It's Staggering!!!

Easier to read on the link:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_pipeline_accidents_in_the_United_States_in_the_21st_century

2000Edit

On January 10, approximately 100 barrels of jet fuel were discharged from Plantation Pipeline in Newington, Virginia, some of which entered into Accotink Creek and its adjoining shorelines. The failure resulted from a failed gasket on an interface detector.[1]

On January 13, 2000 Koch Industries agreed to pay a $35 million fine, due to a series of oil pipeline leaks in six states — Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Alabama, Louisiana and Missouri — including 300 leaks from 1990 to 1997. One of the allegations was the leaks were from a lack of maintenance of the pipelines. The EPA said it was the biggest civil fine levied under the Clean Water Act. The settlement resolved two lawsuits charging that for years Koch's pipeline subsidiary had left thousands of miles of pipeline in disrepair.[2]

On January 21, a Chevron pipeline leaked from a welding flaw near Corinne, Utah, spilling about 100 barrels of Diesel fuel. The product spread over 38 acres of salt flat and wetlands used by birds. About 75% to 80% of the spill was intentionally burned to eliminate it.[3][4]

On January 21, an Equilon Pipeline Co. crude oil line was ruptured off of the Louisiana coast, by an eight-ton anchor dropped by a ship. About 94,000 gallons of crude oil were spilled, creating a slick 2 miles wide by 7 miles long.[5][6]

On January 27, in Winchester, Kentucky, a Marathon Oil pipeline accident released about 490,000 US gallons (1,900,000 L) of crude oil. NTSB investigators found a dent on the bottom of the pipe in the rupture area. Marathon spent about $7.1 million in response to the accident.[7][8]

On February 5, a pipeline failed and spilled over 192,000 US gallons (730,000 L) of crude oil in the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge in Pennsylvania. The source of the spill was a break in a miter bend in the pipe, which was estimated to be at least 50 years old.[9][10]

On March 9, an Explorer petroleum products pipeline failed in Greenville, Texas. The 28-inch pipeline ruptured and released 13,436 barrels (2,136.2 m3) of gasoline. The released gasoline eventually reached East Caddo Creek. The banks of the tributary and creek contained the escaping gasoline as it flowed away from the ruptured pipe. The probable cause of the pipeline failure was corrosion-fatigue cracking that initiated at the edge of the longitudinal seam weld at a likely preexisting weld defect. Contributing to the failure was the loss of pipe coating integrity.[11]

On April 7, a pipeline released fuel oil at Chalk Point near Aquasco, Maryland. The Piney Point Oil Pipeline system, which was owned by the Potomac Electric Power Company (Pepco), experienced a pipe failure at the Chalk Point Generating Station in southeastern Prince George's County, Maryland. The release was not discovered and addressed by the contract operating company, Support Terminal Services, Inc., until the late afternoon. Approximately 140,400 US gallons (531,000 L) of fuel oil were released into the surrounding wetlands and Swanson Creek and, subsequently, the Patuxent River as a result of the accident. No injuries were caused by the accident, which cost approximately $71 million for environmental response and clean-up operations.[12]

On May 19, a Colonial Pipeline Co. line failed near Greensboro, North Carolina. At least 714 gallons (17 barrels) of kerosene spilled, some of which entered a pond that flows into a tributary of the East Fork Deep River. The kerosene spill caused a sheen about 40 feet by 40 feet in the pond. As a result of this, and six other previous Colonial Pipeline accidents, the EPA fined Colonial $34 million in 2003.[13]

On June 7, a stopple fitting weld failed on a Wolverine Pipeline Company line, causing a rupture releasing 75,000 US gallons (280,000 L) of gasoline into the environment, and causing the evacuation of more than 500 houses in Blackman Charter Township, Michigan. The failure caused the shutdown of 30% of Michigan's gasoline supplies for nine days, contaminated a creek which flows into the Grand River, and a railroad track near the failure site was shut down for a week. Later tests found 715 anomalies in this pipeline. Wolverine later agreed to pay for switching houses in the area from local water wells to a city water source.[14][15]

On July 5, two boats hit a Southern Natural Gas pipeline off the coast of Plaquemines, Louisiana, causing a gas fire that burned five members of the boat crews. The fire could be seen at 35 miles away from it.[16][17]

On August 19, a 30-inch diameter El Paso Natural Gas pipeline rupture and fire near Carlsbad, New Mexico killed 12 members of an extended family camping over 600 feet (180 m) from the rupture point. The force of the escaping gas created a 51-foot (16 m)-wide crater about 113 feet (34 m) along the pipe. A 49-foot (15 m) section of the pipe was ejected from the crater, in three pieces measuring approximately 3 feet (0.91 m), 20 feet (6.1 m), and 26 feet (7.9 m) in length. The largest piece of pipe was found about 287 feet (87 m) northwest of the crater. The cause of the failure was determined to be severe internal corrosion of that pipeline. On July 26, 2007, a USDOJ Consent Decree was later entered into by the pipeline owner to perform pipeline system upgrades to allow better internal pipeline inspections.[18][19]

On August 20, a gas pipeline exploded and burned in Concord, North Carolina. A nearby shopping mall was evacuated, but, there were no injuries.[20]

On August 24, a 6-inch pipeline operated by Chevron failed from alleged external corrosion, spilling 126,000 gallons of crude oil into an unnamed creek, near Snyder, Texas. The creek was dry at the time. Later, a Federal Court ruled that the Clean Water Act did not apply, since there was no water flowing in the creek at the time.[21][22]

On September 8, for the second time in 24 hours, a state contractor building a noise wall along the I-475 in Toledo, Ohio struck an underground pipeline, and for a second time the contractor blamed faulty pipeline mapping for the accident. In this incident, the pipe was a 6-inch gas pipeline. The crew was digging a hole with an auger for a noise-wall support, when it hit the underground pipe less than 500 meters from the previous day's incident.

On September 7, a bulldozer ruptured a 12-inch diameter NGL pipeline on State Route 36 south of Abilene, Texas. An Abilene police detective, with 21 years of service, was severely burned when the vapors ignited, and he later died. Nearby, a woman saved herself by going underwater in her swimming pool. Her house was destroyed by the explosion and fire. The owner of the pipeline, ExxonMobil, was later fined by the Texas Railroad Commission for the pipeline not being marked.[23][24][25][26]

On November 3, a front end loader punctured an 8-inch pipeline carrying Diesel fuel in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Diesel fuel sprayed 40 feet (12 m) into the air. The fuel flowed for over 2 hours before stopping, and contaminating the area with more than 40,000 US gallons (150,000 L) of Diesel fuel.[27]

2001Edit

On January 17 and 18, a series of gas explosion hit downtown Hutchinson, Kansas, resulting in 2 deaths, and 2 buildings being destroyed. Later, it was discovered that gas was leaking from an underground gas storage cavern in the area.[28][29]

On March 22, a 12-inch natural gas pipeline exploded in Weatherford, Texas. No one was injured, but the blast created a hole in the ground about 15 feet (4.6 m) in diameter and the explosion was felt several miles away.

On April 1, a Dome Pipeline in North Dakota carrying gasoline ruptured and burst into flames a few miles west of Bottineau, North Dakota. An estimated 1.1 million US gallons (4,200 m3) of gasoline burned before the pipeline could be shut down. The company attributed the break to damage by an "outside force", which A Bottineau County Sheriff said appeared to be frost that melted at uneven rates, twisting and breaking the pipeline.[30]

On April 14, a 6-inch petroleum productions failed near Harwood, North Dakota, spilling 40 barrels of fuel oil. There were no injuries. The failure was due to an ERW seam failure, with this particular pipeline having had other ERW seam failures in the past in 1987 and 1993.[31]

On May 1, a MAPCO 10-inch propane pipeline exploded and burned, in Platte County, Missouri. 13,500 barrels of propane were burned.[32][33][34]

On May 24 bulldozer being used in Taylor County, Texas hit a petroleum pipeline, causing a large petroleum fire. There were no injuries.[35]

On June 13, in Pensacola, Florida, at least ten persons were injured when two natural gas lines ruptured and exploded after a parking lot gave way beneath a cement truck at a car dealership. The blast sent chunks of concrete flying across a four-lane road, and several employees and customers at neighboring businesses were evacuated. About 25 cars at the dealership and ten boats at a neighboring business were damaged or destroyed.

On July 24, a pipeline ruptured and spread burning gasoline near Manheim, Pennsylvania.[36][37]

On August 11, at approximately 5:05 a.m. MST, an El Paso Natural Gas 24-inch gas transmission pipeline failed near Williams, Arizona, resulting in the release of natural gas. The natural gas continued to discharge for about an hour before igniting. Stress corrosion cracking was determined to be the cause of the failure.[38][39]

On August 12, a bulldozer hit a 14-inch LP gas pipeline near Weatherford, Texas, causing a massive fire. One person was injured.[40][41]

On August 17, an Oklahoma crude oil pipeline ruptured after being struck by a machine cleaning roadside ditches, sending oil 30 feet (9.1 m) into the air and damaging nearby cotton crops with up to 150,000 US gallons (570,000 L) spilled.[42]

On September 3, at approximately 1 p.m. CST, a rupture occurred near the intersection of the 22-inch T-ML Pipeline and the Black Bayou in Louisiana, resulting in the release of an estimated 8.00 mmcf to 13.00 mmcf of natural gas. In addition, the liquids loss is estimated to be 15,000 gallons.[43]

On October 4, a drunken man used a rifle to shoot a hole in the Alaskan Pipeline. More than 285,000 gallons of crude oil were spilled, costing more $13 million to clean up. The man was later convicted in Court.[44]

On October 15, a 6-inch ConocoPhillips LPG pipeline failed near Sweeny, Texas, forcing 2 dozen residents to evacuate. About 195,000 gallons of LPG were lost.[45][46]

On or about November 27, approximately 2,575 barrels of Jet A Kerosene (Jet Fuel) discharged from the P-62 pipeline of the TEPPCO Pipeline System into tributaries of the Neches River and the Neches River itself. The release occurred 4 miles southeast of Vidor, Texas. This spill was caused by disbonded coating and external corrosion on the pipeline. This incident was later part of a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency consent decree.[47]

On December 14, an anhydrous ammonia spill near Algona, Iowa killed nearly 1.3 million fish, the largest fish kill on that state's record-to-date, Iowa state officials said. More than 58,000 US gallons (220,000 L) of anhydrous ammonia over a nine-hour period spilled into Lotts Creek and the Des Moines River, killing minnows, bass and other game fish. Koch Industries owned the 8-inch pipeline, and was doing maintenance work on a valve on the pipeline. The plume drifted over a six-mile (10 km) area causing officials to evacuate residents in its path.[48]

2002Edit

On February 8, a trenching machine with a new rock bit being tested hit a 20-inch gas transmission pipeline in Noble County, Oklahoma, causing an explosion that killed the trencher operator.[49]

On March 6, an explosion and a massive fire hit a Tennessee Gas Pipeline natural gas substation near Mount Sterling, Kentucky. 30 families in the area voluntarily evacuated. There were no injuries.[50][51]

On March 13, a Buckeye Partners pipeline ruptured due to internal corrosion in Wren, Ohio, spilling about 1500 gallons of gasoline.[52]

On or about March 13, approximately 20 barrels of oil or jet fuel were discharged from a portion of the Plantation Pipeline in Alexandria, Virginia, some of which entered into an unnamed tributary of Hooff Run and its adjoining shorelines. The pipeline failure appears to have resulted from a hole in the pipeline caused by high-voltage arcing between the pipeline and a utility pole anchor.[1]

On March 15, a failure occurred on a 36-inch gas pipeline near Crystal Falls, Michigan. The failure resulted in a release of gas, which did not ignite, that created a crater 30 feet (9.1 m) deep, 30 feet (9.1 m) wide, and 120 feet (37 m) long. There were no deaths or injuries.[53]

On April 6, a BP-Amoco pipeline ruptured and released about 100,000 US gallons (380,000 L) of oil into a coastal area known as Little Lake in Louisiana.[42]

On May 22, an 8-inch petroleum products pipeline failed, spilling about 2,000 barrels of unleaded gasoline on to a wheat field near Ottawa, Kansas. Booms had to be deployed in nearby creeks. The pipe failed along a seam, possibly due to LF-ERW pipeline failure issues.[54]

On June 20, PHMSA ordered Columbia Gas Transmission Company to do extensive repair to one of their gas transmission pipelines in the states of Pennsylvania and New York, after finding extensive wall thinning on sections of that pipeline system caused by external corrosion. Approximately 800 anomalies with wall thickness losses of greater than 65 percent were found during a smart pig examination, with 76 of the found anomalies having a wall thickness loss of greater than 80 percent. Many of the affected sections of pipe were older sections lacking coating, which is known to reduce external corrosion on pipelines.[55]

On July 4, there was a rupture of an Enbridge Pipeline, and release of crude oil near Cohasset, Minnesota. The pipeline ruptured in a marsh in Itasca County, spilling 6,000 barrels (950 m3) of crude oil. In an attempt to keep the oil from contaminating the Mississippi River, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources set a controlled burn that lasted for one day and created a smoke plume about 1 mile (1.6 km) high and 5 miles (8 km) long. The pipe failed due to cracking caused by train shipping induced cracking of the pipe being delivered.[56]

On July 24 a gas explosion leveled a Hopkinton, Massachusetts house, killing a 4-year-old girl and her 5-year-old sister. A failed sleeve on the gas line in the basement of the house was suspected of being the cause.[57]

On August 5, a natural gas pipeline exploded and caught fire west of Rt. 622, on Poca River Road near Lanham, West Virginia. Emergency workers evacuated three or four families. Kanawha and Putnam Counties in the area were requested to shelter in place. Parts of the pipeline were thrown hundreds of yards away, around, and across Poca River. The fire was not contained for several hours because valves to shut down the line did not exist. The Orange Glow from the fire at 11 PM; could be seen for several miles.[58] The explosion and fire caused in $2,735,339 property damage.[59]

On September 20, at around 22:10 a gasoline leak from an 8-inch pipeline operated by Cenex Pipeline (terminal) was discovered near Glendive, Montana. The release of bout1,000 barrels (160 m3) of unleaded gasoline flowed into Seven Mile Creek, and then downstream to its confluence with the Yellowstone River. Several trenches were constructed near the ruptured pipe for product collection points. As of September 25, 2002, a vacuum truck had recovered approximately 21,000 US gallons (79,000 L) of gasoline [and water] from the boomed locations and trenches.[60][61]

On November 2, a Chevron pipeline ruptured near Corinne, Utah, spilling about 450 barrels of petroleum. The cause was from external corrosion.[62]

On December 10, a farmer plowing a field hit and ruptured a Williams Companies pipeline, near Lawrence, Kansas. About 4,700 gallons of gasoline were spilled. Later, it was noted that particular pipeline lacked soil coverage in places, including some exposed spots. There were no injuries.[63][64]

2003Edit

On January 24, an Enbridge crude oil pipeline ruptured at a terminal in Douglas County, Wisconsin. Some of the crude oil flowed into the Nemadji River. Over 100,000 US gallons (380,000 L) were spilled.[30]

On February 2, a natural gas pipeline ruptured near Viola, Illinois, resulting in the release of natural gas which ignited. A l6-foot section of the pipe fractured into three sections, which were ejected to distances of about 300 yards from the failure site.[65]

On February 20, a 24-inch gas transmission pipeline started leaking in Scott County, Missouri, underneath the Mississippi River. A shifted pipeline weight has caused damage to the pipeline.[66]

On or about February 22, 2003, approximately 788 barrels of gasoline were discharged from a portion of Plantation Pipeline in Hull, Georgia, some of which entered into an unnamed tributary of East Sandy Creek and its adjoining shorelines. The spill resulted from a failed gasket on a buried block valve.

