# DOMINION ENERGY TRANSMISSION, INC. — Gas transmission and gathering — incident on 2018-03-18

**Citation:** PHMSA Report 20180040  
**Type / status:** incident / historical  
**Agency:** Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration  
**Effective:** 2018-03-18  
**Published:** 2018-04-16

Gas transmission and gathering incident in SPRING CHURCH, ARMSTRONG County, PA. Reported cause: EQUIPMENT FAILURE. Reported consequences: 0 fatalities, 0 injuries, 20200 NATURAL GAS released, $0 reported property damage. Operator-reported incident data submitted to PHMSA, generally within 30 days. Records may be supplemented or corrected and do not represent final agency causal findings. PHMSA trend classification: not significant, not serious.

## Document text

Gas transmission and gathering incident in SPRING CHURCH, ARMSTRONG County, PA. Reported cause: EQUIPMENT FAILURE. Reported consequences: 0 fatalities, 0 injuries, 20200 NATURAL GAS released, $0 reported property damage. Operator-reported incident data submitted to PHMSA, generally within 30 days. Records may be supplemented or corrected and do not represent final agency causal findings.

Report number: 20180040.

Operator ID: 2714.

Reported incident date: 3/18/2018 5:37.

Location detail: GA-26

Cause detail: MALFUNCTION OF CONTROL/RELIEF EQUIPMENT

Cause detail: GAS CONTROL RECEIVED INITIAL NOTIFICATION OF THIS INCIDENT ON 3/18/18 AT 5:27 AM AND RELAYED THE INFORMATION TO THE ON-DUTY OPERATIONS SUPERVISOR. THE ON-DUTY OPERATIONS SUPERVISOR DISPATCHED OPERATIONS PERSONNEL TO MCILWAIN JUNCTION TO INVESTIGATE. OPERATIONS PERSONNEL ARRIVED AT MCILWAIN JUNCTION ON 3/18/18 AT 6:37 AM AND CONFIRMED THE UNINTENTIONAL RELEASE OF GAS FROM A RELIEF VALVE ON LN-26. THE MAXIMUM ALLOWABLE OPERATING PRESSURE OF LN-26 IS 945 PSIG. THE OPERATING PRESSURE OF LN-26 AT THE TIME OF THE INCIDENT WAS 678 PSIG. THE PURPOSE OF THE RELIEF VALVE IS TO PROTECT LN-26 FROM THE MAXIMUM ALLOWABLE OPERATING PRESSURE OF LN-19. THE MAXIMUM ALLOWABLE OPERATING PRESSURE OF LN-19 IS 1000 PSIG. THE OPERATING PRESSURE OF LN-19 AT THE TIME OF THE INCIDENT WAS 677 PSIG. THE OPERATIONS PERSONNEL ISOLATED THE RELIEF VALVE BY CLOSING THE ISOLATION VALVE AT THE INLET OF THE RELIEF VALVE. THE OPERATIONS PERSONNEL VISUALLY INSPECTED, OPERATED, AND VERIFIED THE SET POINT OF THE RELIEF VALVE AND DETERMINED THAT THE RELIEF VALVE WAS FUNCTIONING PROPERLY. THE OPERATIONS PERSONNEL PLACED THE RELIEF VALVE BACK INTO SERVICE AND OPENED THE ISOLATION VALVE ON 3/18/18 AT 8:10 AM. IT WAS DETERMINED ON 3/18/18 AT 7:59 AM THAT THE INCIDENT LIKELY INVOLVED AN UNINTENTIONAL ESTIMATED GAS LOSS OF THREE MILLION CUBIC FEET OR MORE WHICH WOULD CLASSIFY IT AS REPORTABLE. INITIAL TELEPHONIC NOTIFICATION WAS MADE TO THE NATIONAL RESPONSE CENTER ON 3/18/18 AT 8:54 AM. THE NATIONAL RESPONSE CENTER ASSIGNED INCIDENT REPORT #1207068 TO THE INITIAL NOTIFICATION OF THE INCIDENT. ADDITIONAL TELEPHONIC NOTIFICATION WAS MADE TO THE NATIONAL RESPONSE CENTER ON 3/19/18 AT 3:42 PM TO CONFIRM THE INITIAL TELEPHONIC NOTIFICATION AND REVISE THE ESTIMATE OF THE VOLUME OF GAS UNINTENTIONALLY RELEASED BY THE RELIEF VALVE. THE NATIONAL RESPONSE CENTER ASSIGNED INCIDENT REPORT #1207203 FOR THE ADDITIONAL NOTIFICATION OF THE INCIDENT.

