The average house fire — the sort I fought as a former volunteer firefighter — burns at 1,292 to 1,652 degrees Fahrenheit. A fire caused by a spill of liquefied natural gas (LNG) burns around twice as hot, at 2,732 degrees. Firefighting safety gear only offers so much protection; LNG fires are simply too hot for firefighters to engage. Moreover, the flames from an LNG fire can drift in the wind, burn flesh, and ignite satellite fires far from the source.
And an LNG fire cannot be extinguished by any known method.
Thankfully, firefighters in New York haven't had to face LNG fires in quite awhile. In 1973, the Legislature banned the construction of new LNG facilities in the state after a horrific disaster: An empty LNG storage tank exploded on Staten Island, killing 40 workers. Indeed, former New York City Fire Chief John O'Hagan fought hard for that ban out of recognition that LNG fires pose extreme risks to first responders and the public alike. (The late Mr. O'Hagan also argued for better fire safety measures in the construction of the World Trade Center towers. We should listen to this guy.)
But, now, succumbing to the pressures of the oil and gas industry, the Department of Environmental Conservation is considering permissive regulations that would open our state to an unrestrained buildout of LNG infrastructure, including production, storage and shipping facilities.
LNG could then be manufactured and stored anywhere and everywhere — including residential areas. Permits for LNG production at gas wells could be issued. Offshore facilities could pop up — like the proposed terminal off of Jones Beach in Long Island. And these "import" facilities could become far more lucrative "export" facilities at any time.
The bait-and-switch to "export" is key. Liberty Natural Gas, which seeks to operate the Port Ambrose facility off Long Island, insists that it has no plans to export LNG. These protestations aren't credible. Port Ambrose is a stone's throw from the Marcellus Shale, and if the moratorium on hydrofracking is lifted, Liberty Natural Gas is perfectly teed up to export LNG from New York.
New York has the opportunity to become a model for how to rapidly transition to alternative energy, not trod along blithely as the last state to climb onto the LNG bandwagon. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has stood with us so far and kept fracking out of New York. For the health and safety of emergency rescue workers, industrial workers and residents, and for the future sustainability of New York, he can and should stop these Trojan Horse regulations.
Dennis is a former volunteer firefighter and a consulting environmental planner who lives in Ithaca and chairs the Tompkins County Environmental Review Committee.