The number of fatalities stemming from natural gas pipeline accidents in 2010 more than doubled to 21 from nine in the prior year, according to estimates released by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

Natural gas pipelines accounted for all but one of the total 22 pipeline deaths in 2010, the NTSB said. One death was attributed to hazardous liquid line last year. In contrast the NTSB reported a total of 13 pipeline-related fatalities in 2009.

The natural gas pipeline rupture in San Bruno, CA, which killed eight people and was investigated by the NTSB (see Daily GPI, Dec. 27), contributed to the rise in pipeline fatalities in 2010, the board said. The five fatalities from a pipeline explosion in Allentown, PA, were not included in the NTSB count since the blast occurred earlier this year (see Daily GPI, Feb. 11).

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