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Investigation into deadly Texas Eastern gas pipeline blast takes shape

The National Transportation Safety Board issued its first preliminary report on the deadly gas pipeline blast along the Texas Eastern Transmission LP system that rocked Lincoln County, Ky., in August.

The board's ongoing investigation into the blast will focus on system operator Enbridge Inc.'s past inspections and maintenance on the line as well as the company's emergency isolation measures and how it classified the area where the accident occurred, the agency said Oct. 8. The National Transportation Safety Board, or NTSB, is also conducting metallurgical assessments on samples of the pipe and will investigate a 2003 rupture and other incidents and "inspection anomalies" on the line.

The update also presented the sequence of events that unfolded following the Aug. 1 explosion. The NTSB's reconstruction dovetailed with an earlier retelling presented in a corrective action order issued by the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.

The NTSB is "reviewing and reassessing" data gathered during recent in-line inspections of Line 15, the portion of the Texas Eastern system along which the failure occurred. Enbridge conducted in-line inspections along Line 15 in 2011 to assess the pipeline's material properties and in 2018 and 2019 to evaluate its geometry.

The NTSB also noted that Enbridge did not classify the area where the failure occurred, near Danville, Ky., as a high consequence area. HCAs are areas where a failure is especially likely to cause significant destruction, and pipeline segments that run through them are typically subject to heavier regulation.

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The Aug. 1 blast rocked a mobile home park and killed 1 person, hospitalized six others and forced the evacuation of 75 people. It destroyed five homes, damaged 14 other residences, scorched 30 acres and damaged Norfolk Southern Corp. railroad tracks.

The rupture occurred at 1:23 a.m. ET on Aug. 1, according to the NTSB. An alarm indicating a sudden change in the pressure of the gas flowing through Line 15 went off at Enbridge's Houston gas control center and its Danville compressor station at 1:24 a.m. ET. Enbridge staff had isolated the ruptured line by 2:19 a.m. ET after closing one valve 3.5 miles north of the rupture and another valve 19 miles south of the Danville compressor station. Emergency responders reported that the gas fire caused by the rupture was under control at 2:56 a.m. ET, and they finished fire suppression activities by 3:20 a.m.

The NTSB did not investigate a Nov. 2, 2003, rupture on Line 15 that released 167 Bcf of gas, but the board's staff will revisit the incident as part of its investigation into the Aug. 1 explosion. The 2003 rupture occurred in Moorhead, Ky., about 78 miles north of the Danville failure.

The agency also said it will scrutinize reportable incidents along the line. PHMSA recorded eight incidents on the Texas Eastern system between the start of the year and the Aug. 1 blast, the highest rate of incidents on record going back 33 years for the company.

PHMSA ordered Enbridge to shut down a 19-mile portion of Line 15, reduce pressure along the rest of the 775-mile line and take two adjacent lines out of service. The adjacent lines were restored to service as of Sept. 1, but the restrictions on Line 15 remain in place, Texas Eastern Transmission said in a Sept. 9 posting to its electronic bulletin board.

"[Texas Eastern] is evaluating scenarios that would allow specific segments of Line 15 to return to service prior to the second quarter of 2020, but at this time that information is unknown," the company said.