# NTSB Safety Recommendation P-99-010 **Citation:** P-99-010 **Type / status:** guidance / guidance **Agency:** National Transportation Safety Board **Effective:** 1999-04-28 **Published:** 1999-04-28 THE NTSB RECOMMENDS THAT THE NORTH AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR TRENCHLESS TECHNOLOGY: INFORM YOUR MEMBERS OF THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE 7/21/97, PIPELINE RUPTURE AND FIRE IN INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, AND CONSIDER THESE CIRCUMSTANCES WHILE REVISING THE SECTIONS OF THE MINI-HORIZONTAL DIRECTIONAL DRILLING MANUAL THAT ADDRESS RECOMMENDED SAFE WORK PRACTICES TO PREVENT DAMAGE TO EXISTING UNDERGROUND PIPELINE FACILITIES DURING DIRECT ## Document text NTSB safety recommendation P-99-010. THE NTSB RECOMMENDS THAT THE NORTH AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR TRENCHLESS TECHNOLOGY: INFORM YOUR MEMBERS OF THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE 7/21/97, PIPELINE RUPTURE AND FIRE IN INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, AND CONSIDER THESE CIRCUMSTANCES WHILE REVISING THE SECTIONS OF THE MINI-HORIZONTAL DIRECTIONAL DRILLING MANUAL THAT ADDRESS RECOMMENDED SAFE WORK PRACTICES TO PREVENT DAMAGE TO EXISTING UNDERGROUND PIPELINE FACILITIES DURING DIRECTIONAL DRILLING OPERATIONS. Priority: CLASS II Overall Status: Closed - Acceptable Action Issued Date: 1999-04-28 Adopted Date: 1999-04-20 Overall Date Closed: 2004-03-05 Synopsis: ABOUT 2:33 P.M. ON 7/21/97, A 20-INCH-DIAMETER STEEL NATURAL GAS TRANSMISSION PIPELINE OWNED AND OPERATED BY CITIZENS GAS AND COKE UTILITY COMPANY (CITIZENS GAS) RUPTURED AND RELEASED NATURAL GAS NEAR AN INTERSECTION ADJOINING THE CHARTER POINTE SUBDIVISION IN INDIANAPOLIS, IN. 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. Probable Cause: The National Transportation Safety Board determined that the probable cause of this accident was the failure of Citizens Gas and Miller to have adequate controls in place to ensure that directional drilling operations carried out in the proximity of existing underground facilities would not cause damage to those facilities. Ntsbnumber: DCA97FP005 Report Number: PAB-99-02 Addressee Name: North American Society for Trenchless Technology Addressee Status: Closed - Acceptable Action Addressee Date Closed: 2004-03-05 Addressee Acronym: NASTT Addressee Organization Type: A-Associations Communication Date: 2004-01-09 Communication Type: Official Correspondence Communication Contents: John Hemphill, Executive Director NASTT, (703-739-6671), wrote 'I would like to report on the actions taken by the North American Society for Trenchless Technology (NASTT) and other members of the underground construction industry to address safety issues surrounding the use of horizontal directional drilling (HDD) in the installation of pipe and cable. NASTT is an organization with a mission of education and training to improve the efficiency, and safety of trenchless technologies including HDD equipment. Several years ago, the HDD industry experienced a boom in its use as the preferred method for installing fiber optic cable. Partly as a result of this boom, we began to experience incidents resulting in property damage, injury and sometimes unfortunately deaths. During this period, there was an incident, which the NTSB investigated (doc #47992). The NTSB requested that NASTT, as a lead organization in the education and training of trenchless technology, take action to mitigate the risk of an incident involving HDD equipment. Although in any construction project, there is always some risk of an incident, the industry believed that establishing, recognized good operating procedures, and educating the industry about these procedures would go a long way toward reducing the risk of a incident. In April 2000, representatives of the HDD industry met and formed the HDD Consortium headed by NASTT to develop Good Practices Guidelines for the safe operation of HDD equipment. Members of the Consortium were: NASTT, Distribution Contractors Association (DCA), Directional Crossing Contractors Association (DCCA), Equipment Manufacturers Institute (EMI), National Utility Contractors Association (NUCA) and Power & Communication Contractors Association (PCCA). In May 2001, the Consortium published Horizontal Directional Drilling - Good Practices Guidelines, a consensus industry document that describes among other things procedures for the safe operation of HDD equipment. NASTT has subsequently held a number of training seminars based on these Guidelines.' Addressee Acronym: NASTT Addressee Organization Type: A-Associations Communication Date: 2003-12-12 