GAS ACCIDENTS IN THE USA FROM 1990-2010

1990s

• 1990 On January 2, an Exxon underwater pipeline located at the mouth of Morse Creek discharged approximately 13,500 barrels of No. 2 heating oil into the Arthur Kill waterway between New Jersey and Staten Island, New York.^[176]
• 1990 A Propane pipeline rupture and fire, near North Blenheim, New York, on March 13. Stress from previous work done on the pipeline caused a pipeline rupture and vapor cloud that moved downhill into a town. Two people were killed, seven persons injured, and more than $4 million in property damage and other costs resulted when the cloud ignited.^[177][178]
• 1990 on March 30, a 10-inch-diameter pipeline, ruptured from overstress due to a landslide in Freeport, Pennsylvania, resulting in the release of approximately 1,300 barrels (54,600 gallons) of mixed petroleum products. Spilled petroleum products entered Knapp's Run, a small creek emptying into the Allegheny River and, eventually, the Ohio River. The product release resulted in extensive ground and water pollution and interrupted the use of the Allegheny River as a water supply for several communities. Damage to the pipeline and environmental cleanup and restoration costs exceeded $12 million.^[164]
• 1990 On May 6, a spool on a pipeline ruptured off of the Louisiana coast. 13,600 barrels of crude oil were estimated to have spilled.^[179]
• 1990 On August 29, a natural gas explosion and fire destroyed two row houses and damaged two adjacent houses and three parked cars in Allentown, Pennsylvania. One person was killed, and nine people, including two firefighters, were injured. A cracked gas main, that was stressed by soil erosion from a nearby broken water line, was the cause of the gas leak.^[180][181]
• 1990 On December 9, a gas system valve between one of Fort Benjamin Harrison Indianapolis, Indiana gas distribution systems and a discontinued steel gas system segment was inadvertently opened, allowing natural gas to enter residential buildings that had previously received their gas from the discontinued segment. Gas accumulating in Building 1025 of Harrison Village was ignited by one of many available sources, and the resulting explosion killed 2 occupants and injured 24 other persons One building was destroyed, and two were damaged,^[182]
• 1991 A pipeline near Grand Rapids, Minnesota ruptures on March 2, spilling at least 630,000 gallons of crude oil, with estimates as high as 1,710,000 gallons of crude being spilled. More than 7,000 barrels of crude go into the Prairie River.^{[71][183][184][185]}
• 1991 On July 17, workers were removing a corroded segment of the Consumers Power Company’s (CP) 10-inch-diameter transmission line pipeline in Mapleton, Michigan. As a segment of the pipeline was being removed, natural gas at 360-psig pressure exerted about 12 tons of force on an adjacent closed valve (H-143), causing it and a short segment of connected pipe to move and separate from an unanchored compression coupling. The force of the escaping gas killed one worker (a welder), injured five other workers, and collapsed a steel pit that housed valve H-143.^[186]
• 1991 On December 19, a 36-inch-diameter petroleum products pipeline, ruptured from prior excavation damage about 2.8 miles (4.5 km) downstream of the pipeline's Simpsonville, South Carolina, pump station. The rupture allowed more than 500,000 gallons (13,100 barrels) of diesel fuel to flow into Durbin Creek, causing environmental damage that affected 26 miles (42 km) of waterways, including the Enoree River, which flows through Sumter National Forest. The spill also forced Clinton and Whitmire, South Carolina, to use alternative water supplies.^[164]
• 1991 On December 28, two explosions in rapid succession occurred in apartment No. 3 of a two-story, eight-apartment, wood-frame structure in Santa Rosa, California. Two people were killed and three others were injured. Fire after the explosions destroyed that apartment and three other apartments in the front of the building.^[187]
• 1992 On January 17, while a gas company crew was doing routine annual maintenance work at a regulator stations in Chicago, Illinois, high-pressure gas entered a low-pressure system. The gas—under as much as 10 psig of pressure—escaped through gas appliances into homes and other buildings, where it was ignited by several unidentified sources. The resulting explosion and fires killed 4 people, injured 4, and damaged 14 houses and 3 commercial buildings.^[188]
• 1992 On April 7, an uncontrolled release of highly volatile liquids (HVLs) from a salt dome storage cavern near Brenham, Texas, formed a large, heavier-than-air gas cloud that exploded. Three people died from injuries sustained either from the blast or in the following fire. An additional 21 people were treated for injuries at area hospitals. Damage from the accident exceeded $9 million.^[189]
• 1992 A natural gas explosion destroyed a house in Catskill, New York, on November 6. The two-story wood-frame house had not had active gas service since 1969. The explosion killed a woman in the house, seriously injured her daughter, and slightly injured two children in a neighboring house. Gas had escaped from a nearby cracked gas main.^[190]
• 1993 On March 28 at 8:48, a pressurized 36-inch-diameter (910 mm) petroleum product pipeline owned and operated by Colonial Pipeline Company ruptured near Hemdon, Virginia. The rupture created a geyser which sprayed diesel fuel over 75 feet (23 m) into the air, coating overhead powerlines and adjacent trees, and misting adjacent Virginia Electric Power Company buildings. The diesel fuel spewed from the rupture into an adjacent storm water management pond and flowed overland and through a network of storm sewer pipes before reaching Sugarland Run Creek, a tributary of the Potomac River.^[191]
• 1993 On June 9, a cinder block duplex at in Cliffwood Beach, New Jersey, exploded as a New Jersey Natural Gas Company (NJNG) contractor was trenching in front of the building. The explosion killed 3 residents of the duplex, and seriously injured 3 others.^[192]
• 1993 On July 22, a city of St. Paul Department of Public Works backhoe hooked and pulled apart a Northern States Power Company (NSP) high-pressure gas service line in St. Paul, Minnesota. An explosion and natural gas-fueled fire resulted about 20 minutes after the backhoe hooked the service line. The explosion force caused part of the building to land on and flatten an automobile traveling southwest on East Third Street, and the driver died instantly. The explosion and ensuing fire also killed an apartment occupant and a person outside the building and injured 12 people.^[193]
