Rupture

North Carolina Natural Gas (NCNG) employees are working to repair a ruptured gas transmission pipeline that serves the New Bern, NC area. The line, located near the intersection of Racetrack Road and State Road 1005, was struck by a construction contractor’s equipment at 3:35 p.m. Monday. No injuries were reported. Emergency personnel secured the scene of the break and evacuated 500 people in the area. Power also was cut off in the area.

A fire that resulted from a rupture on Williams’ Mid-America (liquids) Pipeline in a rural area north of Kansas City, MO Tuesday was brought under control and was essentially out by the end of the day, company officials said.

El Paso Energy Intrastate (formerly known as Channel)experienced a rupture of its 30-inch line Monday evening nearBaytown, TX, east of Houston. There was no fire, but a voluntaryevacuation of the area was conducted, a spokeswoman said. Oneinjury was reported as a result of the evacuation, and as of middayTuesday everyone had returned home except for two families whosehomes were damaged, she said. No service interruptions are expectedas all demands are being met through gas re-routing or fuelswitching, the spokeswoman said. The line probably will be returnedto service by the end of the week. It is owned 50-50 by El PasoEnergy and Enron Corp. and is operated by El Paso Field Services.

Sonat was unable to begin repairs Thursday as anticipated (seeDaily GPI, July 27) on a July 5 rupturein its offshore 14-inch Romere Pass Line. However, the work likelywill begin today and last 10-15 calendar days, which means the lineshould be back in service around Aug. 12 at the latest, a spokeswomansaid. An estimated 50-100 MMcf/d at five platform receipt points isbeing shut in by the outage.

Sonat said Wednesday it had gotten regulatory approval for a planto repair the July 5 rupture in its 14-inch Romere Pass Line offshoresoutheastern Louisiana (see Daily GPI, July24). Barring unforeseen problems, the pipeline hopes to begin thework today.

Tennessee expects its 300 Line in northern Pennsylvania to returnto service today following completion of repairs to Sunday morning’srupture (see Daily GPI, Feb. 29). Unlessconditions change, the pipeline will accept intra-day Cycle 1nomination increases beginning at 5 p.m. CST for all meters downstreamof Main Line Valve 314.

No injuries or fire resulted from a rupture Sunday evening onone of El Paso’s two 24-inch pipes (Line 1201) in the San JuanTriangle south of the pipeline’s San Juan River Mainline Station.The ruptured line was isolated and the other one remained inservice. Monday’s throughput impact was estimated at 50-75 MMcf/d(about 3% of Triangle capacity); no scheduling increases were beingallowed for Cycles 3 and 4 of the gas day. El Paso expected tocomplete repairs Monday night and that Triangle capacity would beback to normal today.

NOVA restored its 16-inch Josephine Lateral in northwest Albertato service Saturday evening following a rupture caused bythird-party construction. The outage was isolated to a 7-kilometersection of the NPS 16 Josephine Lateral Loop about 30 kilometersnorth of Saddle Hills Compressor Station, NOVA said. The pipelinechanged its daily system imbalance tolerance to -2/+18% due to lowlinepack Saturday morning.

All the gas flowing to the Florida peninsula was cut off overthe weekend after a lightning strike Friday afternoon caused a fireand pipe rupture at Florida Gas Transmission’s Station 15 nearPerry, FL, and knocked out all downstream service. The 24-inch,30-inch and 36-inch mainlines that converge in the station yardwere affected.