Talking pipelines on WITF’s Smart Talk
![A "pipebender" from Texas oversees plans to lay a new gas pipeline in Susquehanna County. Workers prepare to lay pipe in Susquehanna County.](https://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/files/2011/08/bradford-county-305-620x465.jpg)
Kim Paynter / WHYY/Newsworks.org
A "pipebender" from Texas oversees plans to lay a new gas pipeline in Susquehanna County. Workers prepare to lay pipe in Susquehanna County.org
An estimated 30,000 new miles of pipeline will be built in Pennsylvania to accommodate the shale gas boom, according to the Wolf Administration. Some of these lines will be large, high pressure pipes that travel across state lines and are regulated by the federal government. But some are much smaller, carrying gas from the wellhead to larger lines that feed the interstate system. In rural areas, these lines are not regulated. And although detailed locations of all above ground infrastructure is available to the public at their finger tips, that underground system remains hidden.
WITF host Scott LaMar spoke with StateImpact reporter Susan Phillips about the dangers of unmapped pipes.
Many of those unmapped pipelines are also unregulated. These are rural gathering lines, or pipelines that take the gas from the wellhead to a larger transmission line, or gas processing facility. In this segment, LaMar speaks with reporter Susan Phillips about the thousands of miles of unregulated natural gas pipelines.