Power crews diverted, restoring pipeline came first

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Power crews diverted, restoring pipeline came first

Wed, 14 Sep 2005 02:51:32 -0400

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050911/NEWS05/50\

9110304

 

Power crews diverted

Restoring pipeline came first

 

By Nikki Davis Maute

 

 

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. "

 

Originally published September 11, 2005