On February 27, dropping temperatures caused an Enbridge pipeline to fail in Samaria, Michigan. 130 barrels of crude oil were spilled.

On March 13, a seam failed on an 8-inch Dixie Pipeline propane line near Appling, Georgia, releasing about 110,000 gallons of propane. There were no injuries. The pipe split due to seam failure.[67][68]

On March 23, a 24-inch El Paso Natural Gas pipeline near Eaton, Colorado exploded. The explosion sent flames 160 meters in the air, forcing evacuations. No one was injured. The heat from the flames melted the siding of two nearby houses and started many smaller grass fires.[69]

On April 1, a 12-inch ConocoPhillips petroleum products pipeline ruptured, spilling about 1,000 barrels of Diesel fuel near Ponca City, Oklahoma, with of the fuel getting into Doga Creek. There were no injuries. Low Frequency ERW pipe seam failure was suspected as the cause.[70]

On May 1, a 26-inch Williams Companies natural gas transmission pipeline failed near Lake Tapps, Washington. A neighboring elementary school, a supermarket, and 30 to 40 houses in approximately a 4-mile (6.4 km) area were evacuated. There was no fire or injuries. Land movement was suspected at first, but the failure was later determined to be from stress corrosion cracking. There were four previous failures on this pipeline in the preceding eight years.[71][72]

On May 8, an 8-inch LPG pipeline failed near Lebanon, Ohio. About 80 houses and one school in the area were evacuated. There was no fire or injuries.[73]

On May 20, a 30-inch gas pipeline exploded and burned near Nederland, Texas. The cause of the failure was internal corrosion, and the damages were stimated to be $6,901,322.[74][75]

On July 2, excavation damage to a natural gas distribution line resulted in an explosion and fire in Wilmington, Delaware. A contractor hired by the city of Wilmington to replace sidewalk and curbing, dug into an unmarked natural gas service line with a backhoe. Although the service line did not leak where it was struck, the contact resulted in a break in the line inside the basement of a nearby building, where gas began to accumulate. A manager for the contractor said that he did not smell gas and therefore did not believe there was imminent danger and that he called an employee of the gas company and left a voice mail message. At approximately 1:44 p.m., an explosion destroyed two residences and damaged two others to the extent that they had to be demolished. Other nearby residences sustained some damage, and the residents on the block were displaced from their houses for about a week. Three contractor employees sustained serious injuries. Eleven additional people sustained minor injuries.[76]

On July 3, a jury found Texas-New Mexico Pipeline (TNMP) Company guilty of fraud, gross negligence and willful misconduct in concealing a 1992 crude oil pipeline leak beneath a Midland, Texas residential subdivision, before selling the pipeline to EOTT Energy in 1999. Oil was discovered in the water table in late 2000, and in March 2001 a group of Midland residents sued EOTT, TNMP and Equilon. Residents living on affected land also received settlements. The spill was estimated in 2003 to be 9,000–13,000 barrels. 190 boxes full of TNMP documents about the pipeline dating from the late 1980s to early 1990s (prior to EOTT Energy taking over the pipeline) were dug up from a 45-foot-deep hole at a site along the company's pipeline in New Mexico.[77][78]

On July 10, a 16-inch Citgo petroleum products pipeline failed in Cook County, Illinois. About 25 barrels of gasoline were spilled from the pipeline. A crack in the pipe had developed at a dent. There was no fire or injured reported.[79]

On July 16, a 12 3/4-inch pipeline burst in Barnes County, North Dakota, releasing 9,000 barrels of propane, which ignited. There were no casualties. During repairs, mechanical damage was seen on 2 nearby section of this pipeline.[80]

On July 30, a Kinder Morgan pipeline in Tucson, Arizona ruptured, and sprayed 16,548 gallons of gasoline on five houses under construction, and flooding nearby streets with gasoline. The resulting pipeline closure caused major gas shortages and price increases in the state. The failure at first was thought to be from LF-ERW flaws, but tests showed it was due to stress corrosion cracking. A hydrostatic test that was performed on this pipeline after repairs failed again 40 feet (12 m) from the first failure.[81][82][83][84][85]

On August 8, a 26-inch Kinder Morgan and Myria Holdings Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America transmission pipeline ruptured in Caddo County, Oklahoma, releasing about 84,000 MCF of natural gas. A 54-foot long section of 26" diameter pipe had blown out and landed 30 feet from the ditch. Evacuations took place within 3/4 of a mile from the release, but there was no fire or casualties. Stress corrosion cracking was identified as the pipe failure's cause.[86]

On September 26, a propane pipeline at the Phillips Petroleum storage facility in Cahokia, Illinois ruptured, sending flames high into the air and sparking small grass fires in the area.

On October 6, a 12-inch petroleum products pipeline ruptured in Johnson County, Kansas, spilling about 100 to 200 barrels of Diesel fuel. Some of the Diesel contaminated a nearby waterway. There were no injuries.[87]

On October 13, a failure on an Enbridge pipeline near Bay City, Michigan spilled 500 barrels of crude oil.[88][89]

On October 14, a leak on what was originally the Big Inch 24
-inch of natural gas occurred in Orange County, Indiana. There were no injuries or evacuations. The pipeline had been installed in 1943.[90]

On November 2, a Texas Eastern Transmission natural gas pipeline exploded in Bath County, Kentucky, about 1.5 km south of a Duke Energy pumping station. A fire burned for about an hour before firefighters extinguished it. No one was injured and no property damage was reported.[30]

On November 9, an 8-inch Buckeye Partners pipeline failed near Mazon, Illinois. While repairs were being tested on this pipeline on November 14, another section of this pipeline failed about 1500 feet from the first leak. About ten barrels of gasoline and Diesel fuel were spilled by the two leaks, requiring soil removal. External corrosion caused both failures. There were no injuries.[91]

On December 13, another section of the same Williams Companies gas transmission pipeline that failed on May 1, 2003, failed in Lewis County, Washington. There was no fire this time. Gas flowed for three hours before being shut off. Gas pressure had already been reduced 20% on this pipeline after the May 1 explosion. External corrosion and stress corrosion cracking were seen in this failed area of pipe.[72]

2004Edit

On January 25, a TEPPCO 8-inch propane pipeline failed, near Davenport, New York. The propane ignited, destroying a trailer house, and forcing evacuations. About 5,000 barrels of propane were burned. There were no injuries. The incident resulted from a through-wall failure of the pipe material at a fitting that was attached to the top of the pipe.[92][93]

On March 12, a TEPPCO pipeline spilled about 500 barrels of unleaded gasoline spilled into the Moro Creek, which flows into the Sabine River near Kingsland, Arkansas. The cause was corrosion of a 1/2-inch bleeder line, that was part of a 20-inch pipeline block valve used to equalize pressure across the valve.[47]

On April 28, a petroleum pipeline of Kinder Morgan Energy Partners ruptured, and spilled an estimated 103,000 gallons of Diesel fuel into marshes, adjacent to Suisun Bay, in Northern California. The line failed from external cossorosion. The company failed to notify California authorities about the spill for 18 hours, a failure for which it was later cited.[30][94][95]

On May 23, a leak in a sampling tube on a pipeline in Renton, Washington spilled several thousand gallons of gasoline, which ignited.[96]

On August 19, a series of explosions starting hit an underground natural gas storage cavern in Moss Bluff, Texas, resulting in evacuations for a 3-mile radius. The first blast, about 4 a.m., sent flames 150 to 200 feet into the air. The second explosion was seen as far as 20 miles away. Some type of equipment failure was suspected. The cavern had just been expanded using the SMUG (solution mining under gas) process, which permits salt cavern expansion without interrupting gas storage operations. There were no injuries reported.[97][98]

On August 21, a natural gas explosion destroyed a residence in DuBois, Pennsylvania. Two residents were killed in this accident. The NTSB determined that the probable cause of the leak, explosion, and fire was the fracture of a defective butt-fusion joint.[99]

On September 26, a vandal started up a trackhoe at a construction site in New Caney, Texas, and dug into a propylene pipeline. The escaping propylene ignited, causing nearby residents to evacuate. There were no injuries reported.[100]

On September 27, 2004, near Blair, Nebraska, an ammonia pipeline failed, releasing 193,213 pounds of ammonia, resulting in the hospitalization of one individual and emergency responders evacuated houses within a one-mile circumference of the break. An estimated 1,000 fish were killed along North Creek and in a golf course pond.[101]

on September 28, a pipeline failed in Hughes County, Oklahoma, spilling an estimated 1,500 barrels (240 m3) of Diesel fuel.[102]

In October, crews from Shell Oil Company recovered 100,000 of an oil seawater mix. Hurricane Ivan had damaged a crude oil pipeline off of the Louisiana Coast.[103]

On October 27, an anhydrous ammonia pipeline ruptured near Kingman, Kansas, and released approximately 4,858 barrels (772.4 m3) of anhydrous ammonia. Nobody was killed or injured due to the release. The anhydrous ammonia leak killed more than 20,000 fish along a 12.5-mile section of Smoots Creek, including some from threatened species. The pipeline had previous damage to it. The pipeline controller had misinterpreted the leak as other problems with the system operation, causing the leak to go on longer. As a result of this, and another ammonia pipeline leak the month before, the pipeline owner and its two operating companies were later fined $3.65 million.[101][104]

On November 1, construction crew ruptured a high-pressure gas line in Little Rock, Arkansas, near one of the state's busiest intersections Monday, triggering a fire that melted traffic lights that hung overhead. No one was injured.[105]

On November 8, a NGL pipeline failed in a housing division in Ivel, Kentucky. The vapor cloud from the leak ignited, seriously burning a Kentucky State Trooper evacuating those living in the area. Eight others were injured and five houses were destroyed. The pipeline, only 65 miles (105 km) long, had 11 previous corrosion failures.[106][107]

On November 9, in Walnut Creek, California, a petroleum pipeline carrying gasoline to San Jose, California, owned and operated by Kinder Morgan Energy Partners (KMEP) was struck by a backhoe used by Mountain Cascade, Inc., a contractor operating in the construction of a water pipeline for the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD). A large gasoline spill was subsequently ignited, resulting in an explosive fireball that caused the deaths, by burns, of four workers and one supervisor and the severe injury of five others. A Kinder Morgan worker had misread an as-built map, and had incorrectly marked the pipeline's route before the accident.[108]

On November 21, a 14-inch petroleum products pipeline sprung a leak while it was shipping gasoline in the Mojave Desert. The Calnev Pipeline, owned and operated by the California-Nevada Pipeline Company, a subsidiary of Kinder-Morgan Energy Partners, is the main source of petroleum fuel products for the Las Vegas Valley, Nevada. An 80-foot (24 m) geyser of gasoline was discovered on the next morning, after numerous complaints of a strong gasoline odor along Interstate 15 in northern San Bernardino County, CA.[109][110]

On December 15, employees were performing maintenance on a propane pipeline near Mantador, North Dakota, when a gasket on the pipeline's valve failed, causing a leak. Nearby resident were evacuated, and a rail line was shut down temporarily. There were no injuries.[111]

On December 24, as much as 5,000 gallons of crude oil spilled from a ConocoPhillips pipeline south of Laurel, Montana near the Yellowstone River. Hydrogen sulfide gas from the oil could have posed a major danger, but "the wind helped immensely" to dissipate the gas.[112]

2005Edit

In January, a Mid-Valley owned and Sunoco operated pipeline ruptured, spilling 260,000 US gallons (980,000 L) of oil into the Kentucky and Ohio rivers. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency fined the companies $2.5 million for the spill.[113]

On January 18, an Enbridge pipeline failed from temperature problems, causing a spill of 100 barrels of crude oil in Bay City, Michigan. The pipe was just two years old at the time.[89][114]

On January 26, a Mid Valley 22-inch pipeline ruptured in Carrollton, Kentucky, spilling about 290,000 gallons of crude oil. SOme of the crude entered the Ohio River. The pipe failure was caused by earth movement.[115][116]

