Electric crews diverted from hospital work by White House

[Buck Turgidson]

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.

http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050911/NEWS05/509110304

[pitohui]

1. oh my god

the hub unit works in collins all the time

this is unbelievable

they've screwed mississippi too gop governor or not

[donco6]

2. Well it WAS an emergency!!

If the pumps ain't workin', ain't no profit happening on the other end!

[hardrainfallin]

3. if anyone died in those 24 hrs

wouldn't that be negligent homicide?

[NYC]

4. Sounds that way to me.

..."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...

"We were led to believe a national emergency was created when the pipelines were shut down," Compton said.

Sounds as though Compton didn't share the view that the pipeline should go ahead of the hospital.

[Vincardog]

15. Well they indited the nursing home owners for 34 deaths.

How many thousand deaths will it take tor * to be brought before the bar of justice?

[orleans]

22. yes--negligent homicide--and i say bring fucking cheney up

on those charges!!!

[Mithheru]

5. That should tell you everything...

Oil is more important than people (at least that what these goons think.)

'Nuff said.

[CountAllVotes]

8. welcome to the DU Mithheru

:hi: and welcome to the Democratic Underground!

:kick:

[hardrainfallin]

19. it's their death-blood. n/t

[Lone_Star_Dem]

6. So this is what Cheney was busy doing...

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.

They knew about this "emergency" but were unaware of everything else that was going on in the wake of Katrina?

[OregonBlue]

7. Just emailed the article and link to Keith Oberman.

[DoYouEverWonder]

9. So Cheney was working the phones keeping his precious oil flowing

while they deliberately withheld assistance for 1000's of people in the midst of a major disaster. Yep, property and resources are all these blood suckers care about.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

25. Sure looks that way to me

They were aware of the problem with the pipeline, yet they were blindsided by the tens of thousands who were suffering from a lack of federal intervention. It leaves little to the imagination by way of what their priorities are.

[CountAllVotes]

10. OMG it is called GENOCIDE!

Call the whole bloody lot of them out on the carpet and toss them in prison where they all belong!

They are responsible for thousands of people being DEAD. That's right DEAD! D E A D !!!!!

:kick:

[short bus president]

13. I hope this 'personal attention' from the VP's office is scrutinized.

There is a definite pattern emerging here... guard the Ministry of Oil, let everything else burn. Make the pipeline flow, and screw the hospitals.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

26. That does appear to be the pattern.

Lives are expendable and human suffering is irrelevant. Keep the pipeline flowing at all cost.

[hiley]

11. oil,death

and greed=GOP

[TacticalPeek]

12. What a misuse of the heroic efforts of linemen working the south & coast!

Like they needed Pork Chop Boy adding to their problems.

[Eugene]

14. The real emergency for *Co was that high gas prices hurt his approval

ratings.

At least they found a sense of urgency about something. :sarcasm:

While they were raiding manpower from vital repair work,
why couldn't they call in line crews from outside
to take up some of the load and save some of those 24 hours?
This is a common practice after a major storm.

[A-Possum]

16. Excellent old-fashioned reporting

I just sent an e-mail to the publisher and reporter, complimenting the article. This is the kind of thing that could have been lost in the shuffle (boring power substations!) but this reporter noticed the importance. She lays everything out with quotes, dates, clearly well-documented, just the facts.

And the facts are damning. Highly damning.

Now, I hope someone looks into who owns Colonial Pipeline (or stock therein.)

[TacticalPeek]

17. I don't know if President ShitForBrains owns stock in Colonial,

but he sure acts proud of stiffing the hospitals and water systems.

"The secretary of energy is approving loans of crude oil from the strategic petroleum reserve. The E.P.A. has provided a temporary nationwide waiver for fuel requirements so supplies of gasoline can move more easily within our country and so that we can attract more gasoline from overseas.

