# NTSB Safety Recommendation P-74-043 **Citation:** P-74-043 **Type / status:** guidance / guidance **Agency:** National Transportation Safety Board **Effective:** 1974-10-24 **Published:** 1974-10-24 THE NTSB RECOMMENDS THAT THE AMERICAN GAS ASSOCIATION: GIVE A HIGH PRIORITY TO THE PROBLEM OF SOIL ADSORPTION OF ODORANT COMPOUNDS IN ITS PLANNED RESEARCH TO DEVELOP AN IMPROVED ODORANT. (URGENT) ## Document text NTSB safety recommendation P-74-043. THE NTSB RECOMMENDS THAT THE AMERICAN GAS ASSOCIATION: GIVE A HIGH PRIORITY TO THE PROBLEM OF SOIL ADSORPTION OF ODORANT COMPOUNDS IN ITS PLANNED RESEARCH TO DEVELOP AN IMPROVED ODORANT. (URGENT) Priority: CLASS I Overall Status: Closed - Acceptable Action Issued Date: 1974-10-24 Adopted Date: 1974-10-24 Overall Date Closed: 1983-03-31 Synopsis: ON JUNE 23, 1973, A SERIES OF EXPLOSIONS, FOLLOWED BY FIRE, OCCURRED AT 12321 WELLING LANE IN BOWIE, MARYLAND. THREE OCCUPANTS OF THE HOUSE WERE KILLED, AND A FOURTH WAS INJURED; THE HOUSE WAS BADLY DAMAGED. HOUSES IN A FIVE-BLOCK AREA WERE EVACUATED. Ntsbnumber: PLD73XR006 Report Number: PAR-74-05 Addressee Name: American Gas Association Addressee Status: Closed--No Longer Applicable Addressee Date Closed: 1983-03-31 Addressee Acronym: AGA Addressee Organization Type: A-Associations Communication Date: 1975-03-31 Communication Type: Official Correspondence Communication Contents: PHONE CONVERSATION WITH THE AMERICAN GAS ASSOCIATION ON 3/31/75: ON MARCH 19, 1975, THE AMERICAN GAS ASSOCIATION (AGA) AUTHORIZED $170,000 FOR THE FIRST YEAR OF A THREE YEAR STUDY OF THE PROBLEM OF GAS ODORIZATION. Addressee Acronym: AGA Addressee Organization Type: A-Associations Communication Date: 1983-01-26 Communication Type: Official Correspondence Communication Contents: GAS RESEARCH INSTITUTE LETTER: THIS RECOMMENDATION CALLED FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF IMPROVED ODORANTS AND ODORANT MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES AND A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF ODORANT ADSORPTON BY SOILS. A.G.A. INITIATED SUCH A STUDY WITH ARTHUR D. LITTLE, INC., IN 1975. THIS STUDY WAS CONTINUED AND ITS SCOPE EXPANDED UNDER GRI SPONSORSHIP AFTER GRI BECAME THE OFFICIAL R&D ARM OF THE GAS INDUSTRY. THE FOLLOWING IS A SUMMARY OF OUR RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS TO DATE: THE PROPENSITIES OF GAS ODORANTS TO BE ABSORBED BY VARIOUS CLAYS AND TO REACT WITH PIPE WALL MATERIALS WERE THOROUGHLY INVESTIGATED. DYNAMIC LABORATORY METHODS WERE DEVELOPED FOR TESTING BOTH SOIL/ODORANT AND PIPE/ODORANT INTERACTIONS. WE FEEL THAT WITH THESE STUDIES, A.G.A. AND GRI HAVE COMPLIED WITH NTSB RECOMMENDATIONS NO. P-74-43 AND P-74-45. Addressee Acronym: AGA Addressee Organization Type: A-Associations Communication Date: 1979-01-02 Communication Type: Official Correspondence Addressee Acronym: AGA Addressee Organization Type: A-Associations Communication Date: 1979-10-31 Communication Type: Official Correspondence Addressee Acronym: AGA Addressee Organization Type: A-Associations Communication Date: 1983-03-31 Communication Type: Official Correspondence ## Provenance - Official: Yes - Source: - Source ID: `ntsb-pipeline` - SHA-256: `3d76cdf4ea4c70d28d380d9461a7308e65d83821fdafb09f6bcdffaa4024645d` - Retrieved: 2026-08-20T04:57:24.741Z - Exported: 2026-08-22T20:36:44.713Z - Document slug: `ntsb-recommendation-p-74-043` ### Source metadata ```json { "recordKind": "ntsb_safety_recommendation", "safetyRecommendationNumber": "P-74-043", "recommendationMode": "Pipeline", "topicMode": "Pipeline", "ntsbNumber": "PLD73XR006", "priority": "CLASS I", "overallStatus": "Closed - Acceptable Action", "overallStatusAcronym": "CAA", "overallDateClosed": "1983-03-31", "lastModifiedDate": "2017-09-06", "reportNumber": "PAR-74-05", "reportUrl": "https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/Pages/PLD73XR006.aspx", "transmittalLetterUrl": "http://www.ntsb.gov/safety/safety-recs/recletters/P74_37_49.pdf", "addressees": [ { "addresseeName": "American Gas Association", "addresseeStatusAcronym": "CNLA", "addresseeStatus": "Closed--No Longer Applicable", "addresseeDateClosed": "1983-03-31", "addresseeDetails": [ { "addresseeAcronym": "AGA", "addresseeOrganizationType": "A-Associations", "isFromNtsb": false, "communicationDate": "1975-03-31", "communicationType": "Official Correspondence", "communicationContents": "PHONE CONVERSATION WITH THE AMERICAN GAS ASSOCIATION ON 3/31/75: ON MARCH 19, 1975, THE AMERICAN GAS ASSOCIATION (AGA) AUTHORIZED $170,000 FOR THE FIRST YEAR OF A THREE YEAR STUDY OF THE PROBLEM OF GAS ODORIZATION." }, { "addresseeAcronym": "AGA", "addresseeOrganizationType": "A-Associations", "isFromNtsb": false, "communicationDate": "1983-01-26", "communicationType": "Official Correspondence", "communicationContents": "GAS RESEARCH INSTITUTE LETTER: THIS RECOMMENDATION CALLED FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF IMPROVED ODORANTS AND ODORANT MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES AND A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF ODORANT ADSORPTON BY SOILS. A.G.A. INITIATED SUCH A STUDY WITH ARTHUR D. LITTLE, INC., IN 1975. THIS STUDY WAS CONTINUED AND ITS SCOPE EXPANDED UNDER GRI SPONSORSHIP AFTER GRI BECAME THE OFFICIAL R&D ARM OF THE GAS INDUSTRY. THE FOLLOWING IS A SUMMARY OF OUR RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS TO DATE: THE PROPENSITIES OF GAS ODORANTS TO BE ABSORBED BY VARIOUS CLAYS AND TO REACT WITH PIPE WALL MATERIALS WERE THOROUGHLY INVESTIGATED. DYNAMIC LABORATORY METHODS WERE DEVELOPED FOR TESTING BOTH SOIL/ODORANT AND PIPE/ODORANT INTERACTIONS. WE FEEL THAT WITH THESE STUDIES, A.G.A. AND GRI HAVE COMPLIED WITH NTSB RECOMMENDATIONS NO. P-74-43 AND P-74-45." }, { "addresseeAcronym": "AGA", "addresseeOrganizationType": "A-Associations", "isFromNtsb": true, "communicationDate": "1979-01-02", "communicationType": "Official Correspondence", "communicationContents": "" }, { "addresseeAcronym": "AGA", "addresseeOrganizationType": "A-Associations", "isFromNtsb": true, "communicationDate": "1979-10-31", "communicationType": "Official Correspondence", "communicationContents": "" }, { "addresseeAcronym": "AGA", "addresseeOrganizationType": "A-Associations", "isFromNtsb": true, "communicationDate": "1983-03-31", "communicationType": "Official Correspondence", "communicationContents": "" } ] } ], "jurisdiction": "US" } ```