On February 1, an ExxonMobil gasoline pipeline fire forced 43 families from their houses near Allentown, Pennsylvania. The fire burned for over 72 hours. There were no reported injuries.[117][118]

On or about February 28, 2005, approximately 2,497 barrels of Jet A Kerosene discharged from a 14-inch TEPPCO pipeline, reaching the Big Cow Creek, flowing into the Sabine River, near Newton, Texas. The discharge was caused by the over-tightening of a coupling at a 3/8-inch cooling line at the top of a 14-inch mainline pump.[47]

On March 16, a crew installing a communications cable nicked a gas distribution pipeline in Moon Township, Pennsylvania. The crew then notified the local One Call center, but, failed to alert first responders. two hours after the nick, gas exploded in a house, burning two teenagers there.[119]

On April 1, a Kinder Morgan Energy Partners petroleum products pipeline was found to be leaking gasoline, near Truckee, California. Gasoline spread into Summit Creek, then, into Donner Lake. About 300 gallons spilled.[120][121]

On May 4, a petroleum products pipeline failed near El Dorado, Kansas, spilling about 78,000 gallons of diesel fuel, of which about 46,000 gallons was lost. The pipeline failed from external corrosion.[122][123]

On May 13, an underground natural gas pipeline exploded near Marshall, Texas, sending a giant fireball into the sky and hurling a 160-foot (49 m) section of pipe onto the grounds of a nearby electric power generating plant. Two people were hurt. The OPS concluded that stress corrosion cracking was the culprit.[124]

On May 13, the 30-inch Seaway Pipeline, operated by TEPPCO at the time, failed in Bryan County, Oklahoma, spilling approximately 898 barrels of crude oil. Oil reached Eastman Creek. The discharge was caused by a 6-inch longitudinal seam split on the pipeline that resulted from a stress crack that may have been induced by conditions occurring during rail transport of the pipe, and enlarged by pressure-cycle-induced stresses over years of operation of the pipeline.[47][125]

On May 23, a Magellan Pipeline petroleum products pipeline broke near Kansas City, Kansas, spilling gasoline into the nearby Missouri River. About 2,936 barrels of gasoline were spilled, with about 2,400 barrels being lost.[126][127]

On May 28, a 12-inch (300 mm) Kinder Morgan Energy Partners pipeline ruptured in El Paso, Texas, releasing gasoline.[128]

On August 11, a bulldozer hit a crude oil pipeline north of Lufkin, Texas. The escaping crude ignited, injuring the bulldozer operator. About 18,500 gallons of crude oil were lost.[129][130]

On August 18, a leak was detected in an insulating flange along the BP Amoco Whiting to River Rouge pipeline at a monitoring well in Granger, Indiana. Initially, the bolts and nuts were replaced around the flange to mitigate any leaks; on August 25, when supply concerns diminished, the insulating flange was cut out and replaced with a straight section of pipe. Approximately 21 gallons of gasoline were removed from the ground, with no injuries or fatalities. Metallurgical analysis revealed that the fiber ring joint gasket had evidence of a prior leak.[131]

On August 29 Hurricane Katrina caused a protective levee to fail near Nairn in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, causing a Shell 20-inch pipeline to rupture. About 13,400 gallons were spilled, with about 10,500 gallons of this spill reaching the shoreline, and coastal marshes.[132]

On September 18, a pipeline pumping station employee was killed in Monroe, Ohio, when leaking propane was ignited and exploded by an arcing pump on September 18. Flames reached 300 feet (91 m) high in the following fire.[133]

On December 6, a natural gas compressor station exploded near Rifle, Colorado, about 200 yards from Interstate 70. There was only one minor injury to a nearby truck driver.[134]

On December 13, workers removing an underground oil tank in Bergenfield, New Jersey undermined a 1 1/4-inch steel gas pipeline. The gas line later failed, causing an explosion. Three residents of a nearby apartment building were killed. Four other residents and a tank removal worker were injured. Failure to evacuate the apartment building after the gas line ruptured was listed as a contributing factor.[135]

2006Edit

On January 13, a pipeline leak near Independence, Kansas spill about 135,000 gallons of petroleum product, of which about 93,000 gallons was lost. The pipeline failed from external corrosion.[123][136]

On February 28, a gas compressor station explosion severely burned a worker, and set off a raging fire near De Beque, Colorado. A second explosion at that site soon after caused no injuries.[137]

The Prudhoe Bay oil spill: On March 2, a surveillance crew discovered a crude oil spill from a BP crude pipeline near North Slope Borough, Alaska. The pipeline failure resulted in a release currently estimated at 5,000 barrels (790 m3) of processed crude oil, impacting the arctic tundra and covering approximately 2 acres (8,100 m2) of permafrost. The pipeline's leak detection system was not effective in recognizing and identifying the failure. Failure to run cleaning pigs to remove internal corrosive build up. The failure caused crude oil price to spike throughout the World.[138][139]

On March 23, a pipeline failed west of Toledo, Ohio, spilling about 200 barrels (32 m3) of unleaded gasoline. During the repair work, another smaller nearby leak was also found.[140]

On April 17, a Plantation Pipeline line experienced a failure in Henrico County, near Richmond, Virginia. The failure resulted in the release of 23,226 gallons of jet fuel in a residential area. The jet fuel sprayed for approximately 14 minutes and the spray traveled the distance of approximately 200 feet (61 m). The jet fuel did not ignite.[141][142]

On June 27, a Koch Industries pipeline carrying crude oil failed near the town of Little Falls, Minnesota. The pipeline estimated that approximately 3,200 barrels (510 m3) of crude oil were released. The pipeline failed from previous mechanical damage to the pipeline.[143][144]

On July 22, a Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company gas transmission pipeline ruptured, resulting in an estimated release of 42,946,000 cu ft (1,216,100 m3) of natural gas near Clay City in Clark County, Kentucky. The gas ignited, but there were no injuries, and just minor property damage. External corrosion was suspected.[145][146]

On August 7, a leak from a pump, on a pipeline, released about 241,000 gallons of HVL's, in Jennings, Louisiana.[147][148]

On August 12, a Kinder Morgan petroleum pipeline failed in Romeoville, Illinois. About 59,000 US gallons (220,000 L) of butane were lost. External corrosion was the cause, but there were no injuries.[149][150]

On September 8, a leak on a pump on an LPG pipeline in Apex, North Carolina spilled about 12,000 gallons of propane, forcing evacuations.[151]

On September 29, a crew replacing an old pipeline hit a high pressure gas pipeline in Labette County, Kansas, killing a crewman. Resident with a milre of the incident were evacuated for a time.[152]

On October 12, a pipeline exploded when a tugboat pushing two barges hit that pipeline Thursday in West Cote Blanche Bay, about two miles (3 km) from shore and 100 miles (160 km) southwest of New Orleans, Louisiana. Four crew members were killed, and two were missing and later presumed dead.[153][154]

On October 25, an ammonia pipeline failed from corrosion near Clay Center, Kansas, releasing about 4500 barrels of ammonia. two people were injured by the fumes.[155]

On November 11, a jet-black, 300-acre (1.2 km2) burn site surrounded the skeletal hulk of a bulldozer that struck a natural-gas pipeline during construction of another pipeline, and produced a powerful explosion near Cheyenne, Wyoming. The bulldozer operator was killed. The company building the new pipeline was fined $2.3 million for failing to obtain a locate on the other pipeline.[156][157]

On or about November 27, 2006, approximately 97 barrels of gasoline were discharged from a portion of Plantation Pipeline in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, into Paw Creek and its adjoining shorelines. The leak resulted from a failed gasket on an above-ground block valve.[1]

2006 Falk Corporation explosion: Leaks in a Milwaukee, Wisconsin propane pipe running below an apartment building caused an explosion. Three people were killed and forty-seven others injured.

On December 19, a lineman for Midwest Energy hit a natural gas transmission pipeline near Mason, Michigan. The lineman was killed in the following explosion and fire.[158][159]

On December 24, a Plains All American Pipeline ruptured, spilling about 23,856 gallons of crude oil in the Gulf of Mexico, about 30 miles southeast of Galveston, Texas.[160][161]

2007Edit

On January 1, an Enbridge pipeline that runs from Superior, Wisconsin to near Whitewater, Wisconsin failed, resulting in a spill of 1,500 barrels of crude oil onto farmland and into a drainage ditch. Incomplete fusion of a longitudinal weld at the pipe maker that failed as pressure cycle was established as the cause.[162][163]

On February 2, a construction crew struck an Enbridge pipeline in Rusk County, Wisconsin with equipment, spilling 4,800 barrels (760 m3) of crude oil, of which only 2,066 barrels were recovered.[164] Some of the oil filled a hole more than 20 feet (6.1 m) deep and was reported to have contaminated the local water table.[165]

On February 17, in a rural area of Harris County, Texas, a Tennessee Gas Pipeline transmission pipeline was damaged, and later exploded and burned. Grass fires spread across a three-square mile rural area.[166] The 31-inch natural gas pipeline leaked after a bulldozer hit it. Residents reported a loud explosion that shook houses enough to set off car alarms, as well as a rumbling sound and a bright orange fireball in the sky. Firefighters "backfilled" the break with nitrogen.[167] PHMSA reported 1 person injured.[168]

On March 29, near Yutan, Nebraska, a pipeline was hit by construction equipment. About 1,697 barrels of natural gasoline were lost.[169][170]

On April 27, a 22-inch gas transmission pipeline failed near Pawnee, Illinois. The failure ejected a 109 inch long section of pipe, and, releasing 38 mmcf of natural gas that ignited. The rupture and resulting fire required the evacuation of a residence and the death of farm animals. The failure was due to external corrosion.[171]

On May 4, a backhoe helping to lay a gas pipeline hit another gas pipeline in Weatherford, Texas. The gas ignited, sending flames hundreds of feet into the air. Vehicles, equipment, and power lines in the area were destroyed, but, there were no injuries.[172]

On May 16, about 63,000 US gallons (240,000 L) of gasoline spilled into an old stripping pit that covers a three-acre area in Coal Township, Pennsylvania. The Kerris and Helfrick company owns the property where the gas leak occurred, and the excavator, was working for the company when he accidentally ruptured the Sunoco Logistics 14-inch petroleum pipeline. The gasoline was mostly absorbed into areas of soil, fill and coal strippings at the site.[173] Several residents made U.S. Rep. Christopher P. Carney aware of complaints about gasoline odors in residential basements. "Moreover, many residents are legitimately concerned about groundwater contamination as well as a host of future problems associated with the spill", Carney wrote to Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Kathleen McGinty.[174] The pipeline was installed in 1964 by the Atlantic Richfield Co.(ARCO) and purchased in 1990 by Sunoco. On September 29, the PADEP Environmental Cleanup program finalized a consent order and agreement with Mallard Contracting, which included a $45,000 civil penalty covering both DEP's response costs and a fine for violations of the Pa. Solid Waste Management Act.[175]

on July 18, 2007 New York City steam explosion|New York city steam pipoeline exploded]].

In August, a gas compressor turbine caught fire inside BP's Gathering Center 1 in Alaska, after an oil hose ruptured and spewed flammable liquid across the motor. A mechanic on patrol in the facility — seeing smoke — fled the room as the turbine burst into flames. Automatic fire and gas alarms were never triggered. A subsequent investigation by Alaska state authorities found that a ruptured hydraulic oil hose was Jerry-rigged in a position that chaffed against the turbine's hot engine. The investigation also found that the facility's fire and gas detectors were not powered on at the time.[176]

On October 8, a gas pipeline at a gas storage facility in Salem, Michigan ruptured and caught fire. Siding was melted on nearby houses.[177]

On October 18, an ethylene pipeline explosion early, was heard for miles around Port Arthur, Texas, waking residents. The following fire spread to a nearby butadiene pipeline, causing it to rupture and burn. Later, over 300 residents sued the pipeline's owners for health issues claimed to be caused from the chemicals released by the accident. External corrosion of the ethylene pipeline caused the first pipeline failure.[178][179]

On November 1, a 12-inch propane pipeline exploded, killing two people, and injuring five others, near Carmichael in the southeast portion of Clarke County, Mississippi. The NTSB determined the probable cause was an LF-ERW seam failure. During hydrostatic testing of the pipeline after repair, another LF-ERW seam failed nearby. Inadequate education of residents near the pipeline about the existence of this pipeline, and how to respond to a pipeline accident, were also cited as a factors in the deaths.[180]

On November 12, three teenaged boys drilled into an ammonia pipeline, in Tampa Bay, Florida, causing a major ammonia leak. They later claimed they did it due to stories of money being hidden inside that pipeline. The leak took two days to be capped. One of the teens had serious chemical burns from the ammonia. Residents within a half miles from the leak were evacuated. PHMSA later noted the pipeline company failed to adequately plan for emergencies with the local Fire Agency, as required by CFR 195.402(c)(12).[181]

On November 13, Enbridge discovered a leak on their 34-inch Line 3, at Mile Post 912, near Clearbrook, Minnesota. Later, the pipeline exploded during repairs, on November 27, causing the deaths of two employees. DOT officials said that two Enbridge workers died in a crude oil explosion as they worked to make repairs on the former Lakehead system pipeline. Enbridge was cited for failing to safely and adequately perform maintenance and repair activities, clear the designated work area from possible sources of ignition, and hire properly trained and qualified workers.[182][183]

On November 21, a 30-inch gas transmission pipeline failed, near Haven, Kansas. The gas ignited, resulting in road closures.[171]

On December 14, two men were driving east in a pickup truck, on Interstate 20, Near Delhi, Louisiana, when a 30-inch gas transmission pipeline exploded. One of the men were killed, and the other injured. External corrosion was later identified as the cause of the failure.[184][185]

