed to pull half our transmission line crews off
other
projects and made getting the transmission lines to the Collins
substations
a priority," Compton said. "Our people were told to work until it was
done.
"They did it in 16 hours, and I consider the effort unprecedented."
Katrina slammed into South Mississippi and Southeast Louisiana on Aug.
29,
causing widespread devastation and plunging most of the area -
including
regional medical centers and rural hospitals - into darkness.
The storm also knocked out two power substations in Collins, just north
of
Hattiesburg. The substations were crucial to Atlanta-based Colonial
Pipeline, which moves gasoline and diesel fuel from Texas, through
Louisiana
and Mississippi and up to the Northeast.
"We were led to believe a national emergency was created when the
pipelines
were shut down," Compton said.
White House call
Dan Jordan, manager of Southern Pines Electric Power Association, said
Vice
President Dick Cheney's office called and left voice mails twice
shortly
after the storm struck, saying the Collins substations needed power
restored
immediately.
Jordan dated the first call the night of Aug. 30 and the second call
the
morning of Aug. 31. Southern Pines supplies electricity to the
substation
that powers the Colonial pipeline.
Mississippi Public Service Commissioner Mike Callahan said the U.S.
Department of Energy called him on Aug. 31. Callahan said department
officials said opening the fuel line was a national priority.
Cheney's office referred calls about the pipeline to the Department of
Homeland Security. Calls there were referred to Kirk Whitworth, who
would
not take a telephone message and required questions in the form of an
e-mail.
Susan Castiglione, senior manager of corporate and public affairs with
Colonial Pipeline, did not return phone calls.
Compton said workers who were trying to restore substations that power
two
rural hospitals - Stone County Hospital in Wiggins and George County
Hospital in Lucedale - worked instead on the Colonial Pipeline project.
The move caused power to be restored at least 24 hours later than
planned.
Mindy Osborn, emergency room coordinator at Stone County Hospital, said
the
power was not restored until six days after the storm on Sept. 4. She
didn't
have the number of patients who were hospitalized during the week after
the
storm.
"Oh, yes, 24 hours earlier would have been a help," Osborn said.
Compton said workers who were trying to restore power to some rural
water
systems also were taken off their jobs and placed on the Colonial
Pipeline
project. Compton did not name specific water systems affected.
Callahan's visit
Callahan is one of three elected public service commissioners who
oversee
most public utilities in the state. Commissioners, however, have no
authority over rural electric power cooperatives.
Nevertheless, Callahan said he drove to Compton's office on U.S. 49
North in
Hattiesburg to tell him about the call from the Department of Energy.
Callahan said he would support whatever decision Compton made.
Callahan said energy officials told him gasoline and diesel fuel needed
to
flow through the pipeline to avert a national crisis from the inability
to
meet fuel needs in the Northeast.
Callahan said the process of getting the pipelines flowing would be
difficult and that there was a chance the voltage required to do so
would
knock out the system - including power to Wesley Medical Center in
Hattiesburg.
With Forrest General Hospital operating on generators, Wesley was the
only
hospital operating with full electric power in the Pine Belt in the
days
following Katrina.
"Our concern was that if Wesley went down, it would be a national
crisis for
Mississippi," Callahan said. "We knew it would take three to four days
to
get Forrest General Hospital's power restored and we did not want to
lose
Wesley."
Compton, though, followed the White House's directive.
Nathan Brown, manager of power supply for the electric association, was
responsible for overseeing the delicate operation of starting the
5,000-horsepower pumps at the pipeline.
Engineers with Southern Co., the parent company of Mississippi Power
Co.,
did a dual analysis of what it would take to restore power and Brown
worked
with Southern Co. engineers on the best and quickest way to restore
power.
Work began at 10 a.m. Sept. 1 and power was restored at 2 a.m. Sept. 2
- a
16-hour job.
Night work
A good bit of the work took place at night.
Line foreman Matt Ready was in charge of one of the teams that worked
to
power the substations and the pipeline. Ready's shift started at 6 a.m.
Sept. 1; he received word about the job four hours later and saw it to
completion.
"We were told to stay with it until we got power restored," Ready said.
"We
had real safety issues because there were fires in the trees on the
lines
and broken power poles."
Ready described working on the lines in the dark like attempting to
clear
fallen trees out of a yard with a flashlight and a chain saw.
"Everything was dangerous," he said.
Ready said the crew members did not learn they were restoring power to
pipelines until after the job was done.
How did they feel about that?
"Is this on the record?" Ready asked. "Well, then, we are all glad we
were
able to help out."
Compton said he was happy to support the national effort. But he said
it was
a difficult decision to make because of the potential impact in the
region
had the plan not worked and the area's power restoration was set back
days.
"It was my decision to balance what was most important to people in
South
Mississippi with this all-of-a-sudden national crisis of not enough gas
or
diesel fuel," Compton said.
"In the future, the federal government needs to give us guidelines if
this
is such a national emergency so that I can work that in my plans."
Copyright ©2005 Hattiesburg American.
Reprinted from The Hattiesburg American:
--
NOTICE: This post contains copyrighted material the use of which has
not
always been authorized by the copyright owner. I am making such
material
available to advance understanding of
political, human rights, democracy, scientific, and social justice
issues. I
believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of such copyrighted material as
provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright
Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107
"A little patience and we shall see the reign of witches pass over,
their
spells dissolve, and the people recovering their true sight, restore
their
government to its true principles. It is true that in the meantime we
are
suffering deeply in spirit,
and incurring the horrors of a war and long oppressions of enormous
public
debt. But if the game runs sometimes against us at home we must have
patience till luck turns, and then we shall have an opportunity of
winning
back the principles we have lost, for this is a game where principles
are at
stake."
--Thomas Jefferson
.
- Prev by Date: Senate GOPs Kill Katrina Commission
- Next by Date: The Immoral Presidency of George W. Bush
- Previous by thread: Senate GOPs Kill Katrina Commission
- Next by thread: The Immoral Presidency of George W. Bush
- Index(es):
Relevant Pages
|
