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30 August 2004. Add location on topo map below of gas pipeline regulator/vent at 10th Avenue and West 30th Street.

24 August 2004

Previous red-team reports of NYC security by obscurity:

http://cryptome.org/rnc-prep-01.htm
http://cryptome.org/rnc-prep-02.htm
http://cryptome.org/rnc-prep-03.htm
http://cryptome.org/rnc-prep-04.htm

"Security by obscurity" is a term used by security professionals to ridicule the practice of hoping vulnerabilities will not be discovered if they are not publicly disclosed. "Red-teaming" is the security term for looking for and reporting vulnerabilities rather than ignoring them. "Lack of imagination" is the term used by the 9/11 Commission for failing to imagine an attacker is smarter and more creative than US defenders relying on security by obscurity.

Interstate natural gas pipelines serving Manhattan are operated and maintained by the Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Corporation (Transco -- owned by the Williams Co.) up to the Manhattan bank of the Hudson River. Consolidated Edison (Con Ed) operates and maintains the pipelines inside New York City.

Interstate pipelines are regulated by the Federal Energy Regulation Commission and the Office of Pipeline Safety in the Department of Transportation. Con Ed is regulated as well by the New York State Department of Public Service and the New York City Department of Environmental Protection.

All photos by Cryptome.

Cryptome published on August 7 a photo of mariner's warning sign by Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Corporation (Transco) on the Manhattan bank of the Hudson River near West 75th Street. On August 16 Cryptome reported the sign was still there. Cryptome found on August 21 that the sign had been removed.
Transco West 75th Street Sign, August 7, 2004, left, and empty sign poles on August 21, 2004, right.

On August 22 a similar sign was found to have been removed at the Transco Pipe Line facility located on the Hudson at West 135th Street.

Transco West 135th Street Sign (rear), August 11, 2004, left, and empty pilings on August 22, 2004, right.

The top of the Con Ed West 135th Street/Hudson River gas pipeline casing is only 1'-7" below ground, when it should be a minimum of 36". This pipeline is located under the Henry Hudson Parkway; the notation is on the side of the parkway exit ramp. G = gas. 30" T.P.STL = 30" to top of steel.

Con Ed excavation notation, West 135th Street, August 22, 2004.

This Con Ed facility is on West 132nd Street, near the pipeline route. It is one of Con Ed's manufactured gas plant remediation sites. Manufactured gas plants produced gas for fuel before the introduction of natural gas. Contaminants and residues of this process are being cleaned up in an agreement between New York State Department of Environmental Protection and Con Ed. This facility is in the center of a large area Columbia University plans to develop as a campus (New York Times report, August 24, 2004).

Con Ed West 132nd St.-PURS facility, August 22, 2004.

Harlem River gas pipeline crossing signs at East 135th Street, Manhattan and The Bronx.

Con Ed Signs East 135th Street and Harlem River, Manhattan, left, The Bronx, right.

Natural gas pipeline markers, required by law for public safety, were found for both cross-Manhattan pipelines in landscaped areas such as parks and other unpaved areas where digging might accidentally breach a pipeline. (Pipeline markers are not required in fully paved urban areas.) There are about a dozen of these markers in Central Park along the pipeline's route from Central Park West /West 75th Street to 5th Avenue/East 71st Street, paralleling the 72nd Street Transverse. Two were seen in St. Nicholas Park.

Con Ed pipeline markers in Central Park/West 75th Street, left, St. Nicholas Park/135th Street, right, August 22, 2004.

Both cross-Manhattan natural gas pipelines are equipped with high-pressure regulators, to control gas flow, and combined casing vents which ventilate underground valve control chambers. These regulating/venting devices were found in a number of locations along the routes of both pipelines. Along West 75th Street and East 71st Street, for one, and along West 131st Street and West 135th Street, for the other. On the surface near each regulator/vent is a gas-shut-off valve and a manhole for access to the underground valve chamber.

Con Ed pipeline pressure regulators/vents, West 75th Street, left, West 135th Street, right, August 22, 2004.

West 75th/East 71st Streets Pipeline Yellow lines are the pipelines. Red dots are the regulators/vents. Blue dots are markers. UN regulators/vents at bottom of map. Note regulator/vent at 10th Avenue and West 30th Street, observed on August 29, 2004.

West 135th/East 135th Streets Pipeline Yellow lines are the pipelines. Red dots are the regulators/vents. Blue dots are markers. Red circle shows pipeline metering station, and only exposed portion of the pipeline.

Some of these regulators/vents had electronic regulator control boxes on them, probably for remote electronic monitoring and control of gas flow. Tags on two of the boxes indicate the manufacturer of the electronic controls is Rotork, a large British firm which supplies oil and gas controls around the world.

Gas regulators/vents were found across the East 42nd Street from the United Nations, although it is not known what pipeline they serve. They are located adjacent to the Queens Mid-Town Tunnel ventilator.

Con Ed pipeline regulators, East 42nd Street, August 22, 2004.