2008Edit

On January 5, 2008, a pipeline ruptured at a filet weld, leaking natural gasoline in Oologah, Oklahoma. About 45,000 gallons of the gasoline was spill, with about 29,000 gallons being lost.[123][186]

On January 7, a pipeline split open, near Denver City, Texas, spilling 1.3 million US gallons (4,900 m3) of crude oil. The pipeline company failed to detect and stop the leak for more than 24 hours. ERW seam failure appears to be the cause.[187][188]

On January 11, a Belle Fourche maintenance crew damaged its own pipeline, spill about 11,100 gallons of crude in Alexander, North Dakota.[189]

On February 5, a natural gas pipeline compressor station exploded and caught fire, near Hartsville, Tennessee, and was believed to have been caused by a tornado hitting the facility.[190]

On February 15, a 20-inch distillate pipeline exploded and burned in Hidalgo County, Texas, closing road FM490.[191]

On March 14, a house in a Columbia, Missouri neighborhood exploded in an explosion that could be felt for miles, causing fatal injuries to the elderly couple living there. Problems with the gas distribution line there were blamed for the explosion. Another house nearby also suffered damage.[192]

On May 16, a crew boring to install a new gas main hit an existing 4-inch gas line in McKinney, Texas. Escaping gas caused two houses to explode, and one other house to catch fire. Three people were burned from this incident.[193]

On July 28, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois ordered Apex Oil Company Inc., to clean up ground water and soil contamination, at an expected cost of at least $150 million. During the period 1967 through 1988, Apex Oil's legal predecessor, Clark Oil and Refining Corp., released gasoline from leaking pipelines and other spills, that commingled with other responsible parties' releases and resulted in the large plume of refined petroleum substances beneath Hartford, Illinois. Vapors from the underground plume of millions of gallons of leaked and spilled petroleum products have migrated into houses in the village, causing years of fires, explosions, and evacuations.[194]

On August 10, a 20-inch crude oil pipeline ruptured near Golden Gate, Illinois. About 243,000 gallons of crude were spilled, with about 33,000 gallons being lost. The cause was listed as a pipe seam failure.[195][196][197]

On August 25, a 24-inch gas transmission pipeline failed in a rural area west of Pilot Grove, Missouri. The longitudinal rupture in the pipe body created a 50 foot by 33-foot by 7-foot deep crater in the ground. The cause of the rupture was external corrosion.[171]

On August 28, a 36-inch gas pipeline failed near Stairtown, Texas, causing a fire with flames 400 feet (120 m) tall. The failure was caused by external corrosion.[198][199]

On August 29, a 24-inch gas transmission pipeline ruptured in Cooper County, Missouri. Corrosion had caused the pipeline to lose 75% of its wall thickness in the failure area.[200]

On September 9, workers constructing a new pipeline hit an existing natural gas pipeline in Wheeler County, Texas. Two workers were burned by this accident.[201]

On September 14, a 30-inch Williams Companies gas pipeline ruptured and gas ignited near Appomattox, Virginia. Two houses were destroyed by the fire. External corrosion was the cause of the failure.[202][203]

On September 23, a ruptured pipeline causes a fire at a Pipeline Terminal in Pasadena, Texas. One worker was killed, and another injured, with about 190,000 US gallons (720,000 L) of product being lost. The failure was caused by internal corrosion.[204][205]

On October 3, a crew working on a Turnpike expansion drill into a Colonial Pipeline petroleum products pipeline, in Hamilton, New Jersey. About 35,000 gallons of Diesel fuel were spilled, with 100 gallons not recovered.[206][207]

On October 3, construction equipment hit a Mid Valley Pipeline Company pipeline in Florence, Kentucky, spilling 3,650 barrels of crude oil.[208]

On the night of November 15, a gas compressor for a pipeline at an entry exploded and burned near Godley, Texas. The fire spread to another company's gas compressor station next to it. A 24-inch gas pipeline had to be shut down to stop the fire. There were no injuries, and damages were estimated at $2 million.[209]

On November 25, a gasoline release from a Sunoco petroleum pipeline occurred, near a retail mall in Murrysville, Pennsylvania. Officials said the release occurred from the 6-inch line at about 9:30 a.m. while a Sunoco Logistics crew was working on a ball valve. It was suspected the ball valve was improperly installed. The failure resulted in the evacuation of numerous stores, restaurants and roads in the immediate vicinity due to the dousing of gasoline and subsequent vapors emitting from the 11,760 US gallons (44,500 L) of spilled product.[210]

On December 5, a driver of a vehicle went off of a road, and struck a valve on an AMOCO gasoline pipeline in Colon, Michigan. The driver was killed, and, the fire burned for several days. About 14,000 gallons of gasoline were burned, or lost.[211][212]

2009Edit

On January 4, 2009, a 6.625-inch storage well line operated by Columbia Gas Transmission Company in Elk View (near Charleston), Kanawha County, West Virginia, ruptured due to internal corrosion pitting complicated by low impact toughness of the pipe material, causing $29,011 in damage.[213]

On January 15, an accidental massive gas release at Pump Station 1 of the trans-Alaskan pipeline by Alyeska Pipeline Service Company threatened the site at the time. The company that runs the pipeline acknowledges a fire or explosion, had the gas ignited, could have imperiled the station's 60-plus workers and caused "an extended shutdown" of oil fields. There was no ignition or explosion. The incident occurred as BP workers used a cleaning device called a pig to swab oil out of an old pipeline the company was preparing to decommission. The 34-inch pipe was among major Prudhoe trunk lines found in 2006 to be ravaged with corrosion, due to BP's admitted lack of proper maintenance. A large volume of gas then bypassed the pig somehow, and rushed to Pump Station 1, a key asset through which every drop of oil coming off the North Slope must pass.[214]

On February 1, a gas pipeline explosion rocked the area 2 miles (3.2 km) east of Carthage, Texas.[215]

On February 11, a pipeline exploded and ignited near a natural gas treatment plant, near Carthage, Texas. There were no injuries.[216]

At approximately 5 p.m. on February 18, a rupture of pipeline near the pump station and terminal located in Cygnet, Ohio, owned by Philadelphia-based Sunoco, resulted in one of the largest oil spills in Wood County history.[217] Upon learning of the release, the company immediately shut down the pipeline, stopped operations at the pump station and terminal, notified the appropriate authorities, and began an emergency response. As of 11:05 a.m. ET on February 19, the release had been stopped from the pipe. The damaged pipeline, which was operating at the time, released 1,250 barrels (199 m3) of crude oil into a farm field. Eventually, 782 of the 1,250 barrels (199 m3) released were recovered. Some of the crude oil, approximately 200 barrels (32 m3), did contaminate a local creek. There were no fatalities, or injuries.[218][219]

On May 4, Kinder Morgan's Florida Gas Transmission pipeline burst near Palm City and Hobe City (near Port Salerno, Florida). The explosion ejected 106 feet of buried pipe weighing about 5,000 pounds out of the ground and onto the right-of-way between Interstate 95 and the Florida Turnpike (SR-91). The rupture was near a high school that was within the 366-foot potential impact radius. Two people were injured when their car ran off the road, and a Sheriff's deputy walked through a dense cloud and inhaled natural gas. The escaping gas did not ignite. The leak caused $596,218 in property damage. FGT was cited for safety violations: failing to identify a high-consequence area, failing to test operators for alcohol and drugs, and failing to have prompt emergency response; PHMSA assessed a $95,000 fine.[220]

On May 5, a natural gas pipeline exploded and caught on fire, near Rockville, Indiana in Parke County, about 24 miles (39 km) north of Terre Haute, Indiana. The cause of this failure was determined to be external corrosion. Additional work performed as a result of this order provided significant indications of external corrosion in various sections of this line. Pictures have been released around the area showing the damage caused. 52 people were evacuated in a one-mile (1.6 km) area of the explosion. No injuries reported.[171][221]

On May 21, an Enbridge pipeline pig sending trap in Superior, Wisconsin leaked from operator error, spilling about 6500 gallons of crude oil. 700 cubic yards of contaminated soil had to be removed.[222][223]

On July 15, an explosion occurred at Kinder Morgan's Midcontinent Express pipeline natural gas metering station that was under construction, while it was being pressure tested with nitrogen, in Smith County, Mississippi. One worker was killed, and two others injured. There was no fire.[224] The workers were "literally right on top" of the explosion; their injuries were caused by pressure, not heat. One worker was injured when part of the pipe fell on him. The explosion snapped and bent a pipeline connected to a massive separator unit which was slung several yards.[225]

On August 10, operators of a Belle Fourche pipeline incorrectly operated the line, causing it to fail, near Edgerton, Wyoming. About 30,000 gallons of crude oil were spill, with about 1,200 gallons being lost.[189]

On August 17, a pipeline was found leaking by an aerial patrol in Atoka County, Oklahoma. 50 barrels (7.9 m3) of diesel fuel were estimated to have been released as a result of this accident, and none of it was recovered.[226]

On October 7, a leaking pipeline carrying jet fuel was accidentally ignited by a pipeline repair crew in Upton County, Texas.[227]

On October 28, Kinder Morgan's Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America above-ground storage tank north of St. Elmo, Illinois caught fire, injuring two workers. Welding caused the tank to ignite resulting in several explosions. Two workers were taken to the hospital.[228]

On November 5, two people were hurt when an El Paso Natural Gas pipeline exploded in the Texas Panhandle near Bushland, Texas. The explosion left a hole about 30 yards by 20 yards and close to 15 feet (4.6 m) deep. The orange inferno rose about 700 feet in the air; the blast incinerated the home of the Jose Torres family, injuring his wife Agnieszka and daughter Franczeska. About 200 residents in the area were evacuated. Bushland is in Potter County, about 15 miles (24 km) west of Amarillo. The failure was in an abandoned tap, but the exact failure reason remains unknown. The explosion cause $436,136 in property damage.[229][230][231][232][233]

On November 14, a fire at a gas compressor station near Cameron, West Virginia slightly burned one employee, and causes $5.6 million of damage to the facility.[234]

Also on November 14, 2009, a newly built 42-inch gas transmission pipeline near Philo, Ohio failed on the second day of operation. There was no fire, but evacuations resulted. Several indications of pipe deformation were found.[235][236]

From December 3 to 4, a Minnesota Pipeline carrying crude oil leaked in Todd County, Minnesota, spilling about 5,000 barrels of crude. Pipeline workers on December 3 had been repairing sections of the 16-inch pipe in a rural area, left on the afternoon of December 3, and the spill occurred during the evening hours of December 3–4.[237][238][239]

On December 23, a crude oil pipeline started leaking in Galveston, Texas. There was no fire or explosion as a result of the accident, and an estimated 120 barrels (19 m3) of crude oil were released to the environment.[240]

2010sEdit
2010Edit

On January 2, Enbridge's Line 2 ruptured near Neche, North Dakota, releasing about 3,784 barrels of crude oil, of which only 2,237 barrels of were recovered. The cause was a material defect.[241][242]

On January 7, a gas pipeline exploded near Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, in January, killing a pipeline employee.[243]

On February 1, a plumber trying to unclog a sewer line in St. Paul, Minnesota ruptured a gas service line that has been "cross bored" through the house's sewer line. The plumber and resident escape the house moments before as an explosion and following fire destroyed the house. The Minnesota Office of Pipeline Safety ordered that gas utility, Xcel, to check for more cross bored gas lines. In the following year, 25,000 sewer lines inspected showed 57 other cross bored gas lines. In Louisville, Kentucky, 430 gas line cross bores were found in 200 miles (320 km) of a sewer project, including some near schools and a hospital. The NTSB had cited such cross bore incidents as a known hazard since 1976.[244][245]

On February 25, a natural gas liquids (NGL) pipeline ruptured near Pond Creek, Oklahoma, releasing over 575,000 US gallons (2,180,000 L) of NGL's, and forcing road closures. There was no fire.[246][247]

On March 1, at about 8:10 am, Mid-Valley Pipeline identified a release of crude oil in the manifold area of the Mid-Valley tank farm in Longview, Texas. Crude oil was observed "gushing" from the soil in the manifold area. About 198 barrels of crude oil were estimated to have been released and 196 barrels were recovered from the secondary containment area within Mid-Valley's site.[248]

On March 15, a 24-inch gas pipeline burst, but did not ignite near Pampa, Texas.[249]

On March 25, there was a release of 1700 barrels of Vacuum gas oil (VGO) from the FM-1 pipeline into an open in-ground valve pit and the surrounding area in the West Yard of the Sunoco, R&M Philadelphia refinery in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The area was under the control of the Operator in a fenced off area that is off-limits to the public.[250]

On April 5, a crude oil pipeline ruptured near Green River, Wyoming. At least 84,000 US gallons (320,000 L) of crude were spilled. Corrosion in the pipeline was the cause.[30]

On April 17 Enbridge discovered a leak on the 26-inch Line 2 near Deer River, Minnesota. This leak was due to a crack-like feature associated with the longitudinal weld seam on the inside of the pipe.

