Ruptures

Automated shut-off valves, which enable natural gas pipeline operators to quickly shut off gas that escapes during ruptures, are not required in all cases, according to a new report released by the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

In the wake of key natural gas pipeline ruptures and explosions in the past two years, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has placed pipeline safety on the list of the 10 top transportation challenges that will face the nation in 2013.

In the wake of key natural gas pipeline ruptures and explosions in the past two years, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has placed pipeline safety on the list of the 10 top transportation challenges that it will face in 2013.

Two line breaks in the same pipe 15 kilometers apart on a remote section of TransCanada PipeLine’s Nova system Monday and Tuesday have shut down the 36-inch pipeline, impacting a number of customers. There were no reports of injuries in the resulting fires.

Houston Pipe Line Co.’s (HPL) 30-inch diameter Texoma gas line ruptured last Tuesday at 11:20 p.m. within Sunoco Logistics Partners’ oil import terminal in the Nederland-Port Neches area of East Texas. There were no injuries, according to Sunoco, but the rupture and explosion sent fire into the sky and knocked out service to gas-fired power generators at Sunoco’s 3 million b/d terminal.

Houston Pipe Line Co.’s (HPL) 30-inch diameter Texoma gas line ruptured Tuesday at 11:20 p.m. within Sunoco Logistics Partners’ oil import terminal in the Nederland-Port Neches area of East Texas. There were no injuries, according to Sunoco, but the rupture and explosion sent fire into the sky and knocked out service to gas-fired power generators at Sunoco’s 3 million b/d terminal.

Columbia Gas Transmission, a unit of NiSource Inc., said service was completely restored last week to the handful of residential customers in West Virginia who lost service following the rupture of a 30-inch diameter looping line carrying about 600 MMcf/d of gas through a rural area near Charleston. The pipeline rupture caused a fire last Monday at 11 p.m., but no injuries were reported. Gas transportation service was diverted onto a parallel pipeline. No mainline deliveries were curtailed, a spokesman said.

Columbia Gas Transmission, a unit of NiSource Inc., said a 30-inch diameter looping line carrying about 60 MMcf/d of gas in West Virginia ruptured Monday at 11 p.m., causing a fire but no injuries.

Deaths related to pipeline ruptures and/or explosions rose byeight to 26 last year, said a new National Transportation SafetyBoard (NTSB) report, which noted that most of the fatalitiesoccurred on natural gas pipelines.