PHMSA trend classification: not significant, not serious.

PHMSA standardized cause: EQUIPMENT FAILURE — MALFUNCTION OF CONTROL/RELIEF EQUIPMENT.

PHMSA indexed costs: $44,396 reported total cost, $41,229.199 in 1984 dollars, $50,918.13 in current-year dollars.

PHMSA trend flags, standardized causes, and indexed costs are analytical fields added to operator-reported incident data. They do not represent final agency causal findings.

## Provenance

- Official: Yes
- Source: <https://data.transportation.gov/api/views/27nc-rsge/files/2b05c2d8-d14a-4c56-ac1c-7d23a4bc31c8?download=true&filename=Gas%20Transmission%20%26%20Gathering%20Incident%20Data%20-%20January%202010%20to%20present.zip>
- Source ID: `phmsa-pipeline-incidents`
- SHA-256: `053820b81d98695bc473c2f2301ece752196ba188847a0039c9f2eaa3adcaddd`
- Retrieved: 2026-08-20T03:30:32.010Z
- Exported: 2026-08-22T20:44:37.354Z
- Document slug: `phmsa-incident-12e2bff48903dd19fcf0c24c`

### Source metadata

```json
{
  "recordKind": "pipeline_incident",
  "datasetType": "gas_transmission_gathering",
  "datasetLabel": "Gas transmission and gathering",
  "datasetPeriod": "January 2010 to present",
  "report": {
    "number": "20180040",
    "supplementalNumber": "30218",
    "type": "SUPPLEMENTAL FINAL",
    "receivedDate": "2018-04-16",
    "receivedDateRaw": "4/16/2018"
  },
  "operator": {
    "id": "2714",
    "name": "DOMINION ENERGY TRANSMISSION, INC."
  },
  "incident": {
    "date": "2018-03-18",
    "dateRaw": "3/18/2018 5:37"
  },
  "location": {
    "city": "SPRING CHURCH",
    "county": "ARMSTRONG",
    "state": "PA",
    "postalCode": "15686",
    "latitude": 40.63194,
    "longitude": -79.44361,
    "type": "OPERATOR-CONTROLLED PROPERTY",
    "details": {
      "DESIGNATED_NAME": "GA-26"
    },
    "facilityName": "MCILWAIN JUNCTION"
  },
  "cause": {
    "category": "EQUIPMENT FAILURE",
    "details": {
      "CAUSE_DETAILS": "MALFUNCTION OF CONTROL/RELIEF EQUIPMENT",
      "NARRATIVE": "GAS CONTROL RECEIVED INITIAL NOTIFICATION OF THIS INCIDENT ON 3/18/18 AT 5:27 AM AND RELAYED THE INFORMATION TO THE ON-DUTY OPERATIONS SUPERVISOR. THE ON-DUTY OPERATIONS SUPERVISOR DISPATCHED OPERATIONS PERSONNEL TO MCILWAIN JUNCTION TO INVESTIGATE. OPERATIONS PERSONNEL ARRIVED AT MCILWAIN JUNCTION ON 3/18/18 AT 6:37 AM AND CONFIRMED THE UNINTENTIONAL RELEASE OF GAS FROM A RELIEF VALVE ON LN-26. THE MAXIMUM ALLOWABLE OPERATING PRESSURE OF LN-26 IS 945 PSIG. THE OPERATING PRESSURE OF LN-26 AT THE TIME OF THE INCIDENT WAS 678 PSIG. THE PURPOSE OF THE RELIEF VALVE IS TO PROTECT LN-26 FROM THE MAXIMUM ALLOWABLE OPERATING PRESSURE OF LN-19. THE MAXIMUM ALLOWABLE OPERATING PRESSURE OF LN-19 IS 1000 PSIG. THE OPERATING PRESSURE OF LN-19 AT THE TIME OF THE INCIDENT WAS 677 PSIG. THE OPERATIONS PERSONNEL ISOLATED THE RELIEF VALVE BY CLOSING THE ISOLATION VALVE AT THE INLET OF THE RELIEF VALVE. THE OPERATIONS PERSONNEL VISUALLY INSPECTED, OPERATED, AND VERIFIED THE SET POINT OF THE RELIEF VALVE AND DETERMINED THAT THE RELIEF VALVE WAS FUNCTIONING PROPERLY. THE OPERATIONS PERSONNEL PLACED THE RELIEF VALVE BACK INTO SERVICE AND OPENED THE ISOLATION VALVE ON 3/18/18 AT 8:10 AM. IT WAS DETERMINED ON 3/18/18 AT 7:59 AM THAT THE INCIDENT LIKELY INVOLVED AN UNINTENTIONAL ESTIMATED GAS LOSS OF THREE MILLION CUBIC FEET OR MORE WHICH WOULD CLASSIFY IT AS REPORTABLE. INITIAL TELEPHONIC NOTIFICATION WAS MADE TO THE NATIONAL RESPONSE CENTER ON 3/18/18 AT 8:54 AM. THE NATIONAL RESPONSE CENTER ASSIGNED INCIDENT REPORT #1207068 TO THE INITIAL NOTIFICATION OF THE INCIDENT. ADDITIONAL TELEPHONIC NOTIFICATION WAS MADE TO THE NATIONAL RESPONSE CENTER ON 3/19/18 AT 3:42 PM TO CONFIRM THE INITIAL TELEPHONIC NOTIFICATION AND REVISE THE ESTIMATE OF THE VOLUME OF GAS UNINTENTIONALLY RELEASED BY THE RELIEF VALVE. THE NATIONAL RESPONSE CENTER ASSIGNED INCIDENT REPORT #1207203 FOR THE ADDITIONAL NOTIFICATION OF THE INCIDENT."
