Killed

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) blamed a February power plant explosion that killed six workers on the practice of clearing natural gas lines called “blow down.” The federal agency said Wednesday that the use of gas to clear lines is common at gas-fired power plants.

An explosion Feb. 7 at a natural gas-fired power plant under construction in Middletown, CT, which killed five workers and injured more than a dozen, has drawn attention to gas pipeline practices and prompted one lawmaker to lash out at a proposed pipeline that would run through New Jersey.

A nitrogen release during testing of a segment of Midcontinent Express Pipeline (MEP) in Mississippi Wednesday afternoon killed one worker and sent three to the hospital with “critical” injuries, according to the state’s Emergency Management Agency and a partner in the project.

A nonaffiliated worker was killed when ANR experienced a pipe rupture about 10 a.m. EST Tuesday in Cass County, MI. The blast occurred on a 24-inch diameter tie line connecting the Bridgman, La Grange and Defiance compressor stations, said a spokesman for ANR parent firm El Paso Corp. There was no fire, but an employee of Midwest Energy Cooperative who was doing work in the vicinity was fatally injured, he added. An investigation is under way. There was no service impact.

Almost two months after a tugboat and barge accident ruptured its natural gas pipeline and killed four people, Gulfport Energy Corp. reported last week that the natural gas sales line serving its West Cote Blanche Bay field is back to full operation.

Almost two months after a tugboat and barge accident ruptured its natural gas pipeline and killed four people, Gulfport Energy Corp. reported Wednesday that the natural gas sales line serving its West Cote Blanche Bay field is back to full operation.

The driver of a bulldozer working on the Rockies Express pipeline was killed Saturday at 9:30 a.m. when the bulldozer apparently hit El Paso Corp.’s Wyoming Interstate Co. (WIC) pipeline about 10 miles south-southwest of Cheyenne, WY, causing an explosion. The rupture of the large diameter pipe, which was in a very remote area of ranch land, led to a massive fireball that rose hundreds of feet in the air. The fire was extinguished Saturday afternoon.

On its concluding day of this year’s legislative session, a committee in the California lower house Assembly Thursday killed a proposal to require the California Energy Commission (CEC) to review and rank four existing proposals for a liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving terminal along the state’s coast. Proponents wanted the legislation to counteract the federal permitting preemption established in last year’s federal Energy Policy Act (EPAct).

Last month’s tragic accident that killed at least 27 people at a liquefaction plant in Skikda, Algeria has had a chilling effect on the numerous plans for importing large quantities of liquefied natural gas (LNG) into the United States, according to speakers at a West Coast industry conference.