Federal and company investigators Monday swarmed over the sceneof the devastating El Paso Natural Gas mainline explosion thaterupted near daybreak Saturday, engulfing a party of weekendcampers along the Pecos River near Carlsbad, NM, and killing 10people. Two other persons were hospitalized in critical condition.

Three officials from the federal Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS)and 11 with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) havebeen at the site of the blast since late Saturday, and two more OPSofficials were en route Monday. New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson, whoflew to the area on Sunday, said he wanted to know how many otherpotential pipeline “dangers” there are in the state. He called fora thorough investigation.

About 1 Bcf/d of capacity on El Paso’s southern leg initially waslost from the ruptured 30-inch line and two looped lines nearby thatwere shut in after the accident. El Paso was making up some of theshortfall by drawing the maximum, 200 MMcf/d from its Washington RanchStorage Field downstream of the accident. Increased use of otherpipelines, allocations and cutbacks by customers, and the fact thatweather had moderated in California helped ease the supply situation.Nevertheless, spot prices increased by about 35 cents for points inCalifornia, while the rest of the market (spurred by Hurricane Debby)went up about 20 cents (see related reports:market, politics)

There was no estimate as to when the looped lines would be backin service, according to El Paso spokesperson Kim Wallace.

“We don’t intend to put anything back into service until we knowfor certain that the remaining pipelines are safe,” Wallace said.She did not expect them to be back in service today, and could giveno time frame on when they would be returned to service.

It is “much too premature at this point” to predict when thethree disabled El Paso westbound lines will return to service, saidPatricia Klinger, a spokeswoman with the Department ofTransportation’s Research and Special Programs Administration(RSPA), which oversees the OPS.

“The one that ruptured is definitely going to be out of servicefor awhile, and [another line] is badly damaged from the fire.” Asfor a third adjacent line, that “could potentially be re-opened,”but “we have to test the integrity of that line” and have itexamined by metallurgists, she told Daily GPI. “Everyone will beworking, of course, to try to get this [line] back in service. Butthe safe operation of the pipeline is of premiere importance.” Thethree lines shared the same right-of-way.

“We’re just now able to start looking at exactly what happened,and how to get that one line back in service,” Klinger said. “Ourmetallurgist is on his way right now. I know he’s going to meetwith the NTSB when they’re examining the 50-foot section of pipethat’s out of the ground” as a result of the explosion. “I thinkthe company also wants to decide what types of tests can be done onthis line. It’s not piggable.”

The NTSB, which has set up a command center in Carlsbad, NM,declined to make any preliminary speculation about the cause of theexplosion. “It’s much too early for us to even think about thecause of this accident. We’re only dealing with the facts…Rightnow, we’re documenting the pipe itself and surveying the land.We’re going to look at the chronology of when the [emergency] callscame in….. document damage to vehicles, and injuries,” said NTSBspokesman Keith Holloway.

“Probably at this point we’re looking at nine months to a year,maybe more” before the results of the investigation are publiclydisclosed, Holloway noted.

The rupture occurred at 5:30 a.m. MDT in the underground linenear the Pecos River crossing, which is about 30 miles south of theCarlsbad Caverns National Park in a spot popular with local campersand fishermen. The blast tore a crater in the earth about 86 feetlong, 46 feet wide and 20 feet deep.

According to preliminary reports, the pipeline was undergroundat the point of rupture, sending two sections of pipe, each about20-feet long, flying hundreds of feet. The gas then ignited andshot flames from the broken pipe toward sleeping campers. The NTSBestimated there was a gap of 50 to 60 feet between broken ends ofthe pipeline at the site. The fire burned for about 40 minutesbefore El Paso workers manually shut off pipeline valves.

Ten members of two families were burned to death in the blast.The families, who were related by marriage, were camping on publicland along the river near where the pipeline emerged from theground to cross the Pecos in an aerial crossing alongside a bridge.Six were pronounced dead at the scene and four others died at Texashospitals Saturday night. The dead included five children under theage of six, including six-month-old twins. Two adults were listedin critical condition Monday at a hospital in Lubbock, TX.

The ruptured pipeline, which El Paso said was constructed in1950, is one of four that runs along the southern branch of ElPaso’s pipeline system. There is an adjacent 30-inch pipeline andanother 26-inch pipeline. The fourth, a 16-inch pipeline, wasabandoned and is not available for service, Wallace said. El Pasoand federal officials are particularly interested in the integrityof the second 30-inch pipeline that ran close to the broken line.

Wallace said that none of the company’s customers had been cutoff of service, but they were receiving gas as reduced levels.

She also said that on Aug. 2, a “patrol” inspection, either doneby air or vehicle, was conducted on the pipelines located near thePecos River by El Paso officials and no problems were found. ElPaso conducted the last corrosion test in February and no problemswere found then either. Visual inspections are conducted on all ofthe system’s pipelines once a month, she said, and the companyfollows all federal pipeline requirements for inspections.

Asked whether El Paso planned to change its inspection systemimmediately, Wallace said that she did not think so, but said thatif the NTSB review finds something that needs to be changed, thecompany will do whatever needs to be done immediately.

“These situations are so rare,” she said. “We don’t feel that weneed to change what we’re doing now. But if the situation warrants,we certainly will make any changes necessary.”

El Paso is working with family members to take care of theirimmediate needs, including hotel accommodations, food, travelarrangements and medical treatment. The company also is providingadditional services as needed.

“This is a tragic accident and our heartfelt condolences go outto the families involved,” said El Paso Energy President WilliamWise. He said the company was working with the NTSB “to investigatediligently all matters surrounding this accident and to establishits cause as quickly as possible.”

The fallout of the explosion is expected to extend all acrossthe country, as federal legislators consider more stringentpipeline rules following an explosion in Bellingham, WA, thatkilled three in June 1999. Locally, Carlsbad Mayor Gary Perkowskisaid that he wanted to find out what happened and keep it from everhappening again.

That reaction was echoed by the New Mexico governor. “I have alot of questions,” said Johnson. “What is the reliability of thesepipelines? What went wrong? Was it preventable?”

Meanwhile, RSPA was sifting through its history to determinewhether the El Paso blast was the biggest pipeline disaster onrecord in terms of fatalities.

Timeline:

5:26 a.m. Aug. 19: El Paso Natural Gas’ automated computerreading of the pressure in the pipeline indicates 673.5 pounds persquare inch.

Around 5:30 a.m.: An El Paso Natural Gas employee bow-hunting inthe area sees a large fireball at the scene.

5:30 a.m.: El Paso Natural Gas’ automated computer reading ofthe pressure in the pipeline drops to 377.19 pounds per squareinch.

5:30 a.m.: Carlsbad Fire Department responds to the emergency.

6:12 a.m.: Carlsbad Fire Department arrives at the scene.

6:21 a.m.: El Paso Natural Gas workers shut off the gas lineusing manual valves.

Between Jan. 1 and June 30 of this year, there have been 40transmission pipeline incidents, according to the OPS. Fourteenwere caused by either external or internal corrosion; 11 weredamaged by outside forces; three were due to construction ormaterial defects; and 10 were unknown. There was only one fatalityuntil June 30 of this year on transmission pipeline incidents,which was caused by an outside force. Eleven people had beeninjured through June.

In August 1999, OPS sent a warning letter to El Paso, citing itfor a number of pipeline safety violations in Arizona. The OPS didnot impose a civil fine on El Paso, but it advised the pipelinethat “should you not correct the circumstances leading to theviolation, we will take enforcement actions when and if thecontinued violation comes to our attention.”

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