Many atrocities are occurring in the United States today. Loss of individual rights, loss of jobs, shrinking of government services, and numerous other anxiety producing issues. BUT what if something worse might be occurring that will impact our long-term agricultural future?
I want to share a serious situation that is happening not only in our immediate agricultural family, but also with other individuals and families across the Midwest. Our family is having to RECYCLE SOIL from the former railroad bed back to our crop producing fields. It revolves around soil erosion and safely maintaining the depth of the natural gas pipelines.
There is a long history of natural gas. As early as 500 BC, the Chinese began using crude bamboo “pipelines” to transport gas that seeped to the surface and used it to boil sea water to make it drinkable. Gas made from coal was used in the late 1700’s in Britain to light homes and streets, but in the 1800’s natural gas was differentiated from coal gas, as it was extracted from the ground in its native gaseous form.
An interesting tidbit found while researching this article is that the State of Texas mandated the additive mercaptan be added to natural gas in 1937. This was to alert people of leaks. Individual readers will recognize this sulfur-like, “rotten egg” odor.
Natural gas was first delivered from Texas to Sioux City in 1930. Northern Natural Gas, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathway Energy, is based in Omaha, NE. It operates the largest interstate natural gas pipeline system in the United States, extending from Southwest Texas to the to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
Our family has a “work story” about my father and uncle obtaining a job helping to dig the trench for the first natural gas pipeline in Greene County. This occurred in the height of the depression and men were eager to obtain the jobs. The Dorris brothers felt lucky to be some of the chosen men to work on the pipeline.
Routine maintenance is essential for the pipelines, and the Northern Natural Gas employees check functionality and care for all the related pipeline components at certain time intervals. The minimum depth of cover for a pipeline varies depending on the regulatory guidelines in different regions and the type of area in which the pipeline is installed. In general, pipelines are often buried at least 3 feet below the surface in rural and agricultural areas.
The safe working service life of a gas pipeline is limited by the inevitable corrosion of steel buried in the ground and by the extreme stress of continuous high-pressure operation a 40-foot section of steel pipe pressurized to 1480 psi( pounds per square inch) will have a total force of over 93 million pounds, or 46,800 tons, continuously pressing outwards on its inner wall. The buried lines range in diameter from 2 inches to 36 inches.
So, to get the intent of the Recycling of Soil, Northern Natural Gas employees conducted a survey of the farm ground. The ground has slight hills, but the survey uses various geophysical methods, such as ground penetrating radar (GPR) or electromagnetic induction (EMI), to accurately determine the pipeline burial depth. These technologies generate data reflecting the underground environment, revealing the location and depth of pipelines without physically disturbing the ground.
The slight hills in the field do allow water runoff. The surveyors determined that the pipeline was now only 15 inches below the surface. This soil erosion that has occurred over the last 70 years is due to wind and water. Any bare soil is in erosion danger. Minimum soil tillage, and the planting of cover crops is being incorporated to minimize this loss.
To replace the missing soil is requiring 30 semi loads of soil to be removed from the former Minneapolis and St. Louis railroad bed adjoining the field. It is a stark reminder that the topsoil is blowing into Illinois and washing down the Mississippi River.
When we observe snowbanks in ditches covered with soil, when we observe brown colored water flowing out of tiles into our creeks and rivers, we must remind ourselves the agricultural future of Iowa is protection of our soil.
VIEW FROM MY WINDOW is shared by Mary Weaver of rural Rippey.