On April 23, a pipeline ruptured near Niles, Kansas, due to previous excavation damage. About 1,659 barrels of natural gasoline were lost.[170]

On May 29, a Amoco pipeline leaked nearly 89,000 gallons of gasoline into a farm field. The leak occurred in Constantine Township, St. Joseph County, Michigan. The cause was from a manufacturing defect in the pipe.[212]

On June 7, a 36-inch gas pipeline explosion and fire in Johnson County, Texas, was caused by workers installing poles for electrical lines. One worker killed, and six were injured. Confusion over the location and status of the construction work lead to the pipeline not being marked beforehand.[251][252]

On June 8, construction workers hit an unmarked 14-inch gas gathering pipeline near Darrouzett, Texas. Two workers were killed.[251][253]

The Red Butte Creek oil spill. On June 12, a Chevron crude oil pipeline, damage by lightning, ruptured, causing 800 barrels (130 m3) of crude to spill into Red Butte Creek in Salt Lake City, Utah. Crude then flowed into a pond in Liberty Park.[254]

On July 5, a landowner operating a bulldozer hit an 8-inch LPG/propane pipeline near Thomson, Georgia. Later, the propane fumes ignited, killing the adult son of the landowner, and igniting fires that destroyed a trailer house and woodlands.[255]

On July 26, the Kalamazoo River oil spill: Enbridge Energy Partners LLP (Enbridge), reported that a 30-inch (760 mm) pipeline belonging to Enbridge burst in Marshall, Michigan. Enbridge had numerous alarms from the affected Line 6B, but controllers thought the alarms were from phase separation, and the leak was not reported to Enbridge for 17 hours. Enbridge estimates over 800,000 US gallons (3,000,000 L) of crude oil leaked into Talmadge Creek, a waterway that feeds the Kalamazoo River,[256][257] whereas EPA reports over 1,139,569 gallons of oil have been recovered as of November 2011.[258] On July 27, 2010, an Administrative Order was issued by U.S. EPA requiring the performance of removal actions in connection with the facility. The Order requires Enbridge to immediately conduct removal of a discharge or to mitigate or prevent a substantial threat of a discharge of oil and to submit a Work Plan for the cleanup activities that was to include a Health and Safety Plan,[259] as required by 29 CFR 1910.120 (HAZWOPER). In 2012, the NTSB later cited known but unrepaired cracks and external corrosion as the cause.[260]

On August 10, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Justice Department announced that Plains All American Pipeline and several of its operating subsidiaries have agreed to spend approximately $41 million to upgrade 10,420 miles (16,770 km) of crude oil pipeline operated in the United States. The settlement resolves Plains' Clean Water Act violations for ten crude oil spills in Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Kansas, and requires the company to pay a $3.25 million civil penalty.[261]

On August 17, smell from a mixture of gasoline and diesel fuel were detected in Hammond, Indiana. The source was from a leaking Amoco/BP pipeline in the area, and, about 38,000 gallons of the mixture was released. about 5,000 gallons of the spillage was not recovered. The cause was from external corrosion to the pipeline.[212][262]

On August 25, a construction crew installing a gas pipeline in Roberts County, Texas hit an unmarked pipeline, seriously burning one man.[263]

On August 24, a gas compressor station in Shongaloo, Louisiana injured one worker.[264]

On August 27, a LPG pipeline sprang a leak in Gilboa, New York, forcing the evacuation of 23 people. The cause was stress corrosion cracking. There were no injuries or ignition.[265][266][267]

On September 9, a pipeline leaked crude oil near Lockport, Illinois. EPA officials said the spill was near wetlands that house several endangered species. Federal officials said about 270,000 US gallons (1,000,000 L) of oil were released in Lockport and Romeoville, about 35 miles (56 km) southwest of Chicago.[268]

On September 9, 2010 a high pressure gas pipeline exploded in San Bruno, California, a suburb of San Francisco. The blast destroyed 38 houses and damaged 120 houses. Eight people died and many were injured. Ten acres of brush also burned. Later, PG&E was unable to supply the California Public Utilities Commission with documents on how PG&E established pressure limits on some of its gas transmission pipelines. It was also revealed that this pipeline had 26 leaks between Milpitas and San Francisco during the time of 1951 to 2009, with some of the leak causes listed in records as "unknown". Later hydrostatic testing of the same pipeline that failed found a pinhole leak, and a previously damaged section blew out.[269][270][271][272][273]

On September 9, a 20-inch diameter Columbia Gas Transmission Company pipeline failed in Lawrence County, Kentucky. While there was no fire or evacuations, the condition of this uncoated, non-cathodic protected, unknown grade pipeline caused PHMSA to enter into a Consent Order to eventually replace this pipeline.[274]

On September 28, a repair crew was working on a corroded gas pipe in Cairo, Georgia, when the line exploded. One crew member was killed, and three others burned.[275]

On October 15, a gas pipeline under construction in Grand Prairie, Texas was running a cleaning pig without a pig "trap" at the end of the pipe. The 150 pound pig was expelled from the pipeline with enough force to fly 500 feet (150 m), and crash through the side of a house. No one was injured.[276]

On November 12, three men working on natural gas lines were injured when a pipeline ruptured in Monroe, Louisiana.[277]

On November 30, a Tennessee Gas Pipeline 30-inch gas pipeline failed at Natchitoches, Louisiana. There was no fire, but the pipeline had a Magnetic Flux smart pig test earlier in the year that indicated no flaws in the pipeline. The failure was at a crack in a wrinkle bend. The deadly 1965 gas pipeline accident had occurred on a different pipeline owned by the same company nearby.[278]

On December 1, a valve on a crude oil pipeline leaked about 500 barrels (79 m3) of crude in Salt Lake City, Utah. This failure was only 100 yards from a June 2010 failure on the same pipeline.[279]

On December 2, a pipeline was discovered leaking gasoline near Livingston, Illinois.[280]

On December 8, at East Bernard, Texas, a 24” diameter Tennessee Gas Pipeline exploded, blasting a 12-foot section of ruptured pipe 295 feet and caused $715,000 in property damage. It took 6 hours for the pipe system to blow down. The cause of the leak was a full guillotine failure of the pipe caused by internal corrosion microbiologically induced due to moisture in the pipe.[281]

On December 17, a gas line fire and explosion just outside Corpus Christi, Texas city limits leaves one person critically injured. A man was working on removing an abandoned pipeline when it exploded, and the man's face was severely burned.[282]

On December 21, a crude oil pipeline was discovered leaking into the Dominguez Channel in the Port of Los Angeles. Over 1,000 gallons of crude oil was recovered, but the pipeline company was alleged to have failed to report the spill to State or Federal pipeline authorities. A 61 count criminal complaint was later filed in this accident.[283]

On December 28, a pipeline at an underground gas storage facility in Covington County, Mississippi, forcing the evacuation of about two-dozen families for over a week.[284]

2011Edit

On January 11, personnel from Millennium Pipeline noticed that a gas transmission pipeline was leaking in Tioga County, New York. This 30-inch diameter pipeline was built in 2008. A pinhole in a rejected girth weld was found to be the cause of the failure. It appears that during the course of the construction project for the line, the subject pipe section was inadvertently picked up and subsequently installed in the pipeline. PHMSA ordered testing of this pipeline for similar flaws.[285][286]

A 12-inch cast iron gas main leaking in Philadelphia explodes, killing a repair crew member and injuring six others on January 18.[287][288]

Multiple gas pressure regulators failed, and caused a gas pressure surge in Fairport Harbor, Ohio, on January 24, causing gas fires in 11 houses, and one apartment. 150 gas appliances were damaged or destroyed, but there were no injuries. Gas company Dominion East Ohio says it found fluids and debris in a failed regulator. A year after the explosion, the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio recommended a $500,000 fine for Dominion.[289][290][291][292]

Five people were killed, and eight houses were destroyed, in a gas explosion and fire in Allentown, Pennsylvania on February 9. The NTSB had warned UGI about cast iron gas mains needing replacement after the 1990 gas explosion in that city. Between 1976 and the date of the letter, July 10, 1992, two more gas explosions occurred. Three people were killed, 23 injured and 11 houses were destroyed or damaged in those explosions. UGI was cited in 2012 for several safety violations, including a lack of valves on their gas system.[293][294][295][296]

Late on February 10, a Tennessee Gas Pipeline 36-inch gas transmission pipeline exploded and burned near Lisbon, Ohio. No injuries resulted. The cause was from stress on a girth weld on the pipeline. A failure on another girth weld on the pipeline system led to a PHMSA Consent Agreement.[297][298][299]

Early on February 24, a pipeline near Texas City, Texas ruptured, sending up to 5,000 US gallons (19,000 L) of gasoline into Bayou Pierre.[300][301]

On March 1, a Tennessee Gas Pipeline gas transmission pipeline failed near Cumberland, Ohio. A material or weld defect was the cause.[302][303]

Early on March 17, a 20-inch steel CenterPoint Energy natural gas line running through a Minneapolis, Minnesota neighborhood ruptured, and gas from it ignited, caused evacuations to buildings nearby, and Interstate 35W was closed from downtown Minneapolis to Highway 62. There were no injuries. The Minnesota Office of Pipeline Safety later found the pipe there was not designed to handle the load of soil and passing cars, and efforts to shore up the pipeline were incorrectly carried out.[304][305][306]

A farmer and rancher near White Oak Township, Michigan smelled gasoline on April 13, and discovered gasoline from a products pipeline leaking into a drainage ditch. As of late September, an estimated 460,000 gallons of gasoline had been released, with about 111,000 gallons of it recovered.[307]

On May 7, a threaded connection failed on a Keystone Pipeline pump at a station in Sargent County, North Dakota, spilling about 400 barrels of crude oil. Due to a number of other leaks on this pipeline system, Keystone's owner, TransCanada Corporation, was given a Corrective Action Order by PHMSA.[308]

An 8-inch NGL pipeline failed in Romeoville, Illinois on May 14, leaking about 4200 gallons of butane. Corrosion inside a casing under a road was the cause of the failure. Corrosion only 2.5 feet from the failure had been seen by a smart pig run in 2007, but was not within action limits at the time.[309]

On May 19, a 10-inch crude oil pipeline ruptured near Maysville, Oklahoma. Over 42,000 US gallons (160,000 L) of crude were lost. There was no fire. Internal pipeline corrosion was the cause.[310][311]

A 2-inch lateral on a crude oil pipeline rupture in Huntington Beach, California on July 1. A major road, Goldenwest Street, had to be closed for cleaning and pipeline repairs.[312]

Late on July 1, a 12-inch Exxon Mobil crude oil pipeline. also known as the Silvertip Pipeline, ruptured, and spilled about 63,000 gallons of oil into the Yellowstone River in south-central Montana. There was confusion in the pipeline control room, causing a delayed pipeline shutdown. Some residents of Laurel, Montana had to be evacuated.[313][314] The break near Billings fouled the riverbank and forced municipalities and irrigation districts to close intakes.[315][316] Exxon later increased the spill size estimate to 1500 barrels in January 2012 after seeing the damage to the pipeline.[317] About 140 people were evacuated starting about 12:15 a.m. Saturday due to concerns about possible explosions and the overpowering fumes. All were allowed to return after instruments showed petroleum odors had decreased,[318] although no information was available regarding the concentrations of benzene in air. Speculation involves high water flow in the Yellowstone River may have scoured the river bed and exposed the pipe. Consequently, with three oil refineries are located in the Billings area, the fire chief for the city of Laurel said he asked all three to turn off the flow of oil in their pipelines under the river after the leak was reported. Exxon Mobil and Cenex Harvest Refinery did so, and that Conoco Phillips said its pipe was already shutdown.[318] Cenex had a release into the Yellowstone River in September 2002. Exxon Mobil later announced the cleanup would cost $135 million. In 2015, Exxon Mobil was fined $1 million by PHMSA for this incident.[319][320][321][322]

On July 20, a six-month-old, 30-inch natural gas pipeline exploded near Gillette, Wyoming, creating a 60-foot (18 m) crater. There was no fire, nor any injuries. Construction or installation issues caused the failure.[323][324]

A pipeline carrying jet fuel ruptured in Mango, Florida on July 22. About 31,500 US gallons (119,000 L) of fuel spilled. There was no fire or injuries.[325]

On August 13, an 8-inch NGL pipeline ruptured near Onawa, Iowa at a Missouri River crossing, during flooding conditions. About 818 barrels of Natural Gasoline was lost. There were no evacuations or injuries, but two other pipelines in the same right of way were forced to shut down.[326][327][328][329]

On August 17, Kinder Morgan's Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America had a flash fire and explosion at a plant south of Herscher, Illinois. Five employees went to the hospital. Kinder Morgan was later cited for pipeline and workplace safety violations.[330][331]

A pipeline carrying heating oil was hit by construction workers in East Providence, Rhode Island on August 31, spraying oil on roofs, trees, and pavement, and flowed into storm drains. At least 56,000 US gallons (210,000 L) of oil were spilled.[332]

A Cupertino, California condominium was gutted August 31, after a plastic pipeline fitting cracked, filling the garage with natural gas that exploded just minutes after the owner left for lunch. PG&E later found six other plastic pipe failures near the blast site. The line was an especially problematic type of pipe manufactured by DuPont called Aldyl-A. PG&E has 1,231 miles (1,981 km) of the early-1970s-vintage pipe in its system. Federal regulators singled out pre-1973 Aldyl-A starting in 2002 as being at risk of failing because of premature cracking. Explosions caused by failed Aldyl-A and other types of plastic pipe have killed more than 50 people in the United States since 1971, the federal government says.[333]

A 10-inch LPG pipeline failed on September 8 in Mitchell County, Texas. The escaping gas ignited, starting a small brush fire. The cause of the failure was a crack in the weld of a repair sleeve from bending and heat hardening. There were no injuries.[334]

On September 20, a farmer digging to lay drainage tile hit a 10-inch gasoline pipeline near Aurelius, New York, spilling about 3,300 US gallons (12 m3) of gasoline. There was no fire or injuries.[335]

A 2-inch crude oil gathering pipeline failed in Oklahoma on October 12, spilling about 120 barrels of oil. There were no injuries or fire from the failure.[336]

Early on November 3, an explosion and fire hit a gas Columbia Gas Transmission pipeline compressor station at Artemas in Mann Township, Bedford County, Pennsylvania. There were no injuries. The cause was internal corrosion.[337][338]

On November 8, a contractor for Vectren Corp. working on a bare gas main replacement project broke a "short stub" on the main, then failed to notify New Albany, Indiana authorities about the leak. Gas migrated through the soil, and built up in a nearby house, then exploded. Five people had to be hospitalized.[339]

A crew working on a waterline hit a gas distribution pipeline in Fairborn, Ohio on November 12, leading to a gas explosion that killed one man, and injured five others, including children.[340]

