[Peace-discuss] cheney and his tubes

[Paul Mueth]

from David Corn on the web
FORGET THE HOSPITALS, SAVE THAT PIPELINE! As the
Mississippi Hattiesburg American reported this week
(and Slate highlighted yesterday), right after
Hurricane Katrina struck, Dick Cheney's office called
Mississippi and ordered a pipeline back on line. This
caused workers to put off restoring power to two
hospitals. Here are some excerpts of that article:
	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....
		"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."

....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.
	Some obvious questions: So while Cheney was still on
vacation, his office was fixating on this one
pipeline? Whose idea was that, if it wasn't Cheney's?
If the veep's office did this for good reason, why
does it refuse to talk about the calls? If this is
evidence that the Bush administration did take quick
action in the immediate aftermath of Katrina, why did
DHS not boast of this to the Mississippi paper?
Or...did someone--say, someone from an energy
company--call Cheney or his office and request that
Cheney's clout be applied to this situation? When
these hospitals were down--and tens of thousands of
Louisiana and Mississippi residents were in
danger--was restoring this pipeline a true priority?
Maybe there's a case for that. In any event, these are
questions that both Rs and Ds on the Hill should seek
to answer. But somehow I doubt that the Republican
leadership will make such an inquiry a priority.
Fed officials to visit Collins, show thanks By Nikki
Davis Maute 
	The U.S. secretaries of energy, transportation and
the interior are expected in Collins today to meet
with employees who restored pipeline service in
Collins after Hurricane Katrina knocked out the
state's power system.
	Energy Secretary Samuel W. Bodman, Interior Secretary
Gale Norton and Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta
will thank those who worked to restore power to the
pipeline four days after Katrina slammed into the
state, according to a statement from Bodman's office.
	In the days after the Aug. 29 hurricane, gasoline was
in short supply and a presidential directive made
restoring power to the pipeline a priority.
	South Mississippi Electric Association, Southern
Pines Electric Power Association and Colonial Pipeline
workers who restarted the pipeline are to be
recognized.
	"I don't have a problem if they want to recognize my
linemen who made it happen," said Jim Compton, manager
of the Hattiesburg-based South Mississippi Electric.
"If they were not going to recognize them, then I
probably would not be going."
	Compton reluctantly agreed to move restoring power to
the pipeline ahead of other established priority
sites, including hospitals in George and Stone
counties, after the White House got involved.
	"A lot of people wanted their power restored,"
Compton said. "A lot of people were put out of
business and a lot of local business people needed
their power also."
	Compton said if the pipeline is to be the top
priority, then that decision needs to be made before
the power goes off.
	"If this is the priority then I need to know so that
I can plan for that and maybe next time not delay
power to hospitals and water systems by 24 hours,"
Compton said.
	Compton's crews worked 16 hours straight to restore
power to substations that supply the Atlanta-based
Colonial Pipeline, which moves gasoline and diesel
fuel from Texas through Louisiana and Mississippi and
eventually to the Northeast.
	Susan Castiglione Baranski, senior manager for
Colonial Pipeline Co.'s corporate and public affairs,
said restoring power to the pipelines was a
collaborative effort between the companies, the
pipeline and government at the local, state and
national levels.
	"One of the things that Colonial did was to manually
operate the lines so that deliveries could be made to
terminals in Collins, Hattiesburg and other areas so
that was gasoline and diesel was available for
hospitals, emergency services and residents," Baranski
said.
	Baranski said the company had 19 large generators at
the pumping station in Collins to help provide some of
the electrical capacity that Colonial needed.
	"Energy is an important part of our lives and we
don't realize it until we don't have it," Baranski
said. "I understand it's a lesson people in
Mississippi and Louisiana have learned 20 fold to what
many of us may ever experience."