Last night  there was a public meeting for sharing information about the current status of knowns and unknowns about the EQT-NextERA Mountain-Valley pipeline proposed to pass through 13 counties of West Virginia and Virginia–Floyd being one of them.
It was a super event, with (just guessing) 120 people attending.
One of the facts mentioned was the very real possibility of a pipeline explosion. Someone asked about the diameter of the  “blast crater” and the answer was that it depended on the size of the pipe and the pressure it was under at the time of the explosion.
So go figure. We’re slated to host a 42″ pipe (we will make bad hosts) and you have to assume it will be carrying as much gas as it can, so will be operating near capacity pressures.
According to the chart, you could expect to be seriously disturbed by extreme heat and powerful shock impacts, if you let those kinds of things get to you, if you live within a thousand feet either side of the 20 miles of this big-as-possible linear bomb under our soil.
Legally, the pipeline–even a 42″ pipe–can pass within 25 feet of your house. Â There would be a 75 foot right-of-way, however, and I think they can’t allow structures within that width. Which may just mean three of your outbuildings will be dozed out of the way.
Larger image at Flickr. Image is from Understanding Natural Gas
Pipeline Infrastructure and Impacts / Penn State Extension