Communication Type: Official Correspondence Communication Contents: Contacted John Hemphill, Executive Director of the North American Society for Trenchless Technology. Mr Hemphill expressed regret at the delay and responded same day with an email addressing how NASTT had responded to the SR. That email is in review in RPH-20. Addressee Acronym: NASTT Addressee Organization Type: A-Associations Communication Date: 2002-08-06 Communication Type: Official Correspondence Communication Contents: On April 13, 2001, the Safety Board inquired whether the NASTT had taken the action requested in Safety Recommendation P-99-9. Because the Board has not received a response from the NASTT, we do not know whether our goal in issuing this recommendation was ever achieved. With that in mind, we have prepared the enclosed article that we request be included in the publication that has the widest distribution to your membership, if the NASTT has not already done so. Although the accident is more than 5 years old, we believe that the issues associated with this accident are still pertinent today and may be of interest to your association and its members. We would appreciate receiving a copy of the published article or being informed if an article was previously published. Thank you for your attention to this matter. Pending your response, the recommendation remains classified "Open--Await Response." Addressee Acronym: NASTT Addressee Organization Type: A-Associations Communication Date: 2004-03-05 Communication Type: Official Correspondence Communication Contents: From your email of January 9, 2004, the Safety Board understands that in April 2000, representatives of the horizontal directional drilling (HDD) industry met and formed a consortium headed by the NASTT to develop Good Practices Guidelines for the safe operation of HDD equipment. In May 2001, the consortium published Horizontal Directional Drilling-Good Practices Guidelines, a consensus industry document that describes, among other things, procedures for the safe operation of HDD equipment. The NASTT subsequently held a number of training seminars based on these guidelines. Accordingly, Safety Recommendation P-99-10 is classified "Closed--Acceptable Action." The Board would appreciate receiving a copy of the Horizontal Directional Drilling-Good Practices Guidelines. Addressee Acronym: NASTT Addressee Organization Type: A-Associations Communication Date: 2001-04-13 Communication Type: Official Correspondence Communication Contents: TO DATE, THE SAFETY BOARD HAS NOT BEEN NOTIFIED OF ANY ACTION TAKEN TO IMPLEMENT P-99-10, AND THE BOARD WOULD APPRECIATE LEARNING OF ANY ACTIONS TAKEN OR PLANNED TO COMPLY WITH THIS RECOMMENDATION. PLEASE ADDRESS YOUR RESPONSE TO MS. CAROL J. CARMODY, ACTING CHAIRMAN, AND REFERENCE THE SAFETY RECOMMENDATION NUMBER. ## Provenance - Official: Yes - Source: - Source ID: `ntsb-pipeline` - SHA-256: `c0c12d857fbe92b1ef7d81aa25df735b3669a50bfb19d8226d682f7a10960496` - Retrieved: 2026-08-20T04:57:24.741Z - Exported: 2026-08-22T23:53:19.160Z - Document slug: `ntsb-recommendation-p-99-010` ### Source metadata ```json { "recordKind": "ntsb_safety_recommendation", "safetyRecommendationNumber": "P-99-010", "recommendationMode": "Pipeline", "topicMode": "Pipeline", "ntsbNumber": "DCA97FP005", "priority": "CLASS II", "overallStatus": "Closed - Acceptable Action", "overallStatusAcronym": "CAA", "overallDateClosed": "2004-03-05", "lastModifiedDate": "2016-11-15", "reportNumber": "PAB-99-02", "reportUrl": "https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/Pages/DCA97FP005.aspx", "transmittalLetterUrl": "http://www.ntsb.gov/safety/safety-recs/recletters/P99_10.pdf", "addressees": [ { "addresseeName": "North American Society for Trenchless Technology", "addresseeStatusAcronym": "CAA", "addresseeStatus": "Closed - Acceptable Action", "addresseeDateClosed": "2004-03-05", "addresseeDetails": [ { "addresseeAcronym": "NASTT", "addresseeOrganizationType": "A-Associations", "isFromNtsb": false, "communicationDate": "2004-01-09", "communicationType": "Official Correspondence", "communicationContents": "John Hemphill, Executive Director NASTT, (703-739-6671), wrote 'I would like to report on the actions taken by the North American Society for Trenchless Technology (NASTT) and other members of the underground construction industry to address safety issues surrounding the use of horizontal directional drilling (HDD) in the installation of pipe and cable. NASTT is an organization with a mission of education and training to improve the efficiency, and safety of trenchless technologies including HDD equipment.