• 1993 On July 26, 1993, a 6-inch pipeline in Nebraska was exposed by scour in a creek bed and its banks, and was struck by flood debris, which caused it to rupture. The rupture resulted in the release of 2,203 barrels of anhydrous ammonia ^[194]
• 1994 In January, a pipeline ruptures, dumping almost 162,500 gallons of oil in a river, the Marais des Cygnes River in Osawatomie, Kansas. In addition to a $804,700 fine, BP Amoco agreed to spend at least $145,300 on a supplemental environmental project involving reconstruction improvements to Osawatomie's water intake.^[195]
• 1994 The Texas Eastern Transmission Corporation Natural Gas Pipeline Explosion and Fire : Previous damage caused a natural gas transmission pipeline to rupture at Edison, New Jersey on March 23, 1994. Several apartment buildings were destroyed in the massive fire. One woman died of a heart attack, and numerous others had minor injuries.^[196]
• 1994 A 2-inch-diameter steel gas service line that had been exposed during excavation separated at a compression coupling about 5 feet (1.5 m) from the wall of a retirement home in Allentown, Pennsylvania on June 9. The escaping gas flowed underground, passed through openings in the building foundation, migrated to other floors, and exploded. The accident resulted in 1 fatality, 66 injuries, and more than $5 million in property damage.^[197]
• 1994 On October 8, a lightning strike shut a valve on a crude oil pipeline, while the oil was flowing, triggering a pressure buildup that ripped a 50-square-inch hole in a section of the pipe that was already weakened by corrosion. Pipeline employees — unaware of the rupture in the pipe — turned on the pumps after the pipeline shut down automatically, sending oil pouring into the creek for about an hour.The spill created a 12-mile (19 km)-long slick on Nueces and Corpus Christi bays along the Texas Gulf Coast. Nearly seven years later, delicate coastal marshes that serve as a nursery for shrimp, flounder, crabs and other marine life have not fully recovered. The estimated spill size was 2,151 barrels, or 90,342 gallons, but that was debated as being too small a size. The pipeline eventually agreed to pay more than $45 million in damages.^[198]
• 1994 Record high flooding along the San Jacinto River in Texas lead to the failure of 8 pipelines crossing that river. Due to the flooding many other pipelines were also undermined. More than 35,000 barrels of petroleum and petroleum products were released into the river. Ignition of the released products resulted in 547 people receiving (mostly minor) burn and inhalation injuries. Spill response costs exceeded $7 million, and estimated property damage losses were about $16 million.^[199][200]
• 1994 A natural gas explosion and fire destroyed a one-story, wood frame building in Waterloo, Iowa on October 17. The force of the explosion scattered debris over a 200-foot (61 m) radius. 6 persons inside the building died, and one person sustained serious injuries. 3 persons working in an adjacent building sustained minor injuries when a wall of the building collapsed inward from the force of the explosion. The explosion also damaged nine parked cars. A person in a vehicle who had just exited the adjacent building suffered minor injuries. Additionally, two firefighters sustained minor injuries during the emergency response. Two other nearby buildings also sustained structural damage and broken windows.^[201]
• 1995 On December 2, 3 contractors were killed, and another injured, when a vacuum used to control flammable fumes accidentally reversed during welding at a pipeline facility near McCamey, Texas.^[202]
• 1995 On December 19, a gas explosion at a twin dwelling in Norristown, Pennsylvania, killed 2 people and injured another person. Gas had migrated from a crack in a 6 inch cast iron gas main in the street.^[202]
• 1996 A gas pipeline failure excised a 30 foot section of pipe, and the gas later ignited, causing a vegetation fire in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania on January 6. Later inspections found numerous flaws on this pipeline.^[203]
• 1996 A pipeline ruptured at a location near Gramercy, Louisiana, on May 23, 1996. The ruptured pipeline ultimately released about 475,000 gallons of gasoline into a common pipeline right-of-way and marsh land. Gasoline also entered the Blind River, causing environmental damage and killing fish, wildlife, and vegetation in the area. The pipeline controller did not at first recognize the pipeline had failed, and continued to ignore alarms from the pipeline SCADA system.^[204]
• 1996 A 36 inch diameter petroleum pipeline ruptured at the Reedy River, near Fork Shoals, South Carolina, June 26. The ruptured pipeline released about 957,600 gallons of fuel oil into the Reedy River and surrounding areas. The spill polluted a 34-mile stretch of the Reedy River, causing significant environmental damage. Floating oil extended about 23 miles down the river. Approximately 35,000 fish were killed, along with other aquatic organisms and wildlife. The estimated cost to Colonial Pipeline for cleanup and settlement with the State of South Carolina was $20.5 million. No one was injured in the accident. The pipeline was operating at reduced pressure due to know corrosion issues, but pipeline operator confusion led to an accidental return to normal pressure in that pipeline section, causing the rupture.^[205][206]
• 1996 On August 4, 420,000 gallons of unspecified petroleum product spilled from a Lakehead pipe nearDonaldson, Minnesota.^[183]
• 1996 A Koch butane pipeline rupture and fire, near Lively, Texas, August 24. Two people were killed after driving into an unseen butane cloud. The leak was caused by external corrosion. The pipeline was only 17 years old at the time.^[207][208]
• 1996 On October 23, in Tiger Pass, Louisiana , the crew of a Bean Horizon Corporation dredge dropped a stern spud into the bottom of the channel in preparation for dredging operations. The spud struck and ruptured a 12-inch-diameter submerged natural gas steel pipeline. The pressurized natural gas released from the pipeline enveloped the stern of the dredge and an accompanying tug, then ignited, destroying the dredge and the tug. No fatalities resulted from the accident.^[209]
• 1996 A pipeline in Murfreesboro, Tennessee was undergoing maintenance on November 5. The pipeline was returned to service, but a valve on that pipeline was accidentally left closed from the maintenance, causing pressure to rupture the pipeline.^[210]
