Spring/Summer 2000 One Year Later

Spring/Summer 2000 - One Year Later

A National Problem
by Sabrina Johnson

On March 30, 1998, at 3:48 p.m. a recycling company employee smelled gas at Morgan Falls landfill in Sandy Springs, Ga. He went to investigate and found gasoline flowing up from the ground near a Colonial Pipeline Company 40-inch steel pipeline running from the landfill. Thirty thousand gallons of gasoline escaped. Clean-up efforts only recovered 17,000 gallons. By September 1998 costs of cleanup efforts and repair exceeded $3.2 million.

Click for Larger ImageOn July 21, 1997, at 2:33 p.m., a 20-inch steel natural gas transmission line ruptured and released gas near an intersection adjoining a subdivision in Indianapolis, Ind. The gas ignited and burned, killing one person and injuring another. It destroyed six homes. The National Transportation Safety Board determined the probable cause to be the pipeline’s failure to have adequate controls in place to ensure that drilling operations would not cause damage to the pipeline.

On June 10, 1994, a 2-inch steel gas service line, exposed during excavation, separated from the wall of a retirement home in Allentown, Pa. The gas flowed underground, passed through openings in the building foundation, migrated to other floors and exploded. The accident left one person dead, 66 injured and resulted in $5 million in property damages.

At 4 a.m. on July 8, 1986, a gas pipeline owned by Williams Pipeline Company, ruptured, sending vaporized and liquid gas into the streets of Mounds View, Minn. Twenty minutes later a car passed and ignited the gas. Two people burned to death. The city attempted to prevent the pipeline from resuming operation until safety concerns were dealt with. Pipeline company officials then went to federal court and secured a permanent injunction blocking the city from taking actions restricting their operations.

I’s a story Bellingham residents know too well, but it is not a story exclusive to Bellingham. Hundreds of communities around the country have their own stories, sharing eerie similarities. When Olympic’s pipeline exploded on June 10, 1999, how many people in this community knew it was not an isolated accident?

According to the Office of Pipeline Safety, 6,107 accidents, 408 deaths and 4,061 injuries occurred due to pipeline accidents from 1984 to 1999. Texas was hit hardest with 1,654 accidents, 46 deaths and 2,190 injuries. Each state has its own statistics, and not one state has escaped accident-free. Washington’s damage totaled 47 accidents and five deaths, resulting in more than $10 million in property damage.

Most of these incidents get little or no publicity. Large-scale accidents, such as the Exxon Valdez oil spill, receive attention because of their huge environmental destruction. According to a report put out by The Wilderness Society, during the 12 months following the Exxon Valdez spill, pipeline accidents occurred every day of the year and in every state.

These are accidents, but they happen everywhere. They are unavoidable. Unfortunately, they happen everyday in the United States.

Few people hear about accidents outside their community. Pipeline accidents usually don’t generate extensive media attention or government reaction because they don’t create sensational television footage. It’s not as exciting as a tanker accident leaving blackened beaches and oil-soaked birds. Pipeline accidents injure a few people or damage the environment and are then swept under the rug as if they will be forgotten.

It is becoming clear, however, that people are not forgetting. James Pates, a city attorney in Fredricksburg, Va., has been working on pipeline regulation and safety for the past 10 years.

"Fredricksburg has the unfortunate distinction of having twice lost its water supply to oil spills," Pates recalled. "Once in 1980 and again in 1989.

"The first time they spilled 94,000 gallons of heating oil into the Rappahannock River, which is our sole water source. We lost our water supply for about a week. In December 1989 virtually the same thing happened again. Two hundred and twelve thousand gallons of kerosene leaked into the river and shut down the water supply."

Pates said a phenomena called "railroad fatigue" caused both accidents. This is a problem that occurred before the pipeline was put into the ground. When the 30-inch pipeline came to Fredricksburg it was improperly loaded onto the train car. Jostling led to tiny hairline fractures that went undetected until 1980. Over time, high pressure led to the pipeline’s failure.