On November 16, a Tennessee Gas Pipeline 36-inch gas transmission pipeline exploded and burned near Glouster, Ohio. Two people were injured, with three houses and a barn destroyed, and a barn damaged. The pipeline failed at a girth weld, with landsliding causing more stress on the weld.[341][342]

Late on November 21, a Tennessee Gas Pipeline 24-inch gas transmission pipeline exploded and burned near Batesville, Mississippi. Twenty houses were evacuated for a time, but there were no injuries or major property damage. The pipeline failed at a sleeve over a wrinkle bend installed in 1946.[343]

On December 3, a Williams Companies gas transmission pipeline exploded and burned in Marengo County, Alabama. A 47-foot section of the pipe was hurled more than 200 feet from the failure area. The gas burned for several hours, and a nearby pipeline was damaged. There were no injuries, or serious property damage. External corrosion was the cause of the failure, due to issues with the pipeline coating, the cathodic protection level, and the local soil corrosiveness.[344][345][346]

On December 6, explosions and fire erupted at a natural gas pipeline compressor station in Sublette County, Wyoming. Two workers were injured.[347]

On December 10, a landowner using a bulldozer hit an 8-inch and a 12-inch petroleum pipelines near Nemaha, Nebraska, rupturing both lines. The spill size was estimated to be 119,000 gallons of gasoline, jet fuel, and Diesel fuel. Some of the fuels flowed into a creek leading into Jasper Creek. There were questions about the depth of soil coverage for this pipeline.[348][349][350][351]

A 42-inch natural gas transmission pipeline failed and ignited at a valve on December 10 in Cache County, Utah.[352][353]

On December 27, controllers for Enterprise Pipeline received an alarm, for a leak on an LPG pipeline. The leak location was found in Loving County, Texas. Repair crew excavated the area, and found a full girth weld failure. During the pipeline repair, a flash fire involving residual pipeline product in the soil occurred, injuring 3 employees, one of whom required in-patient hospitalization. The rupture was attributed to the complete circumferential separation of an acetylene girth weld dating to 1928, and the flash fire was attributed to operator error.[354]

2012Edit

A 30-inch gas pipeline exploded and burned, in Estill County, Kentucky, on the evening of January 2. The rupture created a crater approximately 86 feet long by 22 feet wide, and expelled a number of pieces of pipe as far as 800 feet from the rupture center. Flames were reported reaching over 1,000 feet high. Residents up to a mile away from the failure were evacuated. There were no injuries. The cause was overstress from land movement.[355][356]

A forest fire caused a gas pipeline to explode and burn in Floyd County, Kentucky on January 7. There were no injuries from this incident.[357]

On January 9, a man was killed, and another person injured, in a fiery house explosion from a leaking 4-inch cast iron gas main installed in 1950 in Austin, Texas. Gas had been smelled in the area for several weeks prior to this. Gas company crews had looked along the affected property for a leak, but were unable to find it.[288][358]

A Sunoco pipeline ruptured and spilled about 117,000 gallons of gasoline, in Wellington, Ohio, late on January 12. Some residents were evacuated for a week.[359][360]

On January 13, an 8-inch gas pipeline exploded and burned, in a vacant agricultural field, in Rio Vista, California. There were no injuries or evacuations.[361]

A Tennessee Gas Pipeline gas compressor had a major leak "that sounded like a rocket" in Powell County, Kentucky, forcing evacuations of nearby residents on January 14. There was no fire or injuries reported.[362]

A contractor excavating for a communications company caused a massive gas explosion and fire at a condominium complex on January 16 in West Haverstraw, New York, injuring two firefighters and two utility workers. Afterwards, it was found that the excavator's insurance will be insufficient to cover all of the property damage of the incident.[363]

On January 18, the original Colonial Pipeline mainline failed in Belton, South Carolina, spilling about 13,500 gallons of petroleum product. The failure was caused by internal corrosion.[364]

Workers in Topeka, Kansas were installing a yard sprinkler system on January 30, hit a gas line. Gas from the leak later on exploded in a nearby house, burning a 73-year-old woman, who died several weeks later.[365][366]

On January 31, a Shell Oil Company fuel pipeline to the Milwaukee, Wisconsin Mitchell International Airport was found to be leaking. Jet fuel had been smelled for about two weeks in the area, and was found in runoff water in the area. The cause was from external corrosion. About 9,000 gallons of fuel were spilled. In 2014, a Shell employee was scheduled to plead guilty to charges of falsifying records of the pipeline.[367][368]

A Florida Gas Transmission Company 30-inch gas transmission pipeline burst near Baton Rouge, Louisiana on February 13. Residents in the area were evacuated for a time, but there was no fire.[369][370]

On February 15, 2012, in Arenac County, Michigan, oil was discovered in the soil around a 30-inch Enbridge crude oil pipeline. About 800 gallons of crude oil was spilled.[371]

Two cars that were drag racing went off the road they were on, and crash through a fence and into a crude oil pipeline in New Lenox, Illinois on March 3. The pipeline was ruptured, and the crude oil ignited. Two men from the vehicles were killed, and three others seriously burned.[372][373]

On March 5, a leak at an Enid, Oklahoma pipeline storage facility spread propane fumes in the area, forcing evacuations. There was no fire or explosion.[374]

A crude oil pipeline leaked near Grand Isle, Louisiana on March 17, spilling as much as 8,400 gallons of crude oil. There were no injuries reported.[375]

On March 29, an employee accidentally left a valve open during maintenance work on a Williams Companies gas compressor station near Springville Township, Pennsylvania. Later, gas leaked through the valve, causing alarms to evacuate workers in the compressor building. Later, the gas exploded and burned. There were no injuries. It was also found there are no agencies enforcing rules on rural gas facilities in that state.[376][377]

On April 2, Transcontinental Gas Pipeline Company, reported a leak on their 72nd Street Interstate Transmission Lateral located in North Bergen, New Jersey. Workers discovered a rock in contact with the bottom of the pipe. Upon removing the rock, the pipeline began to leak. There was no fire or injuries reported as a result of this incident.[378]

A 12-inch gas pipeline exploded and burned for five hours near Gary, Texas on April 4. There were no injuries, but the rupture site was only 200 feet from that pipeline's compressor station.[379]

On April 6, two gas company workers were mildly burned when attempting to fix a leak on a 4-inch gas pipeline in DeSoto County, Mississippi. The pipeline exploded and burned during the repairs.[380]

A gas pipeline exploded and burned in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana, on April 9. The accident was reported first by a satellite monitoring the area to the NRC. There were no injuries.[381]

Two men escaped with only minor burns after a bulldozer they were using hit a 24-inch gas pipeline near Hinton, Iowa on April 25. Authorities later announced the men did not call 811 for an underground utility locate.[382]

On April 28, an ExxonMobil 20/22-inch-diameter pipeline ruptured near Torbert in Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana, about 20 miles west of Baton Rouge, and crude oil spilled into the surrounding area, and flowed into an unnamed tributary connected to Bayou Cholpe. About 117,000 gallons of crude were spilled, with about 37,000 gallons being lost. The pipeline failed due to a manufacturing defect.[383][384][385]

A 26-inch gas transmission pipeline ruptured on June 6 in a compressor station near Laketon in northeastern Gray County, Texas. Gas escaped from the 50-foot-long rupture, igniting, leaving a crater 30 feet in diameter, burning two acres of agricultural area and telephone poles. There were no injuries.[386]

On June 8, near Canadian, Texas, a trackhoe operator suffered burns, after a fire from leaking 4-inch gas-gathering pipeline that was undergoing maintenance. Fumes entered the engine of the trackhoe and ignited.[387]

A contractor was killed and two others injured after an explosion at a BP gas compressor station in Durango, Colorado on June 25. BP, Halliburton, and the other contractors were fined $7,000 each for safety violations in that work.[388][389]

A West Shore Pipe Line petroleum products pipeline burst near Jackson, Wisconsin on July 17, releasing about 54,000 gallons of gasoline. At least one family self evacuated due to the leak. At least 44 water wells nearby were contaminated from benzine in the gasoline, including a municipal well. A LF-ERW seam failure was suspected as the cause. Further testing revealed that at least 26 other areas on this pipeline needed repairs, with 22 within the Jackson Marsh Wildlife Area.[390][391][392][393]

A 14-inch gas gathering pipeline exploded and burned on July 18 near Intracoastal City, Louisiana. There were no injuries or major property damage reported.[394]

On July 23, a compressor station operated by Williams Companies in Windsor, New York was venting gas in a "routine procedure" — during a lightning storm — when the vent was ignited by lightning, causing a fireball "hundreds of feet into the air"[395][396]

An Enbridge crude oil pipeline ruptured in Grand Marsh, Wisconsin, releasing an estimated 1,200 barrels of crude oil. The pipeline had been installed in 1998. Flaws in the longitudinal welds had been seen during X-ray checks of girth welds.[163][397]

Four contract workers were injured during a flash fire at a Wyoming gas processing plant on August 22.[398]

A jet fuel pipeline near Chicago began leaking on August 27. The burst pipeline spilled an estimated 42,000 gallons of jet fuel into a ditch that empties into the Calumet Sag Channel in Palos Heights, Illinois. External corrosion was the cause of the pipeline failure.[399][400][401]

On August 28, a Atmos Energy repair crew struck an 8-inch gas main in McKinney, Texas, causing a fire. Four Atmos workers were treated for injuries. 1,000 Atmos gas customers lost gas service for a time.[402][403]

On September 6, a 10-inch gas gathering pipeline exploded and burned near Alice, Texas. Flames reached 100 feet high, and caused a 10-acre brush fire. There were no injuries.[404]

An explosion and fire hit a Crestwood Midstream Partners gas compressor station in Hood County, Texas on September 6. Heavy damage to a sheet metal building resulted, but, there were no injuries reported to crew there.[405]

A Colorado Interstate Gas gas compressor in Rio Blanco County, Colorado caught fire on September 11. There were no reported injuries.[406][407]

On September 24, an excavator struck a 4-inch natural gas line on Route 416 in Montgomery, New York. Escaping gas ignited, and it took 90 minutes before the gas was shut off. There were no injuries.[408]

The operator of an excavator machine narrowly escaped serious injury in Lewiston, Idaho on November 19, when his machine hit a gas pipeline during road work. The resulting fire destroyed a railroad signal, along with several telephone poles, and road construction equipment. The depth of the pipeline has been misjudged at that location.[409][410]

On November 20, about 38,000 gallons of crude oil spilled from an Enbridge pipeline at a tank farm in Mokena, Illinois.[411][412]

Two men were injured in an explosion and fire at a natural gas production facility east of Price, Utah on November 20.[413]

On November 23, a gas company worker looking for the source of a reported gas leak in a Springfield, Massachusetts strip club pierce a gas line. The gas later exploded, injuring 21, devastating the strip club, and damaging numerous nearby buildings.[414]

On November 30, a heavy equipment operator punctured a 12-inch gas transmission pipeline, near the city of Madera, California. The adjacent highway, along with several rural roads, was shut down for hours, while houses and businesses in the area were evacuated.[415]

A malfunction in a gas compressor caused a fire on December 4, north of Fort Worth, Texas. There were no injuries.[416]

On December 5, a 16-inch gas pipeline at 500 psi of pressure exploded and burned near a natural gas plant in Goldsmith, Texas. A fireball 250 feet high was created after the explosion, destroying 12 to 15 utility poles, and caliche and rocks the size of bowling balls damaged a road. There were no injuries reported.[417]

On December 11, at approximately 12:40pm, a 20-inch gas pipeline owned by NiSource Inc., parent of Columbia Gas, exploded along I-77 between Sissonville and Pocatalico, West Virginia. Several people suffered minor injuries, four houses were destroyed, and other buildings were damaged. Early reports announced the NTSB was investigating as to why alarms in the control room for this pipeline did not sound for this failure.[418][419][420][421]

On December 26, a 20-inch Florida Gas Transmission Company pipeline ruptured near Melbourne, Florida, ejecting a 20-foot section of the pipeline. There was no fire or injuries.[422]

2013Edit

On January 1, a Colonial Pipeline line was overpressured by improper operation, causing a spill of about 5,500 gallons of petroleum product in Greensboro, North Carolina. About 1,000 gallons of product was not recovered.[207]

On January 15, a utility crew struck and ruptured a 4-inch gas pipeline in Lewisville, Texas, causing a nearby house to explode later on. The explosion killed a man.[423]

An independent contractor installing fiber-optic cable for a cable company in Kansas City, Missouri inadvertently struck an underground gas line on February 19. Gas later caught fire, and created an explosion that destroyed a popular local restaurant, killing one of the workers there, and injuring about 15 others near the scene.[424][425]

A tug towing a barge struck and ruptured a Chevron LPG pipeline at Bayou Perot, a marshy area on the borders of Jefferson Parish and Lafourche Parish, Louisiana on March 12. The tug Captain was severely burned when the escaping gas ignited, and died several weeks later from those injuries.[426][427]

On March 8, pipeline equipment failure resulted in a spill of 6,000 barrels of crude oil, in eastern Columbia County, Arkansas.[428]

On March 18, a Chevron 8-inch petroleum products pipeline ruptured along a seam, spilling Diesel fuel into Willard Bay State Park near Ogden, Utah. Wildlife was coated with Diesel, but, the fuel was prevented from entering into water supply intakes. About 25,000 gallons of Diesel were spilled.[429][430]

A Williams Companies 24-inch gas gathering pipeline failed in Marshall County, West Virginia on March 22. There were no injuries.[431]

The 2013 Mayflower oil spill occurred when ExxonMobil's 20-inch Pegasus crude oil pipeline spilled near Mayflower, Arkansas on March 29, causing crude to flow through yards and gutters, and towards Lake Conway. Wildlife was coated in some places. Twenty-two houses were evacuated, due to the fumes and fire hazard. Some estimates say the total amount spilled could reach upwards of 300,000 gallons of diluted bitumen were spilled. Hook cracks and extremely low impact toughness in the LF-ERW seam of the pipe were identified as causes of the failure.[432][433][434][435]

