# PUBLIC SERVICE CO OF COLORADO — Gas transmission and gathering — incident on 2017-08-17 **Citation:** PHMSA Report 20170069 **Type / status:** incident / historical **Agency:** Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration **Effective:** 2017-08-17 **Published:** 2017-08-21 Gas transmission and gathering incident in DEL NORTE, RIO GRANDE County, CO. Reported cause: EXCAVATION DAMAGE. Reported consequences: 0 fatalities, 0 injuries, 2951 NATURAL GAS released, $90,000 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: significant incident, not serious. ## Document text Gas transmission and gathering incident in DEL NORTE, RIO GRANDE County, CO. Reported cause: EXCAVATION DAMAGE. Reported consequences: 0 fatalities, 0 injuries, 2951 NATURAL GAS released, $90,000 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: 20170069. Operator ID: 15931. Reported incident date: 8/17/2017 10:28. Location detail: 3714888 Cause detail: EXCAVATION DAMAGE BY OPERATOR'S CONTRACTOR (SECOND PARTY) Cause detail: EXCAVATION ISSUE Cause detail: IMPROPER EXCAVATION PRACTICE NOT LISTED ABOVE Cause detail: ON 8/17/17, A SECOND PARTY MECHANICAL CONTRACTOR STRUCK THE XCEL/PSCO 8IN IGNACIO TO DEL NORTE TRANSMISSION GAS LINE APPROXIMATELY 16 MILES SOUTHWEST OF DEL NORTE, COLORADO. WHILE EXCAVATING A TRENCH INTENDED FOR ELECTRICAL CONDUIT FOR A NEW REMOTE-CONTROLLED VALVE, THE EQUIPMENT OPERATOR STRUCK A 2IN T.D. WILLIAMSON THREAD-O-RING FITTING AT THE 12:00 POSITION ON THE 8IN PIPELINE. AS A RESULT OF THE IMPACT, THE 8IN PIPELINE FAILED, OPENING A 2.5IN DIAMETER HOLE IN THE TOP OF THE PIPE. THE INCIDENT LOCATION IS A REMOTE AREA WITHOUT CELLULAR PHONE SERVICE. THE INCIDENT WAS INITIALLY DISCOVERED BY THE GAS CONTROLLER ON DUTY BY WAY OF SCADA ALARMS AND WAS IMMEDIATELY REPORTED TO OPERATING PERSONNEL. THE DAMAGED PIPELINE SEGMENT WAS ISOLATED BY CLOSING THE MANUALLY OPERATED UPSTREAM AND DOWNSTREAM MAINLINE VALVES. UPON COMPLETION OF THE ELECTRICAL WORK, THE FINAL GRADE OF THE LOCATION WILL BE RAISED TO REACH A MINIMUM OF 36IN OF COVER. THE INITIAL NRC NUMBER IS #1187585 AND THE 48-HR FOLLOW UP NUMBER IS #1187701. PHMSA trend classification: significant incident, not serious. PHMSA standardized cause: EXCAVATION DAMAGE — OPERATOR/CONTRACTOR EXCAVATION DAMAGE. PHMSA indexed costs: $105,250 reported total cost, $56,170.159 in 1984 dollars, $126,311.605 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: - Source ID: `phmsa-pipeline-incidents` - SHA-256: `65d47e86b4a55071b509b2a50e6c504b2e3b9b2d70c78b2f464f1fc3a8f6b6c9` - Retrieved: 2026-08-20T03:30:32.010Z - Exported: 2026-08-25T20:29:30.333Z - Document slug: `phmsa-incident-58bf0466352a89e2a1ee4a71` ### Source metadata ```json { "recordKind": "pipeline_incident", "datasetType": "gas_transmission_gathering", "datasetLabel": "Gas transmission and gathering", "datasetPeriod": "January 2010 to present", "report": { "number": "20170069", "supplementalNumber": "17410", "type": "ORIGINAL