"The first (accident) may have been compounded by error," Pates said. "After the second accident we tried to really investigate and educate ourselves."

Pates and other concerned citizens went to the Office of Pipeline Safety with their concerns and said they were met with casual disregard.

"Frankly, we were certainly not comforted by what we learned from OPS. They did not have any interest in helping us," Pates said with a hint of irritation in his voice. "They were more interested in helping the pipeline operators than helping us."

Colonial Pipeline Company, which operates the pipeline, was fined $50,000 by the state of Virginia for violating the Clean Water Act. The company also paid Fredricksburg $400,000 in damages. Four hundred fifty thousand dollars, however, will not cover the damage these accidents caused.

OPS did not require Colonial to test the remaining pipeline after the first accident. OPS did require testing, however, after the second.

Following the accident, OPS required hydrostatic testing of the pipeline. In hydrostatic testing the empty pipeline is filled with water. The pressure is increased so cracks and weak spots will explode. The good news was the pipeline only exploded in one place. The bad news was it was the same spot that malfunctioned in the first accident. Pates said he blames Colonial Pipeline Company for not fixing the pipeline properly following the first accident.

"One thing I’ve observed is that generally the clean up and response time of pipeline companies is generally pretty good," Pates said. "On the prevention side we are 30 years behind where we are with clean up. It’s far more important to prevent accidents than to clean up after they happen."

The city of Blenheim, N.Y., learned this the hard way.

Blenheim city supervisor Bob Mann became involved with pipeline issues after a propane pipeline traveling through the town ruptured and exploded.

Early on March 13, 1990, someone noticed a leak and called assistant fire chief Robert Hitchcock. He went to the nearest intersection, about a half-mile from the leak, to direct traffic away from the road. The leak, however, occurred at the top of a narrow valley above the intersection. The propane became a thick fog, filling the intersection and surrounding area with propane.

Hitchcock’s daughter was leaving for school that morning. As she approached the intersection the fog was so thick she could not see. She tried to stop. She struck Richard Smith’s car in front of her. Soon after the collision the gas ignited. Hitchcock received third degree burns all over his body. His daughter had severe burns on her face and hands. All of the cars stopped in traffic were on fire. Nine houses and several buildings also caught on fire. Hitchcock and Smith died as a result of their burns. All nine houses were destroyed. The fire burning at the leak burned all through the night, nearly 24 hours, before it finally died out.

Mann said the pipeline ruptured because repairs during this time were done improperly, causing uneven pressure.

The town of 334 was unprepared to deal with the situation.

"I didn’t know what was in the pipeline," Mann said. "If we hadn’t had the accident, I still wouldn’t know."

Mann said the response from the pipeline company was swift and provided $250,000 above its settlements with people who lost their homes.

"It’s easy to look back and see many of the mistakes that were made by both the town and pipeline company," Mann said. "If such an incident were to occur again, I know that we are better prepared than we were then. However, I also know that we are nowhere near as prepared as we should be."

Mann hopes to see many things changed in the near future. He said pipeline testing should be required and frequent, and pipelines should be equipped with an automatic shutoff valve that activates on pressure loss. He said he also feels pipeline companies should inform the community when they work on a pipeline.

Informing a community about pipeline repairs doesn’t mean the community will be prepared for an accident. However, it may grant the opportunity to ask questions and think about possible problems.

According to a report by Pates titled "Out of sight, out of mind: What every local government should know about pipeline safety," roughly 1.8 million miles of gas and liquid pipelines carry hazardous materials to urban areas and through environmentally sensitive regions across the country. The nation’s natural gas pipeline is about eight times longer than its liquid one, extending to almost every street in most cities.

"Every street in most cities" makes this a national problem. Thousands of accidents and hundreds of deaths create a strong argument for change. More training, more testing and more disclosure need to come forth from this industry, as ignorance and accidents apparently go hand in hand. It is only with education that eradication becomes a possibility.

Spring/Summer 2000 - One Year Later

A National Problem by Sabrina Johnson

A National Problem
by Sabrina Johnson