On April 4, an explosion and fire occurred at a gas compressor station near Guthrie, Oklahoma. Nearby houses were evacuated. There were no injuries reported.[436]

A flash fire at a pipeline gas compressor station broke out when natural gas liquids ignited in Tyler County, West Virginia on April 11, seriously burning three workers, two of whom later died. The workers were performing pipeline pigging operations.[437][438]

On April 30, the Pegasus oil pipeline spilled a small amount of crude into a residential yard in Ripley County, Missouri, a month after the same pipe spewed thousands of barrels of crude in Arkansas. The Pegasus pipeline was out of service from the Mayflower, Arkansas spill, accounting for the minimal amount of oil spilled in Missouri.[439]

On May 9, Diesel fuel was detected to be leaking from a Marathon pipeline in Indianapolis, Indiana. Over 20,000 gallons of Diesel leaked, at a slow rate that was not detected by SCADA systems. Cleanup cause a nearby major road to be shut down for five days. There were no injuries reported.[440]

Late night on May 14, an explosion and fire hit a Williams Companies gas compressor station near Brooklyn Township, Pennsylvania. There were no reported injuries.[441]

On May 8, the Kinder Morgan Tejas pipeline compressor station near Crockett, Texas, required an emergency shutdown and subsequently had a fire that caused $7,502,188 in property damage.[442][443]

On May 30, two construction workers were injured, when a fire erupted during welding at a Williams Companies natural gas facility in Hunterdon County, New Jersey.[444]

A 12-inch gas transmission pipeline failed near Torrington, Wyoming on June 13. LF-ERW seam failure was suspected as cause. There was no fire or injuries.[445]

On June 18, in Washington Parish, Louisiana, a Kinder Morgan Florida Gas Transmission Company 30" diameter pipeline ruptured and exploded before dawn, jolting residents out of their beds. No one was seriously hurt but 55 homes were evacuated. The blast knocked down trees in an area about 200 yards across and the fire burned those within another 300 yards. "The ground around the crater is completely bare. The dirt around it is just like it had been cooked in a kiln," and an 80-foot section of pipe was destroyed.[446]

On July 4, a fire involved a gas compressor and a nearby ruptured 2-inch gas pipeline in Gilmore Township, Pennsylvania. There were no injuries.[447]

An 8-inch natural gas pipeline released gas from a rupture at 1,400 psi, for 90 minutes in New Franklin, Ohio on July 22, forcing 75 people to evacuate the area. Afterward, the local Fire Chief said that pipeline owners refused to give information to first responders in previous requests.[448]

Early on July 23, a downed 13,000 volt power line sparked a massive gas fire in Mamaroneck, New York when a gas main was damaged by the electricity. Three automobiles were destroyed, and houses were threatened for a time.[449]

On July 26, a leaking BP 20-inch crude oil pipeline spilled 50 to 100 barrels of crude oil in Washington County, Oklahoma. Some of the crude spilled into a drainage ditch leading to a water reservoir.[450]

On the evening of August 12, a 10-inch NGL pipeline exploded and caused a massive propane-ethane mix fire in Erie, Illinois. A number of nearby residents were evacuated for a while, but, there were no injuries.[451]

A leak developed on a valve on Longhorn Pipeline in Austin, Texas during maintenance on August 14, spilling about 300 gallons of crude oil. There were no evacuations.[452]

Atmos Energy crews dug into a 4-inch gas pipeline in Overland Park, Kansas on September 2, causing an explosion and fire. There was no major damage or injuries.[453]

A 10-inch gas gathering pipeline ruptured and burned in Newton County, Texas on September 21. About a dozen people from nearby houses were evacuated for a time. There were no injuries.[454]

On September 24, a Denton TX city water utility worker ruptured a 1/2-inch gas pipeline in Denton, Texas, which immediately caused a fire that gave the worker minor burns. There was no other significant damage.[455]

A farmer near Tioga, North Dakota smelled oil for several days, before discovering a leaking 6-inch 20-year-old Tesoro pipeline under his wheat field, on September 29. Crews tried to burn off the oil at first. The spill size was estimated at 865,000 gallons, and covered over seven acres. There were no injuries. Corrosion was suspected as being the cause. Governor Jack Dalrymple said he wasn't told of the spill until October 9. In May 2014, it was announced that it would 2 1/2 more years before the spilled crude would be cleaned up.[456][457]

On October 7, a gas pipeline burst in Howard County, Texas. There was no fire, but, dangerous hydrogen sulfide in the gas forced evacuations of nearby residents. There were no injuries.[458]

On October 7, authorities were notified of a Lion Oil Trading and Transportation crude oil pipeline leak in Columbia County, Arkansas. It was estimated that the leak started on September 21. Oil spread into a Horsehead Creek tributary.[459]

A 30-inch Northern Natural Gas pipeline exploded and burned in Harper County, Oklahoma on October 8. 220 feet of the pipe was ejected from the ground. Flames were seen for a number of miles, and four houses nearby were evacuated. Oklahoma Highway 283 was closed for several hours until the fire was determined to be under control and safe. There were no injuries.[460][461][462]

On October 29, a Koch Industries 8-inch pipeline spill about 400 barrels of crude oil near Smithville, Texas. The oil polluted a private stock pond and two overflow reservoirs.[463]

A Chevron operated 10-inch LPG pipeline was ruptured by contractors for the company installing a Cathodic protection system, near Milford, Texas, on November 14, causing a large fire, and forcing the evacuation of Milford and 200 students of a nearby school. A nearby 14-inch pipeline was threatened by the failure, but did not fail. There were no injuries reported.[464][465][466]

An ExxonMobil gas plant exploded and burned on November 17, near Kingsville, Texas. The plant burned for over a day, but there were no reported injuries.[467]

On November 18, a gas pipeline burst near Ranger, Texas, causing a fire in a field, with flames reaching 100 feet high. Some houses nearby were evacuated for a time. The owner of the pipeline, Hanlon Gas, had been installing a new compressor station, and they believe a malfunction led to the rupture and fire. There were no injuries reported.[468]

On November 28 a 30-inch Panhandle Eastern natural gas pipeline exploded in Hughesville, Missouri causing several nearby buildings to catch fire. There was a local evacuation but no injuries. Metallurgical examination determined the root cause of the failure to be corrosion.[171][469]

On December 9, a 2-inch pipe on a propane dehydrator failed at the Dixie Pipeline Terminal in Apex, North Carolina, forcing evacuations and sheltering in place at nearby businesses. There was no fire or explosion.[470]

A Sunoco pipeline was found leaking gasoline on December 20, near Coal Township, Pennsylvania, from external corrosion. The initial spill size was reported as two gallons, but, later on, 480 tons of soil were removed as part of the remediation of that leak.[471][472][473]

On December 27, two natural gas company workers had minor burns when the pipeline they were working leaked, and the escaping gas exploded and ignited in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts. Flames 30 feet high knocked out phone service in the area.[474]

2014Edit

On January 7, a Colonial Pipeline line leak from equipment failure in Fountain Inn, South Carolina, spilling about 52,000 gallons of petroleum product, of which around 8,000 gallons was not recovered.[207]

On January 10, a 12-inch PSNC gas transmission pipeline exploded and burned in Asheville, North Carolina. The cause was damage to the pipeline during installation in 2003. There were no injuries, but the costs of property damage was around $825,000.[475]

On February 10, a gas pipeline exploded and burned near Tioga, North Dakota. There were no injuries.[476]

On February 13, a 30-inch diameter Columbia Gulf Transmission gas pipeline carrying natural gas exploded near Knifley, Kentucky, sending two people to the hospital with injuries, destroying two houses, and alarming residents, who saw flames from miles away. Later, it was determined that Hydrogen embrittlement had caused the pipe failure from when the pipeline was installed in 1965.[477][478]

On February 19, a leaking gas main caused a gas build up in a nearby rowhouse, that exploded in [Baltimore, Maryland], killing one youth, and seriously injuring another walking by the area. 3 other people had minor injuries. The area on the gas main near the leak had been patch twice in previous months.[479][480]

On March 6, contractors working for Shell Oil Company hit Shell's Houston-to-Houma (Ho-Ho) crude oil pipeline near Port Neches, Texas, spilling 364 barrels of crude oil.[481]

2014 East Harlem gas explosion: On March 12, there was a gas explosion in New York City, New York. NTSB investigators found natural gas in the soil nearby, indicating that the gas leak had existed for a while before the explosion.[482]

On March 18, a 20-inch Mid-Valley Pipeline Company pipeline failed in Hamilton County, Ohio, spilling at least 364 barrels of crude oil into the adjacent Oak Glen Nature Preserve. Animals in the area were affected.[483][484]

On March 18, a 3-inch, half-mile flare waste gas pipeline in a neighborhood in Arvin, California, was discovered leaking, a few blocks from Arvin High School, in a residential area. It had been leaking for as long as two years.[485]

On March 31, a pipeline running to a Williams Companies LNG storage facility in Plymouth, Washington exploded and sent shrapnel flying that ruptured an LNG storage tank. Nearly 1,000 residents were evacuated and at least five employees at the facility were injured.[486][487]

A 12-inch Williams Companies gas pipeline failed at a weld in Moundsville, West Virginia. The following explosion and fire explosion scorched trees over a 2-acre area near Moundsville. Several houses were evacuated as a precaution. There were no injuries reported.[488]

On April 17, a private excavator accidentally cut a gas line while doing some work in Union Township, Licking County, Ohio on April 17. The man suffered second degree burns to the upper portion of his body. There was no damage to any buildings.[489]

On April 23, an explosion and fire hit a Williams Companies gas processing plant in Opal, Wyoming. All 95 residents of the town were evacuated, and part of US Highway 30 was closed for a time.[490][491]

On May 6, Sinclair Oil Corporation pipeline operators detected a pressure drop on a pipeline, with the problem being traced two days later to a leak in Knox County, Missouri. A mixture of gasoline and Diesel fuel contaminated soil on a farm.[492]

On May 12, three workers from Plantation Pipeline inadvertently ruptured their pipeline at a pump station in Anderson County, South Carolina, causing a geyser of gasoline, and spraying the workers with it. There was no fire, but the workers had to be decontaminated at a hospital.[493]

On May 17, at Port St. John, Florida, Kinder Morgan's 36" Florida Gas Transmission pipeline ruptured, forcing evacuation of 7 homes and halting train traffic through Brevard Co. for 3 hours near the Florida Power & Light plant. Florida Gas Transmission workers searched for a leak when pressure dropped in the line. Homes, vehicle & train traffic were reopened after the remaining gas escaped from the pipe.[494] This pipeline failure caused $177,321 in property damage.[495]

On June 26, near East Bernard, Texas, a gas pipeline adjacent to a Kinder Morgan gas compressor plant blew out, destroying the roadway and setting a nearby truck on fire just south of Highway 59. Flames as high as 150 feet were shooting out of the pipeline. The focus was on a 27-inch pipeline that sends gasoline to different tank farms along the line.[496]

On July 10, a vent stack at a Williams Field Services gas pipeline compressor station in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania caught fire. Only minor damage was reported at other parts of the station.[497]

On July 23, at Milledgeville, Georgia, Midway Elementary School faculty and staff were evacuated due to a fire caused by a gas leak at nearby Southern Natural Gas Co. tap station. Fire rescue personnel closed down Highway 441 South for an hour. Due to the amount of pressure, precautionary measures were taken so pipe wouldn't rupture under the road while Southern Natural Gas tried to determine the cause of the leak. "It could be some type of failure in a valve or regulator. Right now we don't know but Southern Natural Gas is looking into it." No injuries were reported.[498]

On August 4, a Greka 6 inch pipeline spilled over 1,200 gallons of crude oil at the Zick Compressor Station by Williams Field Services in Hop Bottom near Santa Barbara County, California. The oil spread out over less than a mile from the leak and did not enter a river. The station can process 455 million cubic feet of natural gas per day.[499]

On August 12, a mulching machine hit a 12-inch natural gas pipeline in Rusk County, Texas. The operator of the machine was killed in the following explosion.[500]

On August 21, four workers were injured in a fire while a crew was performing maintenance on a natural gas pipeline in Garvin County, Oklahoma. The injured workers were treated and released from a hospital, and there was no explosion.[501]

On September 14, a contract worker performing routine maintenance on a Chevron offshore gas pipeline was killed, and two other workers were injured. The accident occurred 6 miles south of Timbalier Bay off the southeast coast of Louisiana.[502]

On September 16, more than 500 residents of Benton Township, Michigan, were forced to leave their houses for 10 to 12 hours, after authorities discovered a leak on TransCanada Corporation's 22-inch ANR gas transmission pipeline.[503][504]

On October 13, a gas transmission pipeline failed near Centerview, Missouri, causing an explosion and massive fire for several hours. There were no injuries.[171][505]

On October 13, a Sunoco/Mid-Valley crude oil pipeline ruptured, and spilled about 168,000 gallons of crude oil in Caddo Parish, Louisiana. Wildlife was killed.[506]

A 24-inch gas transmission pipeline was hit by excavators on October 23, near Newport, Arkansas. Five nearby houses were evacuated, and two highways and a railroad were closed for a time. There was no fire or injuries.[507]

On October 28, an 8-inch natural gas condensate pipeline exploded in Monroe County, Ohio. A large fire followed. There were no injuries.[508]

On December 8, gasoline was discovered leaking from Kinder Morgan Plantation Pipeline in Belton, South Carolina. It was found that the 26-inch pipeline had leaked into a nearby creek. The cause was a failure at a sleeve that was part of an earlier repair.[509] As of April 2015, it was estimated that 8,000 barrels (42 gallons per barrel) or more than 300,000 gallons of gasoline had leaked. After four months of cleanup, only 176,901 gallons of product had been recovered and removed.[510]

