By Bill Walczak, Reporter Columnist
The Dorchester Gas Tank, more than anything else, is the iconic symbol of Dorchester. With its Rainbow Swash by the artist Corita Kent, it is the largest copyrighted work of art in the world. It also can hold 14 million gallons of liquified natural gas (LNG).
When I saw the photos of the recent drone bombing of Moscow by the Ukrainian military, with plumes of smoke rising above a destroyed Moscow mall and an oil refinery, the Gas Tank flashed in my mind.
At the recent dedication of the Neponset bike path extension, which took place next to the Tank, I watched as a drone flew over the crowd and around it. I figured that the drone was for the event, but it hit me that they have proliferated extensively and can be purchased easily.
In a discussion 34 years ago with a Boston Gas representative when they took down a larger second tank at that site, a question came up about a hypothetical attack on the tank and what would be the result. We were told that an explosion would be devastating but that the gas would need to warm up and vaporize first to ignite and that there was an emergency foam system that would suppress such a danger. It was called a “very low probability” event.
Although we have not had any major drone attacks in the US, the US has attacked many countries and groups with drones. We know how effective and damaging they can be.
We have been told that a domestic terrorist group planned to attack the UFC Trump birthday celebration at the White House. A successful drone attack is no longer a remote possibility on US soil. The nature of war and terrorism has dramatically shifted with drones used as weapons of war.
Therefore, the possibility of a devastating drone attack on a LNG gas tank should no longer be considered a “very low probability.” America has always had those who have wished us harm, and our current president seems to enjoy making new enemies and alienating old friends.
I don’t know what our federal and state governments have done planning against drone attacks, let alone identifying specific targets in populated areas that need to be protected or eliminated, but drones have added additional dangers for such planning, especially in urban areas.
The attack on Moscow by drones was accomplished in the capital city of a country with extensive defensive capabilities. While the possibility of an attack on a target such as an LNG tank in the past was more related to actual war and missiles, today, drones are cheap and can fly below radar. Having millions of gallons of fuel adjacent to a densely populated urban area no longer makes sense in an unstable world with weapons that are extremely difficult to stop.
We need to find a less populated area to store 14 million gallons of LNG, especially as the need for it is decreasing with heat pump conversion the official policy of state government.
We don’t need to move the tank, just the gas. Then the tank can simply celebrate Corita Kent’s beloved rainbow creation, the largest copyrighted work of art in the world.
Bill Walczak, co-founder and former CEO of the Codman Square Health Center, lives in Dorchester. His column appears regularly in The Reporter.
