Natural gas pipeline accidents do happen!

From an Article by Eric Billingsley, New Mexico Business Weekly, Albuquerque, September 16, 2002

Two years after one of the deadliest natural gas pipeline explosions in New Mexico’s history, Houston-based El Paso Corporation has reached the last in a series of out-of-court settlements with family members of the victims.

On August 31, El Paso reached an undisclosed settlement with Martha Chapman and Jerry Rackley, who lost five family members on August 19, 2000 when a natural gas pipeline owned by the company exploded near Carlsbad, New Mexico killing 12 people. They were camped next to the Pecos River near the path of the pipeline when the explosion occurred.

Chapman and Rackley filed suit in the District Court of Eddy County in February 2000 charging El Paso with five counts of wrongful death. The case was set to go to trial on October 1 in the Fifth Judicial District Court in Chaves County. Claims for the other seven people killed were filed as separate lawsuits, and have been settled out of court for undisclosed amounts since 2000. The only amount disclosed was a $14 million settlement for one of the victims.

“The settlement resolves all outstanding civil litigation in the state of New Mexico associated with the rupture,” says El Paso spokesperson Mel Scott.

“Hopefully an important lesson has been learned by El Paso and the natural gas industry in general so this kind of tragedy can never again occur,” says Bob Schuster, attorney for Chapman and Rackley.

The Carlsbad explosion is still being investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS) to determine whether there was negligence on the part of El Paso.

Shortly after the blast, NTSB Chairman Jim Hall issued a statement saying that investigators determined the section of pipe that failed had not been inspected internally since the 1950s. A series of reports issued by the NTSB in June said “severe corrosion damage” was found on the bottom of the pipeline near the explosion site, according to a recent article in Natural Gas Intelligence, an industry trade publication. NTSB is responsible for determining the cause of the explosion.

The DOT is seeking a $2.52 million civil penalty from El Paso for safety violations including: failing to ensure qualified personnel performed corrosion control procedures; transporting corrosive gas on numerous occasions without taking proper and mitigative steps; failing to follow procedures for surveillance of its facilities; failure to take action to reduce the possibility of pipeline failure following a similar incident in 1996; and not having an accurate elevation map for lines involved in the Carlsbad incident, which would have shown where liquid could accumulate and corrosion could occur.

The penalty is considered the largest civil penalty proposed against a gas transmission pipeline operator in the history of the federal pipeline safety program, according to DOT officials.

El Paso has been issued several compliance actions from the OPS since 1984 that address maintenance procedures, timeliness in performing safety inspections, inadequate training of personnel on preventing corrosion, gas vent locations and valve security. The OPS also notes that on “more than one occasion” El Paso has failed to promptly restore and maintain protections against external corrosion on its system.

One year prior to the Carlsbad explosion, a liquid gasoline pipeline owned by Olympic Pipe Line Co. (which has since been purchased by Shell) leaked and exploded, killing two children in Bellingham, Washington.

The families of the two children sued Olympic, Houston-based Equilon Pipeline, Los Angeles-based Atlantic Richfield Co. which owned the petroleum products being transported in the line, and IMCO General Construction Co. which had apparently dented the pipeline a few years prior to the accident. That case was also settled out of court in April for $75 million, less than a month before going to trial.

Ohio Valley Utica Gas Well Out of Control

Well Head Repair Failed in Monroe County; Repairs Could Take One More Week

From the Report by Rachael Dierkes, WTRF News 7, December 17, 2014, 9:49 AM

Monroe County Emergency Management released the following update:

“Today (Wednesday), access will return to the same schedule as earlier this week. Residents will be allowed limited access to their homes during daytime hours 7:00am – 6:00pm with the assistance of Sardis VFD.  The limitation also applies to air traffic. A NO FLY ZONE has been established for 5,000 feet and a 3 mile radius and will remain in effect throughout the operation. Accommodations for residents of the 30 homes evacuated continue to be provided. A Family Assistance Center will be set up at 10:30am this morning (Wednesday) at the Lee Township Building (formerly Sardis School) to allow a larger, more relaxed location for residents.”