• 1996 On November 21, an explosion occurred in a shoe store and office building in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico. Thirty-three people were killed, and at least 69 were injured. Crews from the local gas provider, Enron, had not found any gas leaks previously, despite complaints of propane odor in the buildings.^[211]
• 1997 A gas pipeline rupture and fire, in Indianapolis, Indiana, on July 21. A 20-inch-diameter steel natural gas transmission pipeline ruptured and released natural gas near an intersection adjoining the Charter Pointe subdivision. The gas ignited and burned, killing one resident and injuring another. About 75 residents required temporary shelter. Six homes were destroyed, and about 65 others sustained damage significant enough to be documented by the local investigation team. A nearby directional drilling operation had hit & weakened the pipeline before the failure.^[212]
• 1997 On May 30, 1997, Colonial Pipeline spilled approximately 18,900 gallons (450 barrels) of gasoline, some of which entered an unnamed creek and its adjoining shoreline in the Bear Creek watershed nearAthens, Georgia. During the spill, a vapor cloud of gasoline formed, causing several Colonial employees to flee for safety. This spill resulted from a calculation error related to a regular procedure. No one checked the calculations, nor did Colonial have a procedure in place to check such calculations.^[206]
• 1997 In August, residents in Vacaville, California noticed petroleum fumes, but a leaking pipeline was not found until September 10. A hairline crack from the pipe's manufacturing was the cause, and 20,000 to 60,000 gallons of petroleum products had leaked by the time the source was found.^[213]
• 1997 Over a period of years, more than 420,000 gallons (10,000 barrels) of gasoline spilled from small leaks in Colonial’s pipeline near Darling Creek in St. Helena Parish, Louisiana, before Colonial finally discovered the leak in December 1997. As of September 1999, a plume of gasoline, including leaded gasoline, extended over approximately 14 acres on the groundwater surface, more than 60 acres of groundwater had been contaminated, and some of the gasoline had entered Darling Creek.^[206]
• 1998 A rupture in a pipeline in a landfill at Sandy Springs, Georgia, discovered on March 30, resulted in the release of more than 30,000 gallons of gasoline. When the pipe was excavated, it was found to be buckled and cracked. The Safety Board found that the pipeline ruptured because of settlement of soil and trash underneath the pipeline.^[214]
• 1998 On April 4, a tow of the M/V Anne Holly, comprising 12 loaded and 2 empty barges, which was traveling northbound on the Mississippi River through the St. Louis Harbor, struck the Missouri-side pier of the center span of the Eads Bridge. Three of these barges drifted toward the President Casino on the Admiral, a permanently moored vessel below the bridge on the Missouri side of the river. A natural gas leak resulted when the natural gas supply line to the Admiral was severed in the course of the accident. When the line broke, natural gas began escaping. Although the escaping gas did not ignite, the gas leak had continued for about 3 hours before being stopped.^[215]
• 1998 Natural Gas Explosion and Fire, South Riding, Virginia, on July 7. A natural gas explosion and fire destroyed a newly constructed residence in the South Riding community in Loudoun County, Virginia. A family consisting of a husband and wife and their two children were spending their first night in their new home at the time of the explosion. As a result of the accident, the wife was killed, the husband was seriously injured, and the two children received minor injuries. Five other homes and two vehicles were damaged.^[216]
• 1998 September: 8,810 barrels spill from a Lakehead pipeline near Plummer, Minnesota.
• 1998 A natural gas pipeline rupture and subsequent explosion, in St. Cloud, Minnesota, on December 11. While attempting to install a utility pole support anchor in a city sidewalk in St. Cloud, Minnesota, a communications network installation crew struck and ruptured an underground, 1-inch-diameter, high-pressure plastic gas service pipeline, thereby precipitating a natural gas leak. About 39 minutes later, while utility workers and emergency response personnel were taking preliminary precautions and assessing the situation, an explosion occurred. As a result of the explosion, 4 persons were fatally injured; 1 person was seriously injured; and 10 persons, including 2 firefighters and 1 police officer, received minor injuries. Six buildings were destroyed. Damage assessments estimated property losses at $399,000.^[217]
• 1999 Natural Gas Explosion and Fire at a gas pressure station, Wytheville, Virginia, destroying a home and motorcycle store.^[218] (January 3, 1999)
• 1999 In Bridgeport, Alabama, on January 22, while digging a trench behind a building, a backhoe operator damaged a 3/4-inch steel natural gas service line and a 1-inch water service line. This resulted in two leaks in the natural gas service line, which was operated at 35 psig. One leak occurred where the backhoe bucket had contacted and pulled the natural gas service line. The other was a physical separation of the gas service line at an underground joint near the meter, which was close to the building. Gas migrated into a building nearby, where it ignited. An explosion followed, destroying three buildings. Other buildings within a two-block area of the explosion sustained significant damage. Three fatalities, five serious injuries, and one minor injury resulted from this accident.^[219]
• 1999 A pipeline rupture in Knoxville, Tennessee, and released over 53,000 gallons of diesel fuel into the Tennessee River on February 9. A brittle-like crack was found on the pipe in an area of coating failure. The NTSB expressed concern that the material's toughness had a role in this rupture. Two days before the rupture, an in-line inspection device was run through the pipe segment, with no anomalies in the rupture area reported. Contributing to the severity of the accident was Colonial Pipeline Company’s failure to determine from the SCADA system that a leak had occurred, with the result that the pipeline controller started and restarted the pipeline, increasing the amount of diesel fuel that was released.^[206][220]
