In order to serve 44,000 customers in the Felton and Santa Cruz area, PG&E has had to activate “the largest portable LNG (Liquid Natural Gas) job in the known universe,” according to Austin A. Hastings, and he was only partly joking. Hastings is PG&E’s Professional Engineer / Senior Manager of the LNG/CNG Engineering & Operations Group. Starting in mid-August, fifty-one of his department have been working on the project, most of them on the Graham Hill Road cordoned-off secure site near the Roaring Camp Railroad and San Lorenzo Lumber. They hope to be finished mid-week after Labor Day.
The Felton site receives daily truckloads of liquid natural gas delivered from their supplier in Boron, California, and stores it onsite in a holding area. The local fire department and sheriff were advised prior to the start of the operation. The liquid natural gas then goes through a somewhat complicated process of vaporization and compression. During the compression process, the rotten-egg odor is added so that in case of a breach, the gas can be easily detected. After this is done, the gas can be sent through the pipeline.
For those interested, PG&E has a video presentation and a tour of the site which explains the process in more detail. The public is invited to view the video and tour the facility but is asked to sign up in advance so they know how many are coming. Clothing restrictions apply (long sleeves, closed-toe shoes, etc.) and safety apparatus (hats, goggles) must be worn. According to Hastings, approximately 350 people have toured the site and another 100 or so have signed up.
PG&E is extremely conscious of safety. A safety message was shown prior to the start of the video and another one was shown at the end to caution people who were going on the site tour.
