Northwest Pipeline said it was able to keep all but a smallpercentage of markets whole after its 26-inch mainline explodedabout 8:20 p.m. PST Friday in the Columbia River Gorge area nearStevenson, WA, about 32 miles east of Portland (see Daily GPI,March 1). The rupture caused a fireball, but no injuries werereported and pipeline workers had the situation controlled withinan hour, a spokeswoman said.

Northwest was able to restore service early Monday to AvistaUtilities in Stevenson; where about 70 customers were affected, shesaid. Affected Northwest Natural Gas customers were receivingalternative energy supplies from the LDC while Northwest Pipelineworked to restore service to NWNG in the Bonneville, OR, area.

Banking gas on the system north of the line break was permittedto help with low linepack, Northwest told shippers yesterday, butno banking south of the break was allowed due to Northwest’saccount with Clay Basin Storage being full.

The cause of the explosion remained under investigation Mondayand there was no prognosis for when repairs might be completed.

Northwest had interrupted service to some customers of LDC CascadeNatural Gas briefly early this year following a 22-inch line breaknear Pendleton, OR (see Daily GPI,Jan. 5).

In an unrelated action, Northwest said excessive rainfall in thePacific Northwest has caused land movement on or near itsright-of-way in the Kalama, WA, area north of Portland (approximatemilepost marker 1245). Because the movement has resulted in stresson Northwest’s 26-inch and 30-inch lines there, the pipeline willbegin excavation and other activities to relieve the stress. Thework is not expected to cause any capacity interruptiions.

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