Natural Gas Pipeline in Marshall County Destroys 10 Acres

Pittsburgh Post Gazette, June 7, 2018

Federal officials said it appears the pipeline that ruptured was a brand new transmission line put into service in January. It’s a 36-inch diameter pipe that has a maximum operating pressure of 1,440 pounds per square inch.

Robert Burrough, director with the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration’s Eastern Regional Office, said the agency sent investigators to the scene to collect data.

Mr. Burrough said PHMSA, which oversees interstate pipeline safety, believes the line is TransCanada’s Leach Xpress pipeline, which spans 160 miles and, according to TransCanada, cost $1.6 billion to build.

In announcing its start in January, TransCanada’s President and CEO Russ Girling said: “This is truly a best-in-class pipeline and we look forward to many years of safe, reliable, and efficient operation on behalf of our customers.”

COMMENT …………

Not good indeed. New pipeline. Was certainly planned and built with all best engineering and construction practices. Passed all inspections, I’m sure. While the probability of any given joint of pipe or a pipe connection failing in any given year is very small, the aggregate probabability that a failure will occur near somebody’s home in any given year is very high. Surely no rational person believes that living close to a large high pressure pipeline does not negatively impact one’s quality of life or one’s property value.

T Berlin