• 1999 A pipeline in a Bellingham, Washington park leaked gasoline, vapor from the leak exploded and killed two 10 year old boys and an 18 year old man on June 10, 1999. Issues causing the rupture were found to be previous pipe damage by excavation, incorrectly set up pressure relief valve, unexpected repeated remote valve closure, and new software tests on the live controlling computer.^[221][222]
• 1999 On November 19, 2 men were injured in Salt Flat, Texas, when a leaking 8 inch diameter propane pipeline explodes. 2 school buses had passed through the area moments before the explosion.^[223]

[edit] 2000s

• 2000 On January 27, in Winchester, Kentucky, a pipeline accident released about 490,000 gallons of crude oil. NTSB investigators found a dent on the bottom of the pipe in the rupture area. Marathon-Ashland spent about $7.1 million in response to the accident.^[224][225]
• 2000 On February 5, a pipeline failed and spilled over 192,000 gallons of crude oil in the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge in Pennsylvania. The source of the spill was a break in a miter bend in the pipe, which was estimated to be at least 50 years old.^[226][227]
• 2000 A petroleum pipeline failure in Greenville, Texas, on March 9. A 28-inch-diameter pipeline ruptured and released 13,436 barrels (about 564,000 gallons) of gasoline. The released gasoline flowed a few hundred feet across the surrounding terrain and into a dry creek bed, which was a tributary to East Caddo Creek. From the tributary, the gasoline flowed downstream into East Caddo Creek. The banks of the tributary and creek contained the escaping gasoline as it flowed away from the ruptured pipe. The probable cause of the pipeline failure was corrosion-fatigue cracking that initiated at the edge of the longitudinal seam weld at a likely preexisting weld defect. Contributing to the failure was the loss of pipe coating integrity.^[228]
• 2000 A pipeline released fuel oil near Chalk Point, Maryland, on April 7. The Piney Point Oil Pipeline system, which was owned by the Potomac Electric Power Company (Pepco), experienced a pipe failure at the Chalk Point Generating Station in southeastern Prince George’s County, Maryland. The release was not discovered and addressed by the contract operating company, Support Terminal Services, Inc., until the late afternoon. Approximately 140,400 gallons of fuel oil were released into the surrounding wetlands and Swanson Creek and, subsequently, the Patuxent River as a result of the accident. No injuries were caused by the accident, which cost approximately $71 million for environmental response and clean-up operations.^[229]
• 2000 On June 7, a stopple fitting weld failed on a pipeline, causing a rupture releasing 75,000 gallons of gasoline into the environment, and causing the evacuation of more than 500 homes in Blackman Charter Township, Michigan. The failure caused the shutdown of 30% of Michigan's gasoline supplies for nine days, contaminated a creek which flows into the Grand River, and a railroad track near the failure site was shut down for a week. Later tests found 715 anomalies in this pipeline.^[230]
• 2000 A 30 inch diameter natural gas pipeline rupture and fire near Carlsbad, New Mexico killed 12 members of an extended Family camping over 600 feet (180 m) from the rupture point. The force of the rupture and the violent ignition of the escaping gas created a 51-foot-wide crater about 113 feet along the pipe. A 49-foot section of the pipe was ejected from the crater in three pieces measuring approximately 3 feet, 20 feet, and 26 feet in length. The largest piece of pipe was found about 287 feet northwest of the crater. The cause of the failure was determined to be severe internal corrosion of that pipeline. On July 26, 2007, a USDOJ Consent Decree was later entered into by the pipeline owner to do pipeline system upgrades to allow better internal pipeline inspections. (August 19, 2000)^{[231][232][233]}
• 2000 For the second time in 24 hours, a state contractor building a noise wall along the I-475 in Toledo, Ohiostruck an underground pipeline, and for a second time the contractor blamed faulty pipeline mapping for the accident. In this incident, the pipe was a six-inch gas pipeline. The crew was digging a hole with an auger for a noise-wall support on September 8, when it hit the underground pipe less than 500 meters from the previous day's incident.^[1]
• 2000 A Bulldozer ruptured a 12 inch diameter NGL pipeline on Rt. 36, south of Abilene, Texas, on September 7. A police detective, with 21 years of service, was killed. Nearby, a woman saved herself by going underwater in her swimming pool. Her house was destroyed by the explosion & fire.^{[234][235][236]}
• 2000 On November 3, a front end loader punctured an 8 inch diameter pipeline carrying diesel fuel inLancaster County, Pennsylvania. Diesel fuel sprayed 40 feet into the air. The fuel flowed for over 2 hours before stopping, and contaminating the area with more than 40,000 gallons of diesel fuel.^[237]
• 2001 A 12-inch natural gas pipeline exploded in Weatherford, Texas on March 22. No one was injured, but the blast created a hole in the ground about 15 feet in diameter and the explosion was felt several miles away.^[1]
• 2001 On April 1, a Dome Pipeline in North Dakota carrying gasoline ruptured and burst into flames a few miles west of Bottineau, North Dakota. An estimated 1.1 million gallons of gasoline burned before the pipeline could be shut down. The company attributed the break to damage by an "outside force," which A Bottineau County Sheriff said appeared to be frost that melted at uneven rates, twisting and breaking the pipeline.^[225]
• 2001 On June 13, in Pensacola, Florida, at least ten persons were injured when two natural gas lines ruptured and exploded after a parking lot gave way beneath a cement truck at a car dealership. The blast sent chunks of concrete flying across a four-lane road, and several employees and customers at neighboring businesses were evacuated. About 25 cars at the dealership and 10 boats at a neighboring business were damaged or destroyed.^[1]
• 2001 On July 24, a pipeline ruptures and spreads burning gasoline near Manheim, Pennsylvania.^[238]
• 2001 At approximately 5:05 a.m. MST, on August 11, a 24 inch gas pipeline failed near Williams, Arizona, resulting in the release of natural gas. The natural gas continued to discharge for about an hour before igniting.^[239]