We’re also working with energy companies to repair and reactivate major refineries and pipelines. The good folks must understand that major refineries have been shut down, which means it’s going to be hard to get gasoline to some markets. We’re working to help these pipelines get up and running. Pipelines carry refined product. And so we’re working with the majors — major oil companies to get — with Colonial Pipeline so they can carry the products of the major oil companies, the refined products. Right now the Colonial Pipeline, which is the major pipeline serving the East Coast, is back in operation, but only at 50 percent capacity. We anticipate that as the days go by more and more of that capacity will be restored." President AWOL, 9-1-05

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/01/national/nationalspecial/02BUSH-TEXT.html?ex=1126756800&en=ff0c2e47cbc0de29&ei=5070

[catzies]

18. That comment sounds aimed at investors, not constituents, doncha think?

We know he doesn't give a fuck about the affected citizens of the Gulf Coast, but he's damn well aware of what the people who invested in him expect of him.

[Doremus]

20. Shame he couldn't have made some calls to GET SOME F'ING WATER

to people dying of thirst.

These bastards will fry in hell.

[BQueen]

21. Didn't tell the crews what they were working on.

>>>>>>>>>>"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." <<<<<<<<<<

So, they send them out to do a job arguably even riskier than what they were already doing, which if screwed up could result in a major setback of electrical system recovery, and probably placing at least one member of the workers' extended families at risk....

Well, I'd say at least we know where Cheney was, but they keep saying his office called, not him.

This story has some great bits of snark (like the last quote above) - I particularly like the litany of people who wouldn't return calls, and HS's "Kirk Whitworth, who would not take a telephone message and required questions in the form of an e-mail." What a tool! Does anyone else think that name sounds like one of those fake ones they use in collections?

[jamesinca]

23. Political ratings and corporate profits are more important than....

more important than people. People on life support machines, people who need dialysis, peoples lives were at stake and they want the gas to flow again. Why? Because it hurt his political standing and his poll numbers were dropping, that is why.

[Buck Turgidson]

24. Josh Marshall asks some pointed questions over at TPM

Is this how the national disaster response system works? Calls go out from the Vice President's office to local electric power utility operators giving national security directives on which power lines to get running first? Aren't things a bit more systematized than that?

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/week_2005_09_11.php#006533

Similar to posts in this message, Josh has additional details.

[Megahurtz]

27. What in the hell???

Blood for oil, AGAIN!!!:banghead:

[existentialist]

28. What Dick Cheney did on his summer vacation

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/index.html


I just pulled this off the war room at salon.com. The article is by Tim Grieve

What Dick Cheney did on his summer vacation

Wait, wait we take it all back. We mocked Dick Cheney earlier today for getting snippy about how he had to cut short his vacation to deal with Hurricane Katrina. But it turns out that we were maligning the vice president unfairly. It turns out that he -- or at least his office -- was working all along.

According to a report in the Hattiesburg American, Cheney's office placed calls to the Southern Pines Electric Power Association on Aug. 30 and Aug. 31, insisting that the agency immediately repair two electrical substations that supply power to Atlanta-based Colonial Pipeline Co., a company that pumps gasoline and diesel from the Gulf Coast to the Northeast.

Southern Pines complied with the order from Cheney's office, the paper says -- taking a risk that the repair work would knock out power throughout its system and delaying by at least a day efforts to restore power to two rural hospitals and a number of water systems in Mississippi.

Neither Cheney's office nor Colonial Pipeline would respond to questions from the paper about the vice president's directives.

-- T.G.

[pushycat]

29. Cheney make bad decisions

His heart truly beats iron. What motivates one to decide power/energy over human lives so quickly and efficiently.

[Hotler]

31. Greed!!! n/t

[MissMarple]

30. Oh. Well, then.... the availability of gas in the NE...saving lives in Ms

Choices! Isn't this just the greatest pro choice administration!!!

[VegasWolf]

32. See! Cheney is a reliable OIL Company EXECUTIVE even on

VACATION!!!

[theHandpuppet]

33. Kicked and recommended!!

This needs to be shouted from the rooftops!

[Auntie Bush]

34. Wouldn't it have been a small price for us North easterners to

pay in order to help the Gulf coasters during a true emergency?

I can just hear this disgusting administration saying it's much better to let a couple hundred sick people die in hospitals than to lose millions of votes if the North easterners have to wait in gas lines and big oil to lose millions of oil dollars. Easy decision...
no thought/heart required!