# ATMOS PIPELINE - TEXAS — Gas transmission and gathering — incident on 2015-03-19

**Citation:** PHMSA Report 20150052  
**Type / status:** incident / historical  
**Agency:** Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration  
**Effective:** 2015-03-19  
**Published:** 2015-04-16

Gas transmission and gathering incident in LAKE DALLAS, DENTON County, TX. Reported cause: EXCAVATION DAMAGE. Reported consequences: 0 fatalities, 0 injuries, 5793 NATURAL GAS released, $25,000 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 LAKE DALLAS, DENTON County, TX. Reported cause: EXCAVATION DAMAGE. Reported consequences: 0 fatalities, 0 injuries, 5793 NATURAL GAS released, $25,000 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: 20150052.

Operator ID: 31978.

Reported incident date: 3/19/2015 15:47.

Location detail: 1781+30

Cause detail: EXCAVATION DAMAGE BY THIRD PARTY

Cause detail: EXCAVATION ISSUE

Cause detail: IMPROPER EXCAVATION PRACTICE NOT LISTED ABOVE

Cause detail: THIRD PARTY EXCAVATOR HAD CALLED IN, AND ACCURATE LOCATES WERE PERFORMED. THE THIRD PARTY EXCAVATOR DID NOT CONTACT THE OPERATOR PRIOR TO EXPOSING THE ACTIVE PIPELINE. THE EXCAVATOR EXPOSED AN ABANDONED SECTION OF 16" PIPE, THEY ASSUMED IT TO BE ACTIVE. THE EXCAVATOR DID NOT CONTACT THE OPERATOR TO CONFIRM IF THE LINE WAS ACTIVE OR NOT. DURING THE BORING PROCESS, THE ACTIVE 12" LINE WAS STRUCK. THE 12" LINE WAS 8.5 FEET BELOW THE ABANDONED 16" LINE.

PHMSA trend classification: not significant, not serious.

PHMSA standardized cause: EXCAVATION DAMAGE — THIRD PARTY EXCAVATION DAMAGE.

PHMSA indexed costs: $76,200 reported total cost, $47,248.952 in 1984 dollars, $92,085.955 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: `b32d1ded3414d3608d8ff28ac6c5c98a668aaee0cf9327440599458537792d42`
- Retrieved: 2026-08-20T03:30:32.010Z
- Exported: 2026-08-23T20:08:14.382Z
- Document slug: `phmsa-incident-4f094b5fd811a6084f13f872`

### Source metadata

```json
{
  "recordKind": "pipeline_incident",
  "datasetType": "gas_transmission_gathering",
  "datasetLabel": "Gas transmission and gathering",
  "datasetPeriod": "January 2010 to present",
  "report": {
    "number": "20150052",
    "supplementalNumber": "16723",
    "type": "ORIGINAL FINAL",
    "receivedDate": "2015-04-16",
    "receivedDateRaw": "4/16/2015"
  },
  "operator": {
    "id": "31978",
    "name": "ATMOS PIPELINE - TEXAS"
  },
  "incident": {
    "date": "2015-03-19",
    "dateRaw": "3/19/2015 15:47"
  },
  "location": {
    "city": "LAKE DALLAS",
    "county": "DENTON",
    "state": "TX",
    "postalCode": "75065",
    "latitude": 33.12294,
    "longitude": -97.02621,
    "type": "PIPELINE RIGHT-OF-WAY",
    "details": {
      "DESIGNATED_NAME": "1781+30"
    },
    "facilityName": "F"
  },
  "cause": {
    "category": "EXCAVATION DAMAGE",
    "details": {
      "CAUSE_DETAILS": "EXCAVATION DAMAGE BY THIRD PARTY",
      "ROOT_CAUSE_CATEGORY": "EXCAVATION ISSUE",
      "ROOT_CAUSE_TYPE": "IMPROPER EXCAVATION PRACTICE NOT LISTED ABOVE",
      "NARRATIVE": "THIRD PARTY EXCAVATOR HAD CALLED IN, AND ACCURATE LOCATES WERE PERFORMED. THE THIRD PARTY EXCAVATOR DID NOT CONTACT THE OPERATOR PRIOR TO EXPOSING THE ACTIVE PIPELINE. THE EXCAVATOR EXPOSED AN ABANDONED SECTION OF 16\" PIPE, THEY ASSUMED IT TO BE ACTIVE. THE EXCAVATOR DID NOT CONTACT THE OPERATOR TO CONFIRM IF THE LINE WAS ACTIVE OR NOT. DURING THE BORING PROCESS, THE ACTIVE 12\" LINE WAS STRUCK. THE 12\" LINE WAS 8.5 FEET BELOW THE ABANDONED 16\" LINE."
    }
  },
  "consequences": {
    "fatalities": 0,
    "injuries": 0,
    "commodity": "NATURAL GAS",
    "release": "5793",
    "propertyDamage": 25000,
    "estimatedOperatorCost": 20000,
    "estimatedEmergencyCost": 10000,
    "estimatedEnvironmentalCost": null,
    "ignition": "NO",
    "explosion": "NO",
    "evacuated": 8,
    "raw": {
      "FATAL": "0",
      "INJURE": "0",
      "UNINTENTIONAL_RELEASE": "5793",
      "EST_COST_PROP_DAMAGE": "25000",
      "PRPTY": "76200"
    }
  },
  "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": 1344,
    "rowSha256": "27a040398c6843bdb567f2b6c5dcd635e1c640c84036c620a45346bd931428bd"
  },
  "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": "EXCAVATION DAMAGE",
      "sevenSubcategory": "THIRD PARTY EXCAVATION DAMAGE",
      "eightCategory": "EXCAVATION DAMAGE",
      "eightSubcategory": "THIRD PARTY EXCAVATION DAMAGE"
    },
    "costs": {
      "reported": 76200,
      "in1984Dollars": 47248.952392962085,
      "currentYearDollars": 92085.95497805068
    },
    "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",
      "sheet": "gtggungs2010toPresent",
      "rowNumber": 651,
      "rowSha256": "78069fbb07cd4ce3ceeaf00ff1f217d9df93229af5c00658628d628d4ff92bed"
    }
  },
  "jurisdiction": "US",
  "operatorName": "ATMOS PIPELINE - TEXAS"
}
```