• 2001 On August 17, an Oklahoma crude oil pipeline ruptured after being struck by a machine cleaning roadside ditches, sending oil 30 feet (9.1 m) into the air and damaging nearby cotton crops with up to 150,000 gallons spilled.^[195]
• 2001 December 14, an anhydrous ammonia spill near Algona, Iowa killed nearly 1.3 million fish- the largestfish kill on state record to date, Iowa state officials said. More than 58,000 gallons of anhydrous ammonia over a 9 hour period spilled from a broken pipeline owned by Koch Industries Inc. into Lotts Creek and the Des Moines River killing minnows, bass and other game fish. Koch Pipeline, a Texas company that owns the 8-inch pipeline, was doing maintenance work on a valve on the pipeline. Officials said the plume drifted over a six-mile (10 km) area causing officials to evacuate residents in its path.^[195]
• 2002 On March 15, a failure occurred on a 36 inch gas pipeline near Crystal Falls, Michigan. The failure resulted in a release of gas, which did not ignite, that created a crater 30 feet deep, 30 feet wide, and 120 feet long. There were no deaths or injuries.^[240]
• 2002 On April 6, a BP-Amoco pipeline ruptured and released about 100,000 gallons of oil into a coastal area known as Little Lake in Louisiana.^[195]
• 2002 A rupture of an Enbridge Pipeline and release of crude oil near Cohasset, Minnesota, on July 4. The pipeline ruptured in a marsh near Cohasset, in Itasca County, spilling 6,000 barrels (~250,000 gallons) of crude oil. In an attempt to keep the oil from contaminating the Mississippi River, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources set a controlled burn that lasted for 1 day and created a smoke plume about one mile (1.6 km) high and five miles (8 km) long.^[241]
• 2002 On August 5, a natural gas pipeline exploded and caught fire west of Rt. 622, on Poca River Road nearLanham, West Virginia. Emergency workers evacuated three or four families. Kanawha and Putnam Counties in the area were requested Shelter-In-Place. Parts of the Pipeline were thrown hundreds of yards away, around, and across Poca River. The Fire was not contained for several hours because valves to shutdown line did not exist. The Orange Glow from the fire at 11 PM; could be seen for several miles.^[1]
• 2003 An Enbridge crude oil pipeline ruptures at a terminal in Douglas County, Wisconsin on January 24. Some of the crude oil flowed into the Nemadji River. Over 100,000 gallons were spilled.^[225]
• 2003 A natural gas pipeline ruptured near Viola, Illinois on February 2, resulting in the release of natural gas which ignited. A l6-foot long section of the pipe fractured into three sections, which were ejected to distances of about 300 yards from the failure site.^[1][242]
• 2003 On March 23, a 24 inch diameter gas pipeline near Eaton, Colorado exploded. The explosion sent flames 160 meters in the air and sent thousands of Weld County residents into a panic, but no one was injured. The heat from the flames melted the siding of two nearby homes and started many smaller grass fires.^[1]
• 2003 Excavation damage to a natural gas distribution line resulted in an explosion and fire in Wilmington, Delaware on July 2. A contractor hired by the city of Wilmington to replace sidewalk and curbing, dug into an unmarked natural gas service line with a backhoe. Although the service line did not leak where it was struck, the contact resulted in a break in the line inside the basement of a nearby building, where gas began to accumulate. A manager for the contractor said that he did not smell gas and therefore did not believe there was imminent danger and that he called an employee of the gas company and left a voice mail message. At approximately 1:44p.m., an explosion destroyed two residences and damaged two others to the extent that they had to be demolished. Other nearby residences sustained some damage, and the residents on the block were displaced from their homes for about a week. Three contractor employees sustained serious injuries. Eleven additional people sustained minor injuries.^[243]
• 2003 On July 30, A Kinder Morgan pipeline in Tucson, Arizona ruptured and spewed 10,000 to 19,000 gallons of gasoline on five houses under construction, flooding nearby streets. The resulting pipeline closure caused major gas shortages in the state. The U.S. Office of Pipeline Safety had warned carriers previously that pipe of the type that Kinder Morgan had in Arizona had manufacturing defects that could grow over time. A hydrostatic test that was performed on this pipeline after repairs failed 40 feet from the first failure.^{[225][244][245]}
• 2003 On November 2, a Texas Eastern Transmission natural gas pipeline exploded in Bath County, Kentucky, about 1.5 km south of a Duke Energy pumping station. A fire burned for about an hour before firefighters extinguished it. No one was injured and no property damage was reported.^[225]
• 2004 On April 28, a petroleum pipeline owned and operated by Kinder Morgan Energy Partners ruptured, and spilled an estimated 1,500 -1,600 barrels of diesel fuel into marshes adjacent to Suisun Bay in Northern California. The line was corroded. The company failed to notify California authorities about the spill for 18 hours, a failure for which it was later cited.^[225]
• 2004 On May 23, a leak in a sampling tube on a pipeline in Renton, Washington spilled several thousand gallons of gasoline, which ignited.^[246]
• 2004 On August 21, a natural gas explosion destroyed a residence located at in DuBois, Pennsylvania. Two residents were killed in this accident. The NTSB determined that the probable cause of the leak, explosion, and fire was the fracture of a defective butt-fusion joint.^[247]
• 2004 A pipeline fails in Hughes County, Oklahoma on September 28, spilling an estimated 1500 barrels of diesel fuel.^[248]
• 2004 On October 27, an anhydrous ammonia pipeline ruptured near Kingman, Kansas, and released approximately 4,858 barrels (204,000 gallons) of anhydrous ammonia. Nobody was killed or injured due to the release. The anhydrous ammonia leaked into a creek and killed more than 25,000 fish including some from threatened species. The pipeline had previous damage to it. The pipeline controller had misinterpreted the leak as other problems with the system operation, causing the leak to go on longer.^[249]
• 2004 On November 8, a NGL pipeline failed in a housing division in Ivel, Kentucky. The vapor cloud from the leak ignited, seriously burning a Kentucky State Trooper evacuating those living in the area. 8 others were injured and 5 homes were destroyed. The pipeline had 11 previous corrosion failures, and is only 65 miles (105 km) long.^[250][251]
