The explosion and fire on El Paso Natural Gas’ system insoutheast New Mexico in August, which killed 12 people, underscoresthe need for a newer gas pipeline infrastructure in the UnitedStates, according to a Department of Energy (DOE) report releasedlast week.

This was one of many observations made about the natural gasindustry and other energy sources in the Sept. 27 DOE report,”Powering the New Economy: Energy Accomplishments, Investments,Challenges.”

The El Paso line in New Mexico “was over forty years old andshowed evidence of corrosion,” the report said. It went on to notethe pipeline supplies southern California with a “significantportion” of the gas needed for electric generation, and that theregion’s gas demand was “temporarily met” by dipping into storedgas following the blast.

This incident shows “we not only need more storage, butultimately more natural gas supply and modern infrastructures,” theDOE concluded.

Preliminary examination of the El Paso pipeline section thatfailed in Carlsbad, NM, revealed significant internal corrosion andpipe-wall loss in some areas of greater than 50%, according to theNational Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The explosion was thedeadliest gas pipeline accident in the United States.

Many of the natural gas transmission pipelines in the U.S. are30 to 50 years old, the NTSB said. And while age alone does notindicate that a pipeline may be unsafe, the board noted thatassessing the integrity of pipelines becomes increasingly moreimportant as pipeline systems age.

The El Paso line that exploded had never been pressure testedfor leaks or other structural damage, Bob Chipkevich, director ofthe NTSB’s Office of Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety,testified last week before a committee of the New MexicoLegislature, according to a news report in the Albuquerque Journal.

The NTSB has scheduled a Pipeline Safety Hearing for Nov. 14-16in Washington to review available technologies for assessingpipeline integrity. The hearing is partly in response to sixpipeline accidents currently being investigated by the NTSB —including the Carlsbad blast — that have raised pipelineintegrity issues, it said. More details about the NTSB hearing areavailable on its web page at www.ntsb.gov.

“[D]uring the past two years, we have seen several failuresinvolving aging pipelines. It is time to examine the technologiesavailable to assess the condition of our pipeline systems,” saidNTSB Chairman Jim Hall.

Separately, the DOE report also said Washington needs toencourage policies and investments that “acknowledge and reflect”the increasing interdependence of the electricity and natural gasinfrastructures.

Moreover, federal lawmakers need to provide incentives topromote oil and gas development in the “ultra-deep Gulf of Mexicoand in areas to be produced in Alaska,” the report said.

Susan Parker

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