    }
  },
  "consequences": {
    "fatalities": 0,
    "injuries": 0,
    "commodity": "NATURAL GAS",
    "release": "20200",
    "propertyDamage": 0,
    "estimatedOperatorCost": 0,
    "estimatedEmergencyCost": 500,
    "estimatedEnvironmentalCost": null,
    "ignition": "NO",
    "explosion": "NO",
    "evacuated": 0,
    "raw": {
      "FATAL": "0",
      "INJURE": "0",
      "UNINTENTIONAL_RELEASE": "20200",
      "EST_COST_PROP_DAMAGE": "0",
      "PRPTY": "44396"
    }
  },
  "provenance": {
    "viewId": "27nc-rsge",
    "viewUrl": "https://data.transportation.gov/api/views/27nc-rsge",
    "assetId": "2b05c2d8-d14a-4c56-ac1c-7d23a4bc31c8",
    "archiveFilename": "Gas Transmission & Gathering Incident Data - January 2010 to present.zip",
    "archiveSha256": "fe0b136ca4b00ac987a8bc2e195098accf910d97512c5fc3b59e62d9da5f674e",
    "memberPath": "incident_gas_transmission_gathering_jan2010_present.txt",
    "memberSha256": "b435f2a25718cf54c54e00294e6788c4f9c6860e02fb86355e75d294c243c4dd",
    "rowNumber": 990,
    "rowSha256": "7729e599b5ee549c5f103a2b20d402ab38d06ccda9a1c7409b6b0a27f08f91df"
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  "caveat": "Operator-reported incident data submitted to PHMSA, generally within 30 days. Records may be supplemented or corrected and do not represent final agency causal findings.",
  "operatorReported": true,
  "finalAgencyFinding": false,
  "flaggedAnalysis": {
    "dataAsOf": "2026-07-31",
    "flags": {
      "fireFirst": null,
      "significant": false,
      "serious": false
    },
    "standardizedCause": {
      "sevenCategory": "MATERIAL/WELD/EQUIP FAILURE",
      "sevenSubcategory": "MALFUNCTION OF CONTROL/RELIEF EQUIPMENT",
      "eightCategory": "EQUIPMENT FAILURE",
      "eightSubcategory": "MALFUNCTION OF CONTROL/RELIEF EQUIPMENT"
    },
    "costs": {
      "reported": 44396,
      "in1984Dollars": 41229.199159176314,
      "currentYearDollars": 50918.129694738294
    },
    "caveat": "PHMSA trend flags, standardized causes, and indexed costs are analytical fields added to operator-reported incident data. They do not represent final agency causal findings.",
    "provenance": {
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/data_statistics/pipeline/PHMSA_Pipeline_Safety_Flagged_Incidents.zip",
      "landingPageUrl": "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/data-and-statistics/pipeline/pipeline-incident-flagged-files",
      "catalogUrl": "https://data.transportation.gov/Pipelines-and-Hazmat/Pipeline-Incident-Flagged-Files/qdme-9bbm",
      "retrievalMode": "official_live",
      "archivedAt": null,
      "archiveSha256": "317e6a3e16d60b9b677efe391dc40258b5dd7ead83fb8bea74cb553cedfbbdec",
      "workbook": "gtggungs2010toPresent.xlsx",
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    }
  },
  "jurisdiction": "US",
  "operatorName": "DOMINION ENERGY TRANSMISSION, INC."
}
```