• 2004 On November 9, in Walnut Creek, California, a petroleum pipeline carrying gasoline to San Jose, California, owned and operated by Kinder Morgan Energy Partners (KMEP) was struck by a backhoe used by Mountain Cascade Inc. (MC), a contractor operating in the construction of a water pipeline for the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD). A massive gasoline spill was subsequently ignited, resulting in an explosive fireball that caused the deaths, by burns, of four workers and one supervisor and the severe injury of five others. A Kinder Morgan worker had misread an as built map, and had incorrectly marked the pipeline's route before the accident.^[252]
• 2004 On November 21, a 14 inch petroleum products pipeline sprung a leak that was transporting gasoline at the time of the release. The pipeline, owned and operated by the California-Nevada Pipeline Company, a subsidiary of Kinder-Morgan Energy Partners, is the main source of petroleum fuel products for Las Vegas, Nevada. An 80-foot (24 m) geyser of gasoline was discovered on the next morning, after numerous complaints of a strong gasoline odor along Interstate 15 in northern San Bernardino County, CA.^[253]
• 2005 In January, a Sunoco pipeline ruptured, spilling 260,000 gallons of oil into the Kentucky and Ohio rivers. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency fined Sunoco and a subsidiary $2.5 million for the spill.^[254]
• 2005 A petroleum products pipeline is found leaking gasoline near Truckee, California on April 1. Gasoline spread into Donner Creek.^[255]
• 2005 On May 13, an underground natural gas pipeline exploded near Marshall, Texas, sending a giant fireball into the sky and hurling a 160-foot (49 m) section of pipe onto the grounds of a nearby electric power generating plant. 2 people were hurt. The OPS concluded that stress corrosion cracking was the culprit.^[256]
• 2005 A pipeline fails in Bryan County, Oklahoma, spilling 860 barrels of crude oil.^[257]
• 2005 A 12-inch pipeline ruptured in El Paso, Texas on May 28, releasing gasoline.^[258]
• 2005 On December 13, workers removing an underground oil tank in Bergenfield, New Jersey undermined a 1 1/4 inch steel gas pipeline. The gas line later failed, causing an explosion. Three residents of a nearby apartment building were killed. Four other residents and a tank removal worker were injured. Failure to evacuate the apartment building after the gas line ruptured was listed as a contributing factor.^[259]
• 2006 On March 2, a surveillance crew discovered a crude oil spill near North Slope Borough, Alaska. The pipeline failure resulted in a release currently estimated at 5,000 barrels of processed crude oil, impacting the arctic tundra and covering approximately 2 acres of permafrost. The pipeline's leak detection system was not effective in recognizing and identifying the failure. Failure to run cleaning pigs to remove internal corrosive build up. The failure caused crude oil price to spike though out the World.^[260][261]
• 2006 On March 23, a pipeline failed west of Toledo, Ohio, spilling about 200 barrels of unleaded gasoline. During the repair work, another smaller nearby leak was also found.^[262]
• 2006 On or about April 17, a pipeline experienced a failure in Henrico County, approximately 1 1.5 miles NNW of Richmond, Virginia. The failure resulted in the release of an unknown quantity of jet fuel in a residential area. The jet fuel sprayed for approximately 14 minutes and the spray traveled the distance of approximately 200 feet (61 m). The jet fuel did not ignite.^[263]
• 2006 On June 27, a pipeline carrying crude oil failed near the town of Little Falls, Minnesota. The pipeline estimated that approximately 3200 barrels of crude oil were released.^[264]
• 2006 On July 22, a gas pipeline ruptured, resulting in an estimated release of 42,946 MSCF of natural gas near Clay City in Clark County, Kentucky. The gas ignited, but there were no injuries, and just minor property damage. External corrosion was suspected.^[265]
• 2006 On October 12, a pipeline explosion occurred when a tugboat pushing two barges hit the pipeline Thursday in West Cote Blanche Bay, about two miles from shore and 100 miles southwest of New Orleans, Louisiana. 4 crew members were killed, and 2 were missing and later presumed dead.^[266][267]
• 2006 A jet-black, 300-acre burn site surrounded the skeletal hulk of a bulldozer that struck a natural-gas pipeline on November 11, and produced a powerful explosion 2 miles north of the Wyoming-Colorado line. The bulldozer operator was killed.^[268]
• 2007 On January 1, an Enbridge pipeline that runs from Superior, Wisconsin to near Whitewater, Wisconsinfailed, resulting in a spill of ~50,000 gallons of crude oil onto farmland and into a drainage ditch.^[269] The same pipeline was struck by construction crews on February 2, 2007, in Rusk County, Wisconsin, spilling ~126,000 gallons of crude. Some of the oil filled a hole more than 20 feet (6.1 m) deep and was reported to have contaminated the local water table.^[270]
• 2007 February: A construction crew strikes an Enbridge pipeline in Rusk County, spilling 3,000 barrels.
• 2007 2007 New York City steam explosion, on July 18.
• 2007 A 12 inch propane pipeline explodes, killing two and injuring five others near Carmichael, Mississippi on November 1. The NTSB determined the probable cause was likely an ERW seam failure. Inadequate education of residents near the pipeline about the existence of a nearby pipeline and how to respond to a pipeline accident were also cited as a factors in the deaths.^[271]
• 2007 An oil pipeline owned by Enbridge exploded in Clearbrook, Minnesota, during repairs on November 28, causing the deaths of two employees. DOT officials said that two Enbridge workers died in a crude oil explosion as they worked to make repairs on the former Lakehead system pipeline. Enbridge was cited for failing to safely and adequately perform maintenance and repair activities, clear the designated work area from possible sources of ignition, and hire properly trained and qualified workers.^[272][273]
• 2008 A pipeline split open on Jan. 8, near Denver City, Texas, spilling 1.3 million gallons of crude oil. The pipeline company failed to detect and stop the leak for more than 24 hours. ERW seam failure appears to be the cause.^[274]
• 2008 A natural gas pipeline explodes and catches fire on February 5, near Hartsville, Tennessee, believed to have been caused by a tornado hitting the facility.