This is an update from Monroe County on the situation with the gas well.  It was released late Tuesday night:” Today’s (Tuesday’s) operations at the Stalder 3UH location owned by Magnum Hunter Resources Corporation’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Triad Hunter LLC outside of Sardis, Ohio confirmed that the first attempt at  returning the well to normal by repairing the existing night cap failed.

This method was initially chosen as it was the fastest way to return residents to their homes and bring the well under control.

Tomorrow, (Wednesday) Wild Well Control will take a different approach to their operations.  They will begin the process of replacing the well head, which is the most effective industry standard for well containment.  This operation will take substantially more time and is estimated to last for the next seven days.

As of tomorrow (Wednesday), access will return to the same schedule as earlier this week. Residents will be allowed limited access to their homes during daytime hours 7:00am – 6:00pm with the assistance of Sardis VFD.  The limitation also applies to air traffic.  A NO FLY ZONE has been established for 5,000 feet and a 3 mile radius and will remain in effect throughout the operation. Accommodations for residents of the 30 homes evacuated continue to be provided.

Representatives from both companies continue to meet daily with local and state partners including Sardis VFD, Monroe County Emergency Management, Ohio Emergency Management, Ohio EPA, and Ohio DNR Division of Oil and Gas to discuss ongoing efforts to secure the well site, maintain safety of responders and residents by continuous stationary and mobile air monitoring with zero gas detection outside the well pad site.  We continue to limit the public’s access to the immediate area and an additional buffer area up to a 1 ½ mile radius while actions are taken to restore the site to normal.

Every effort is being taken to monitor the environment and support and protect the lives and property of residents and responders.

See also:  www.FrackCheckWV.net

Tyler County Gas Fire

WV Worker Dead after Injuries in Gas Explosion and Fire

Tyler County, WV – WTRF.com, April 14, 2013

A worker has died from injuries suffered in an accident at a natural gas operation in Tyler County. The Tyler County Sheriff’s Office said Sunday that 56-year-old Bruce Phipps of Marietta, Ohio, died late Friday night.

Two other workers were injured in Thursday’s accident at a Eureka Hunter Pipeline operation near Wick. The sheriff’s office says it doesn’t have any information on them.

Authorities have said the incident was an explosion at a compressor station. But Eureka’s parent, Magnum Hunter Resources, says it was a flash fire at a “pig receiving station.” Pigs are devices used to clean out or to inspect pipelines.

Magnum says initial reports indicate that natural gas liquids ignited in tanks during “pigging” operations and fueled the fire. Magnum says the workers were employed by contractors.

Authorities are investigating the cause of an explosion at a gas well compression site in Tyler County Thursday night after four people suffered injuries.

According to the Tyler County Sheriff’s Office, at about 7 p.m., Tyler County 911 received a call from a Eureka Hunter employee of an explosion with storage tanks on fire and at least two people injured at the Twin Hickories Road compression station near Wick, W.Va.

Fire and emergency responders were sent to the scene along with the Tyler County Sheriff Deputies. According to a press release, fire units from Shirley, Alma, Middlebourne, Sistersville as well as Saint Mary’s from Pleasants County and Paden City from Wetzel County responded.

According to the release, three people were flown by helicopter to West Penn Burn Center in Pittsburgh. A fourth person was taken to Sistersville General Hospital. The condition of the victims is unknown.  The WTRF video is available here.

Fire departments in Tyler County are responding to a gas well fire Thursday night.

According to the Tyler County Emergency Management Association, the explosion happened at a compression station in Tyler County. They did not confirm the exact location. The EMA is reporting three people were injured.

St. Mary’s, Paden City and numerous fire departments are at the scene, according to the EMA. The EMA is also responding to the scene to provide drinking water to firefighters.

To view the video click here.

For mobile devices click here.