2015Edit

On January 14, during work to free a trapped inline inspection unit, a leak was discovered on the Evangeline Pipeline, near Cameron Parish, Louisiana. This pipeline had been given a Corrective Action Order in October 2014, due to a number of leaks.[511][512][513]

Also on January 14, a gas pipeline exploded near the Ross Barnett Reservoir in Brandon, Mississippi, creating a sizable crater in the ground and burning 6 acres of vegetation before the fire was extinguished. No injuries were reported. The failure was due to a "hard spot" from manufacturing, that already had a repair sleeve on it. There are 788 sleeves on the Index 129 pipeline from Edna, Texas, to Sterlington, Louisiana; and, 726 sleeves on the Index 130 pipeline from Marchand Junction, Louisiana to Kosciusko, Mississippi. Both were built from pipe made in 1952.[514][515][516]

On January 16, a transmission pipeline operated by Kinder Morgan subsidiary Southern Natural Gas had an equipment malfunction in Walthall County, Mississippi.[517]

On January 17, oil from a broken pipeline seeped into the Yellowstone River, and contaminated the water supply 10 miles south of Glendive, Montana. The release was from Bridger Pipeline LLC's 12-inch Poplar line, which can carry 42,000 barrels a day of crude from the Bakken formation and runs from Canada south to Baker, Montana. Bridger Pipeline is a subsidiary of True Cos., a privately held Wyoming-based company. The company said in a statement that the pipeline was shut down within an hour of the leak. About 30,000 gallons of crude was spilled, with about 28,000 gallons of crude being lost.[518][519][520]

On January 21, a petroleum products pipeline in Honolulu, Hawaii ruptured, due to external corrosion, spilling about 42,000 gallons of petroleum product, of which about 22,000 gallons was lost.[521]

On January 21, a crude oil pipeline pump station caught fire northwest of Texas City, Texas. Texas City fire officials said that company officials reported that there had been issues with the pump station over the weekend.[522]

On January 26, a 20-inch ATEX pipeline carrying ethane exploded and burned in Brooke County, West Virginia. Despite snow in the area, five acres of woodlands burned, and 24,000 gallons of ethane were consumed. The fireball melted siding on nearby homes and damaged power lines; it is believed that day’s snowy weather lessened the damage. Initial reports suspect a girth weld failure, with the pipeline being less than two years old. There were no injuries.[523][524]

On January 29, near Bowling Green, Missouri, a rupture in a Rockies Express 42-inch natural gas pipeline blew a 20 by 20-foot crater and forced a six-hour evacuation of 50 families. The rupture occurred in a vacant field a few yards east of Pike County Road 43. Strong winds helped dissipate gas until a temporary cap was put in place.[525] This explosion caused $2,672,345 in property damage and was due to a fault in the pipe's fabrication or construction.[526]

On February 10 in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, the temperature caused "natural force damage" to a Kinder Morgan Tennessee Gas Pipeline, causing $55,150 worth of property damage.[517]

On February 17, a suspected electrical arc made a hole in a Marathon Petroleum pipeline in Shively, Kentucky, spill about 6,700 gallons of jet fuel. More than 2,500 tons of soil were removed to clean up the area.[527][528]

On February 25, a 26-inch crude oil pipeline in Navarro County near the Town of Dawson, Texas, failed, spill about 50 barrels of crude oil. Near the failure, investigation showed that the pipe had lost about 80% of its thickness, due to external corrosion. This anomaly was not seen in a 2011 test of this pipeline.[529]

On March 2, a Kinder Morgan Tennessee Gas Pipeline leaked due to equipment failure, causing $281,890 of property damage in Marshall, Mississippi.[517]

On March 13 a pipeline Patrol pilot identified an oil sheen on a pond near Tehuacana Creek, Texas which was then linked to a leaking 10 inch petroleum products pipeline. About 50 barrels of diesel fuel were spilled.[530]

On March 20, a pipe owned by Kinder Morgan subsidiary Southern Natural Gas failed in Rolling Fork, Mississippi, and on March 23, another of that subsidiary's pipes failed due to equipment malfunction in Augusta, Georgia, causing $311,785 in property damage.[517]

On April 9, 2 Williams Companies pipelines broke within hours of each other in Marshall County, West Virginia. A 4-inch condensate pipeline broke at 8 pm local time, spilling about 132 barrels of condensate into a creek. Around 10:50 pm local time, a 12-inch gas pipeline ruptured. There was no fire or injuries. Heavy rains were said to be the cause of the failures.[531][532]

On April 13, a Kinder Morgan / Natural Gas Pipeline Co. of America pipeline exploded and burned near Borger, Texas. One home was evacuated, but, there were no injuries. The explosion, caused by equipment failure due to environmental cracking, caused $455,000 in property damage.[533]

On April 17, a 12-inch natural gas pipeline near Fresno, California operated by Pacific Gas and Electric Corp was ruptured by a backhoe. The resulting explosion killed 1 person and injured 12 others.[534]

On May 15, Kinder Morgan's Tennessee Gas Pipeline leaked in Powell County, Kentucky causing $23,400 in property damage.[517]

On May 19, a Plains All American Pipeline oil pipeline ruptured near Refugio State Beach, also near Goleta, California, spilling about 124,000 gallons of crude oil. It is referred to as the Refugio Oil Spill.[535][536]

On May 31, a 24-inch natural gas back-up pipeline that runs under the Arkansas River in Little Rock, Arkansas ruptured releasing 3.9 million cubic feet of natural gas. The pipeline was not currently in use. No one was injured. A tugboat was damaged.[537][538]

On June 9 in Moorehouse Parish, Louisiana, Kinder Morgan's Tennessee Gas Pipeline equipment failed, due to environmental cracking, and leaked, causing $73,395 in property damage.[517]

On June 9, a 24-inch natural gas pipeline ruptured in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania. About 130 individuals were evacuated from their homes. No injuries or damage reported. there was no fire The cause was Stress corrosion cracking.[539][540]

On June 10, Kinder Morgan's El Paso Natural Gas control/relief equipment failed and leaked in Gray County, Texas.[517]

On June 13, a 42-inch gas gathering pipeline exploded and burned near Cuero, Texas. 7 homes were evacuated for a time, but there were no injuries.[541]

On June 15, Kinder Morgan's Natural Gas Pipeline Co. of America equipment failed for unknown causes, with $260,555 of property damage in Marshall, Texas (that area's third documented Kinder Morgan leak).[517]

On June 18, in Victoria Texas, Kinder Morgan's Tennessee Gas Pipeline pipe failed due to external corrosion and caused $159,346 in property damage).[517]

On June 22, a truck driver was killed when his rig veered off a highway and broke above ground facilities for a propylene pipeline in Houston, Texas. The highway was closed for several hours while the gas dissipated.[542]

Four workers were hurt on June 25, when a 4-inch gas pipeline exploded at a gas pipeline facility, near White Deer, Texas. 2 of the workers were critically injured. The cause of the explosion was not immediately known.[543]

On July 10, a fitting on a 20-inch Plains All American Pipeline crude oil pipeline broke, spilling 4200 gallons of crude oil near Grantfork, Illinois. Much of the crude reached a nearby creek. There were no injuries.[544]

On July 15, two workers were hurt by an explosion, when a bulldozer hit a 4-inch gas pipeline, at an EQT gas compressor station in Worthington, Pennsylvania.[545]

On August 3, two individuals were injured in Falfurrias, Texas when a natural gas pipeline operated by Kinder Morgan ruptured and exploded due to external corrosion, with $191.498 in property damage. Later investigation showed that the pipe split along an ERW seam.[546][547]

On August 7, a natural gas liquids pipeline in Weld County, Colorado burned, after being struck by a third party.[548]

0n August 13, crew working for Colonial Pipeline damaged one of Colonial's lines in Kannapolis, North Carolina, spilling about 6,000 gallons of petroleum product. About 1,000 gallons of product was lost.[207]

On August 13, a natural gas pipeline in Cypress, Texas ruptured and leaked while a contract crew worked in the area. The pipeline was owned by Gulfsouth Pipeline. There were no injuries or immediate damage; residents were evacuated.[549]

On August 26, two maintenance divers were injured while working on a pipeline owned by Boardwalk/Gulf South Pipeline Co. 25 miles offshore of Louisiana when the pipeline ruptured, and the gas ignited.[550]

On September 21, a Colonial Pipeline 32 inch main line was discovered to be leaking in Centreville, Virginia. At least 7,000 gallons of gasoline were spilled, forcing several nearby businesses to close.[551][552]

On October 8, an explosion occurred at a Williams Companies pipeline facility in Gibson, Louisiana. 4 employees were killed, and, one other injured. The cause of the explosion was from procedure not being followed during welding work.[553][554][555]

On November 30, about 11,000 gallons of gasoline, butane and propane leaked from a pipeline in eastern Summit County, Utah.[556]

On December 8, a contractor drilled into an 8-inch buried oil line (200 mm) that transports oil from a holding station in Ventura to a Wilmington refinery near Long Beach while setting new poles for Southern California Edison along State Route 118 near Somis that spilled about 7,980 U.S. gallons (190 barrels).[557]

2016Edit

On January 2, 3 people were injured, one seriously, one home destroyed, and 50 homes were damaged in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, when a leak gas from a gas main entered a home. Preliminary results indicate that a leak occurred at a weld seam on the gas main. Later, later, Oklahoma regulators filed a complaint over the failure with Oklahoma Natural Gas. The complaint alleged the utility failed to properly inspect its system following eight previous leak failures in the neighborhood going back to 1983.[558][559]

On January 9, a 30-inch Atmos Energy gas transmission pipeline exploded and burned in Robertson County, Texas. 4 families nearby were evacuated.[560]

On January 11, butane leaking from a pipeline storage facility, in Conway, Kansas, forced a closure of a nearby highway for a time.[561]

On February 14, a 6-inch crude oil pipeline broke near Rozet, Wyoming, spilling about 1,500 gallons of crude oil into a creek bed.[562]

On February 16, an explosion and fire occurred at a gas plant in Frio County, Texas. 2 employees at the plant were injured.[563]

On February 24, a 10-inch propane pipeline exploded and burned, near Sulphur, Louisiana. There were no injuries. About 208,000 gallons of propane were burned. The cause was from manufacturing defects.[564][565]

On March 11, about 30,000 gallons of gasoline spilled from a leaking plug on a pipeline, at a tank farm in Sioux City, Iowa.[566]

On March 22, about 4,000 gallons of gasoline spilled from a 6-inch petroleum products pipeline in Harwood, North Dakota.[567]

On April 2, the TransCanada Corporation Keystone Pipeline was observed by a local resident to be leaking, near Freeman, South Dakota. The cause was a crack in a girth weld, and amount of tar sands dilbit spill was about 16,800 gallons.[568][569]

On April 12, a pipeline at a gas plant in Woodsboro, Texas exploded, killing 2 men, and injured another worker.[570]

On April 17, a 10 petroleum products pipeline failed in Wabash County, Illinois, resulting in a sheen on the Wabash River. About 48,000 gallons of diesel fuel was spilled.[571]

On April 29, a 30-inch Texas Eastern/Spectra Energy pipeline exploded, injuring one man, destroying his home and damaging several others. The incident was reported at 8:17 a.m., near the intersection of Routes 819 and 22 in Salem Township, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. Later, Spectra Energy Corp. announced plans to dig up and assess 263 miles of that pipeline, from Pennsylvania to New Jersey. Corrosion had been detected at the failed seam 4 years before the rupture.[572][573][574]

On May 20, a Shell Oil Company pipeline leaked near Tracy, California, spilling about 21,000 gallons of crude oil.[575]

On June 23, a Crimson Pipeline crude oil line leaked in Ventura County, California. Initial reports said the spill size was from 25,200 gallons to 29,000 gallons, but, later reports estimate 45,000 gallons of crude were spilled.[576][577]

On July 6, a Plantation Pipeline line was noticed to be leaking in Goochland County, Virginia. The spill did not reach nearby waterways.[578]

On August 12, contractors were working on one of the main lines in Sunoco Pipeline LP's Nederland, Texas terminal when crude oil burst through a plug that was supposed to hold the oil back in the pipeline and ignited. The contractors were knocked off the platform to the ground, suffering injuries from the fall and severe burns. 7 contractors were injured.[579]

On September 4, a pipeline broke in Kern County, California, spilling reclaimed water & oil.[580]

On September 5, a pipeline in Bay Long, Louisiana was hit by dredging operations, resulting in a spill of about 5,300 gallons of crude oil into the water.[581]

On September 9, a Colonial Pipeline mainline leak was noticed by workers on another project, in Shelby County, Alabama. At least 252,000 gallons of gasoline leaked from line.[582][583]

On September 10, a Sunoco pipeline ruptured near Sweetwater, Texas. About 33,000 gallons of crude oil were spilled. The pipeline was just over a year old.[584]

On October 11, two Nicor Gas workers were injured, and two townhouse units destroyed in a massive fire and explosion, caused by a gas leak in Romeoville, Illinois.[585]

On October 17, an 8-inch ammonia pipeline started leaking, near Tekamah, Nebraska. A farmer living nearby went to find the source of the ammonia, and was killed by entering the vapor cloud. About 50 people were evacuated from their homes.[586]

On October 19, a contractor in Portland, Oregon hit a 1 inch gas pipeline during work. Within an hour, there were 2 explosions, injuring 8 people, destroying or damaging several buildings, and started a fire. Contractors claim a utility locate was done before work began.[587]

On October 21, an 8 inch Sunoco pipeline ruptured in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, spilling about 55,000 gallons of gasoline into the Susquehanna River. The river was running high at the time.[588]

On October 24, a pipeline ruptured on the Seaway Pipeline, in Cushing, Oklahoma, spraying the area with crude oil.