• 2008 On February 15, a 20 inch gas pipeline exploded and burned in Hidalgo County, Texas, closing road FM490.^[275]
• 2008 On July 28, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois ordered Apex Oil Company Inc., to clean up ground water and soil contamination, at an expected cost of at least $150 million. During the period 1967 through 1988, Apex Oil's legal predecessor, Clark Oil and Refining Corp., released gasoline from leaking pipelines and other spills, that commingled with other responsible parties' releases and resulted in the large plume of refined petroleum substances beneath Hartford, Illinois. Vapors from the underground plume of millions of gallons of leaked and spilled petroleum products have migrated into homes in the village, causing years of fires, explosions, and evacuations.^[276]
• 2008 A 36 inch gas pipeline fails near Stairtown, Texas on August 28, causing a fire with flames 400 feet (120 m) tall. The failure was caused by external corrosion.^[277][278]
• 2008 On August 29, a 24 inch gas transmission pipeline ruptured in Cooper County, Missouri. Corrosion had caused the pipeline to lose 75% of its wall thickness in the failure area.^[279]
• 2008 Workers constructing a new pipeline hit an existing natural gas pipeline in Wheeler County, Texas, on September 9.^[280]
• 2008 A 30 inch gas pipeline ruptured & gas ignited near Appomattox, Virginia on September 14. 2 homes were destroyed by the fire. External corrosion seems to be the cause of the failure.^[281]
• 2008 On October 3, a crew working on a Turnpike expansion drill into a pertoleum products pipeline inHamilton, New Jersey. Over 25,000 gallons of diesel fuel were spilled.^[282]
• 2008 A gasoline release from a petroleum pipeline occurred on November 25, at a retail mall in Murrysville, PA. Officials said the release occurred from the six-inch line at about 9:30 a.m. while a Sunoco Logistics crew was working on a ball valve.^[283] The failure resulted in the evacuation of numerous stores, restaurants and roads in the immediate vicinity due to the dousing of gasoline and subsequent vapors emitting from the 11,760 gallons (280 barrels) of spilled product.^[284]
• 2009 On February 1, a gas pipeline explosion rocked the area 2 miles (3.2 km) east of Carthage, Texas.^[285]
• 2009 A rupture of pipeline near Cygnet, Ohio, owned by Philadelphia-based Sunoco Logistics Partners LP, resulted in one of the largest oil spills in Wood County history on February 18. The damaged pipeline, which was operating at the time, released 1250 barrels of crude oil into a farm field. Eventually, 782 of the 1250 barrels released were recovered. Some of the crude oil, approximately 200 barrels, did contaminate a local creek. There were no fatalities, or injuries.^[286][287]
• 2009 A gas pipeline bursts near Hobe City, Florida on May 4, injuring 2 people on the Florida Turnpike from flying debris. The escaping gas did not ignite.^[288]
• 2009 Natural gas pipeline explodes and catches fire on May 5, near Rockville, IN in Parke County, about 24 miles (39 km) north of Terre Haute, Indiana. PHMSA indicated the possibility of external corrosion in its Corrective Action Order (CAO) to the pipeline company. Pictures have been released around the area showing the damage caused. 49 homes were evacuated in a one-mile (1.6 km) area of the explosion. No injuries reported.^[289]
• 2009 On August 17, a pipeline was found leaking by an aerial patrol in Atoka County, Oklahoma. 50 barrels of diesel fuel were estimated to have been released as a result of this accident, and none of it was recovered.^[290]
• 2009 A leaking pipeline carrying jet fuel was accidentally ignited by a pipeline repair crew in Upton County, Texas, on October 7.^[291]
• 2009 Bushland, Texas — Two people were hurt when a natural gas pipeline exploded in the Texas Panhandle. The explosion early Thursday, 5 November, left a hole about 30 yards by 20 yards and close to 15 feet (4.6 m) deep. The blast shook homes, melted window blinds and shot flames hundreds of feet into the air. The home nearest the blast — about 100 yards away- was destroyed. Bushland is about 15 miles (24 km) west of Amarillo.^[292]
• 2009 On December 23, a crude oil pipeline started leaking in Galveston, Texas. There was no fire or explosion as a result of the accident, and an estimated 120 barrels of crude oil were released to the environment.^[293]
• 2009 A newly built 42 inch gas transmission pipeline near Philo, Ohio failed on the second day of operation. There was no fire, but evacuations resulted. Several indications of pipe deformation were found.(November 14, 2009)^[294][295]

[edit] 2010s

• 2010 A gas pipeline exploded near Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, in January, killing a pipeline employee.^[296]
• 2010 On February 1, a plumber trying to unclog a sewer line in St. Paul, Minnesota ruptured a gas service line that has been "cross bored" through the house's sewer line. The plumper & resident escape the home moments before as an explosion & following fire destroyed the home. The Minnesota Office of Pipeline Safety ordered that gas utility, Xcel, to check for more cross bored gas lines. In the following year, 25,000 sewer lines inspected showed 57 other cross bored gas lines. In Louisville, Kentucky, 430 gas line cross bores were found in 200 miles of a sewer project, including some near schools and a hospital. The NTSB had cited such cross bore incidents as a known hazard since 1976.^[297][298]
• 2010 A 24 inch gas pipeline bursts, but did not ignite near Pampa, Texas on March 15.^[299]
• 2010 A crude oil pipeline ruptures near near Green River, Wyoming, on April 5. At least 84,000 gallons of crude were spilled. Corrosion in the pipeline was the cause.^[225]
• 2010 A BP pipeline carrying gasoline leaked nearly 93,000 gallons into a farm field over the Memorial Day weekend. The leak occurred in Constantine Township, St. Joseph County, Michigan.^[225][300]