FINAL", "receivedDate": "2017-08-21", "receivedDateRaw": "8/21/2017" }, "operator": { "id": "15931", "name": "PUBLIC SERVICE CO OF COLORADO" }, "incident": { "date": "2017-08-17", "dateRaw": "8/17/2017 10:28" }, "location": { "city": "DEL NORTE", "county": "RIO GRANDE", "state": "CO", "postalCode": "81132-0000", "latitude": 37.48479, "longitude": -106.53275, "type": "PIPELINE RIGHT-OF-WAY", "details": { "DESIGNATED_NAME": "3714888" }, "facilityName": "8\" IGNACIO-DEL NORTE" }, "cause": { "category": "EXCAVATION DAMAGE", "details": { "CAUSE_DETAILS": "EXCAVATION DAMAGE BY OPERATOR'S CONTRACTOR (SECOND PARTY)", "ROOT_CAUSE_CATEGORY": "EXCAVATION ISSUE", "ROOT_CAUSE_TYPE": "IMPROPER EXCAVATION PRACTICE NOT LISTED ABOVE", "NARRATIVE": "ON 8/17/17, A SECOND PARTY MECHANICAL CONTRACTOR STRUCK THE XCEL/PSCO 8IN IGNACIO TO DEL NORTE TRANSMISSION GAS LINE APPROXIMATELY 16 MILES SOUTHWEST OF DEL NORTE, COLORADO. WHILE EXCAVATING A TRENCH INTENDED FOR ELECTRICAL CONDUIT FOR A NEW REMOTE-CONTROLLED VALVE, THE EQUIPMENT OPERATOR STRUCK A 2IN T.D. WILLIAMSON THREAD-O-RING FITTING AT THE 12:00 POSITION ON THE 8IN PIPELINE. AS A RESULT OF THE IMPACT, THE 8IN PIPELINE FAILED, OPENING A 2.5IN DIAMETER HOLE IN THE TOP OF THE PIPE. THE INCIDENT LOCATION IS A REMOTE AREA WITHOUT CELLULAR PHONE SERVICE. THE INCIDENT WAS INITIALLY DISCOVERED BY THE GAS CONTROLLER ON DUTY BY WAY OF SCADA ALARMS AND WAS IMMEDIATELY REPORTED TO OPERATING PERSONNEL. THE DAMAGED PIPELINE SEGMENT WAS ISOLATED BY CLOSING THE MANUALLY OPERATED UPSTREAM AND DOWNSTREAM MAINLINE VALVES. UPON COMPLETION OF THE ELECTRICAL WORK, THE FINAL GRADE OF THE LOCATION WILL BE RAISED TO REACH A MINIMUM OF 36IN OF COVER. THE INITIAL NRC NUMBER IS #1187585 AND THE 48-HR FOLLOW UP NUMBER IS #1187701." } }, "consequences": { "fatalities": 0, "injuries": 0, "commodity": "NATURAL GAS", "release": "2951", "propertyDamage": 90000, "estimatedOperatorCost": 0, "estimatedEmergencyCost": 5000, "estimatedEnvironmentalCost": null, "ignition": "NO", "explosion": "NO", "evacuated": 0, "raw": { "FATAL": "0", "INJURE": "0", "UNINTENTIONAL_RELEASE": "2951", "EST_COST_PROP_DAMAGE": "90000", "PRPTY": "105250" } }, "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": 1071, "rowSha256": "3800fa981151ea98c6d87063adc6418e4acf5de66c27085fe268545299df5883" }, "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": true, "serious": false }, "standardizedCause": { "sevenCategory": "EXCAVATION DAMAGE", "sevenSubcategory": "OPERATOR/CONTRACTOR EXCAVATION DAMAGE", "eightCategory": "EXCAVATION DAMAGE", "eightSubcategory": "OPERATOR/CONTRACTOR EXCAVATION DAMAGE" }, "costs": { "reported": 105250, "in1984Dollars": 56170.15912234518, "currentYearDollars": 126311.60511110122 }, "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": 915, "rowSha256": "805b1958d10a072d2816d623d960bac164cb2f2a9f430091ab3e3898fd857db7" } }, "jurisdiction": "US", "operatorName": "PUBLIC SERVICE CO OF COLORADO" } ```