KaBOOM Mitigation

Responsible news media save lives

The Glenwood Springs, Colorado Post Independent performed a great public service with an attachment to a story about 10 people being taken to the hospital for carbon monoxide poisoning. Have you taken this information to your local news media?

After telling the "people" part of the story, the newspaper added the following:

Carbon Monoxide 101
Carbon monoxide is a colorless, practically odorless and tasteless gas or liquid.
Sources of carbon monoxide
• Leaking chimneys and furnaces
• Back-drafting from furnaces
• Gas water heaters
• Wood stoves
• Fireplaces
In low concentrations the gas can cause fatigue. At higher concentrations it can cause impaired vision and coordination, headaches, dizziness, confusion and nausea and can be fatal.

Steps to reduce CO in your home
• Keep gas appliances properly adjusted.
• Consider purchasing a vented space heater when replacing an unvented one.
• Use proper fuel in kerosene space heaters.
• Install and use an exhaust fan vented to outdoors over gas stoves.
• Open flues when fireplaces are in use.
• Choose properly sized wood stoves that are certified to meet EPA emission standards. Make certain that doors on all wood stoves fit tightly.
• Have a trained professional inspect, clean, and tune up central heating system (furnaces, flues, and chimneys) annually. Repair any leaks promptly.
• Do not idle the car inside garage.
Source: Environmental Protection Agency

Incident news spreads far beyond its location

The explosion Monday in the middle of nowhere, Texas (Big Spring, to be specific) made headlines nationwide, as well as CNN. The Alon spokesperson handled it well enough, and for that, all of us should be grateful. If ever there was a "brotherhood," the natural gas industry is it.

Your effectiveness at handling news media and public concern is as important to your competitors as it is to you.

Natural gas as a weapon

Pipeline ruptures no longer can be attributed to wear and tear corrosion or to natural disasters. One also must take into consideration crime and terrorism.

City gates throughout the country are sitting out there totally unmonitored. If there's one important step gas companies should/MUST take, it's to monitor these terrorist targets. It costs too much money, you say? Well, apply to the homeland security agency in your community. Once they realize the potential for disaster, the more likely they are to make funds available.

Of course, you also set your company up to potentially have to foot the bill all by yourself. But isn't it worth it for peace of mind? No? What if you could get good PR for it? What if you could wrap the cost into your franchise?

Still disagree? I'd like to hear your excuses, oops, I mean explanation.

Bloggers have major influence

Blue Daze obviously does not like gas pipelines. She took advantage of a distribution line explosion in far south Texas to promulgate fear. A local firefighter said they were not sure exactly how this explosion happened but they are aware of similar explosion that happen across the United States. "They happen every now and then, they're pipelines and they're subject to wear and tear just like any other equipment that's out here."

Events like this make for great TV coverage, which is just natural. But where was the statement from the pipeline operator? Why didn't the company have a spokesperson on the spot? Or if that wasn't possible, they certainly could have conducted a phone interview.

The greater issue here, in addition to the local news coverage, is the widespread influence of bloggers like Blue Daze. The story appeared on more news sites than I could count, including one that caters to the paranoid.

If you care what the public thinks about your business, be certain you're monitoring blogs just as carefully as the traditional news media.

Incidents can be used to score political points

Boston firefighters used an LNG incident in the harbor to score points against the city, in part to emphasize their ongoing contract negotiations. Did the firefighters blow the situation out of proportion, or do they have a valid point? Does it matter?

Well, actually, it does matter. The damage has been done--the public is likely to be afraid of continued LNG transport by ship. If an organization wants to make an issue of it, they now have something to rally around. The city's response that it is "as prepared as possible" to mitigate the risks of LNG transport was not a reassuring statement. How prepared is it? What is the risk to property and life?

The firefighters want the LNG to be transported through existing pipelines from the port rather than up the river by boat. Would that be more or less safe?

So far the LNG distributor seems to be getting off light on this one. And the city, too. But they shouldn't count on it in the long run.