• 2010 On June 7, a 36 inch gas pipeline explosion and fire in Johnson County, Texas, was from workers installing poles for electrical lines. One worker killed, and six were injured. Confusion over the location and status of the construction work lead to the pipeline not being marked beforehand.^[301][302]
• 2010 On June 8, construction workers hit an unmarked 14 inch gas gathering pipeline near Darrouzett, Texas. Two workers were killed.^[301][303]
• 2010 On June 12, a crude oil pipeline damage by lightning ruptured, causing 800 barrels of crude to spill into Red Butte Creek in Salt Lake City, Utah. Crude then flowed in a pond in Liberty Park.^[304]
• 2010 On Monday, July 26, the pipeline company, Enbridge Energy Partners LLP (Enbridge), reported that a 30-inch (760 mm) pipeline belonging to Enbridge burst in Marshall, Michigan. The company estimates over 800,000 gallons of crude oil leaked into Talmadge Creek, a waterway that feeds the Kalamazoo River,^{[305][306][307]} whereas EPA believes over 1 million gallons of oil may have leaked into the river.^[308] On July 27, 2010, an Administrative Order was issued by U.S. EPA requiring the performance of removal actions in connection with the facility. The Order requires Enbridge to immediately conduct removal of a discharge or to mitigate or prevent a substantial threat of a discharge of oil and to submit a Work Plan for the cleanup activities that was to include a Health and Safety Plan,^[309] as required by 29 CFR 1910.120 (HAZWOPER). An oil spill cleanup contractor from Texas, Hallmark, bussed numerous undocumented workers to Battle Creek to work on the cleanup of oil spill and had them work in unsafe conditions.^[310]
• 2010 A construction crew installing a gas pipeline in Roberts County, Texas hits an unmarked pipeline on August 25, seriously burning one man.^[311]
• 2010 On August 27, a LPG pipeline sprang a leak in Gilboa, New York, forcing the evacuation of 23 people.^[312][313]
• 2010 On Thursday, September 9, a high pressure gas pipeline exploded in San Bruno, CA, a suburb of San Francisco. The blast destroyed 38 homes and damaged 120 homes. Eight people died and many were injured. Ten acres of brush also burned. Later, PG&E was unable to supply the California Public Utilities Commission with documents on how PG&E established pressure limits on some of it's gas transmission pipelines.^{[314][315][316]}
• 2010 A repair crew was working on a corroded gas pipe in Cairo, Georgia on September 28, when the line exploded. One crew member was killed, and 3 others burned.^[317]
• 2010 A gas pipeline under construction in Grand Prairie, Texas was running a cleaning pig on October 15 without a pig "trap" at the end of the pipe. The 150 pound pig was expelled from the pipeline with enough force to fly 500 feet (150 m), and crash through the side of a house. No one was injured.^[318]
• 2010 On November 12, three men working on natural gas lines were injured when a pieline ruptured in [[Monroe, Louisiana}}.^[319]
• 2010 A 30 inch diameter gas pipeline fails at Natchitoches, Louisiana on November 30. There was no fire, but the pipeline had a Magnetic Flux smart pig test earlier in the year that indicated no flaws in the pipeline. The deadly 1965 gas pipeline accident occurred on a different pipeline owned by the same company nearby.^[320]
• 2010 A valve on a crude oil pipeline leaked about 500 barrels of crude in Salt Lake City, Utah on December 1. This failure was only 100 yards from a June 2010 failure on the same pipeline.^[321]
• 2010 A pipeline was discovered gasoline leaking near Livingston, Illinois, on December 2.^[322]
• 2010 On December 14, a pipeline leaks crude oil near Lockport, Illinois. EPA officials say the spill is near wetlands that house several endangered species. Federal officials say about 21,000 gallons of oil were released in Lockport and Romeoville, about 35 miles (56 km) southwest of Chicago.^[323]
• 2010 On December 17, a gas line fire and explosion just outside of Corpus Christi, Texas city limits leaves one person critically injured. A man was working on removing an abandoned pipeline when it exploded, and the man's face was severely burned.^[324]
• 2010 A pipeline at an underground gas storage facility in Covington County, Mississippi on December 28, forcing the evacuation of about 2 dozen families for over a week.^[325]
• 2011 A gas main being repaired in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania explodes, killing a repair crew member and injuring 6 others on January 18.^[326]
• 2011 Gas pressure regulators failed and caused a gas pressure surge in Fairport Harbor, Ohio, on January 24, causing gas fires in numerous homes, and one apartment. 7 homes were destroyed, and damaged 45 furnaces, 10 boilers, 19 water heaters, and 10 other gas appliances. Gas company Dominion East Ohio says it found fluids and debris in a failed regulator and is investigating how that happened.^[327][328]
• 2011 5 people are killed and 8 homes are destroyed in an apparent gas explosion and fire in Allentown, Pennsylvania on February 10. The NTSB had warned UGI about cast iron gas mains needing replacement after the 1990 gas explosion in that city. Between 1976 and the date of the letter, July 10, 1992, two more gas explosions occurred. Three people were killed, 23 injured and 11 homes were destroyed or damaged in those explosions.^[329][330]
• 2011 Late on February 10, a 36 inch diameter gas transmission pipeline explodes near Lisbon, Ohio. No injuries resulted.^[331]
• 2011 Early on February 24, a pipeline near Texas City, Texas ruptured, sending up to 5,000 gallons of gasoline into Bayou Pierre.^[332][333]
• 2011 Early on March 17, a 20-inch steel natural gas line running through a Minneapolis, Minnesota neighborhood ruptured and gas from it ignitied, caused evacuations to buildings nearby, and Interstate 35W was closed from downtown Minneapolis to Highway 62. There were no injuries.^[334][335]