Ruptures

A Nova Gas Transmission 12-inch-diameter gathering line explodedover the weekend, causing a fire that injured a pipeline employee.The employee was treated and released. The rupture, which occurredon the northwestern part of Nova’s Alberta pipeline system about 60miles north of Fairview, also forced the curtailment of about 50MMcf/d of gas.

Details were still somewhat sparse Saturday, but Northwest Pipeline was able to confirm that there had been a line failure on its pipeline near Stevenson, WA Friday night about 8:20 (PST). Personnel were immediately dispatched to the site to secure the area. As of press time Saturday, no injuries were reported and the cause of the incident was under investigation.

The last couple of weeks have seen a number of mishaps involvingnatural gas lines, one of them resulting in fatalities.