\r\nSeveral years ago, the HDD industry experienced a boom in its use as the preferred method for installing fiber optic cable. Partly as a result of this boom, we began to experience incidents resulting in property damage, injury and sometimes unfortunately deaths. During this period, there was an incident, which the NTSB investigated (doc #47992).\r\nThe NTSB requested that NASTT, as a lead organization in the education and training of trenchless technology, take action to mitigate the risk of an incident involving HDD equipment. Although in any construction project, there is always some risk of an incident, the industry believed that establishing, recognized good operating procedures, and educating the industry about these procedures would go a long way toward reducing the risk of a incident.\r\nIn April 2000, representatives of the HDD industry met and formed the HDD Consortium headed by NASTT to develop Good Practices Guidelines for the safe operation of HDD equipment. Members of the Consortium were: NASTT, Distribution Contractors Association (DCA), Directional Crossing Contractors Association (DCCA), Equipment Manufacturers Institute (EMI), National Utility Contractors Association (NUCA) and Power & Communication Contractors Association (PCCA). In May 2001, the Consortium published Horizontal Directional Drilling - Good Practices Guidelines, a consensus industry document that describes among other things procedures for the safe operation of HDD equipment. NASTT has subsequently held a number of training seminars based on these Guidelines.'" }, { "addresseeAcronym": "NASTT", "addresseeOrganizationType": "A-Associations", "isFromNtsb": true, "communicationDate": "2003-12-12", "communicationType": "Official Correspondence", "communicationContents": "Contacted John Hemphill, Executive Director of the North American Society for Trenchless Technology. Mr Hemphill expressed regret at the delay and responded same day with an email addressing how NASTT had responded to the SR. That email is in review in RPH-20." }, { "addresseeAcronym": "NASTT", "addresseeOrganizationType": "A-Associations", "isFromNtsb": true, "communicationDate": "2002-08-06", "communicationType": "Official Correspondence", "communicationContents": "On April 13, 2001, the Safety Board inquired whether the NASTT had taken the action requested in Safety Recommendation P-99-9. Because the Board has not received a response from the NASTT, we do not know whether our goal in issuing this recommendation was ever achieved. With that in mind, we have prepared the enclosed article that we request be included in the publication that has the widest distribution to your membership, if the NASTT has not already done so. Although the accident is more than 5 years old, we believe that the issues associated with this accident are still pertinent today and may be of interest to your association and its members. We would appreciate receiving a copy of the published article or being informed if an article was previously published.\r\n\r\nThank you for your attention to this matter. Pending your response, the recommendation remains classified \"Open--Await Response.\"" }, { "addresseeAcronym": "NASTT", "addresseeOrganizationType": "A-Associations", "isFromNtsb": true, "communicationDate": "2004-03-05", "communicationType": "Official Correspondence", "communicationContents": "From your email of January 9, 2004, the Safety Board understands that in April 2000, representatives of the horizontal directional drilling (HDD) industry met and formed a consortium headed by the NASTT to develop Good Practices Guidelines for the safe operation of HDD equipment. In May 2001, the consortium published Horizontal Directional Drilling-Good Practices Guidelines, a consensus industry document that describes, among other things, procedures for the safe operation of HDD equipment. The NASTT subsequently held a number of training seminars based on these guidelines. Accordingly, Safety Recommendation P-99-10 is classified \"Closed--Acceptable Action.\" The Board would appreciate receiving a copy of the Horizontal Directional Drilling-Good Practices Guidelines." }, { "addresseeAcronym": "NASTT", "addresseeOrganizationType": "A-Associations", "isFromNtsb": true, "communicationDate": "2001-04-13", "communicationType": "Official Correspondence", "communicationContents": "TO DATE, THE SAFETY BOARD HAS NOT BEEN NOTIFIED OF ANY ACTION TAKEN TO IMPLEMENT P-99-10, AND THE BOARD WOULD APPRECIATE LEARNING OF ANY ACTIONS TAKEN OR PLANNED TO COMPLY WITH THIS RECOMMENDATION. PLEASE ADDRESS YOUR RESPONSE TO MS. CAROL J. CARMODY, ACTING CHAIRMAN, AND REFERENCE THE SAFETY RECOMMENDATION NUMBER." } ] } ], "jurisdiction": "US" } ```