# SOUTHERN NATURAL GAS CO — Gas transmission and gathering — incident on 2015-03-20 **Citation:** PHMSA Report 20150077 **Type / status:** incident / historical **Agency:** Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration **Effective:** 2015-03-20 **Published:** 2015-06-09 Gas transmission and gathering incident in ROLLING FORK, SHARKEY County, MS. Reported cause: MATERIAL FAILURE OF PIPE OR WELD. Reported consequences: 0 fatalities, 0 injuries, 5 NATURAL GAS released, $60,000 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 ROLLING FORK, SHARKEY County, MS. Reported cause: MATERIAL FAILURE OF PIPE OR WELD. Reported consequences: 0 fatalities, 0 injuries, 5 NATURAL GAS released, $60,000 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: 20150077. Operator ID: 18516. Reported incident date: 3/20/2015 15:30. Location detail: 1 Cause detail: DESIGN-, CONSTRUCTION-, INSTALLATION-, OR FABRICATION-RELATED Cause detail: A TRUCK DRIVER STOPPED OFF OF HIGHWAY 61 AND NOTICED BUBBLING WATER IN DEER CREEK. THE TRUCK DRIVER CALLED MS811, WHO THEN NOTIFIED SOUTHERN NATURAL GAS CONTROL AT APPROXIMATELY 15:30. KMI OPERATIONS ARRIVED ON SITE AND CONFIRMED THAT THERE WERE BUBBLES IN DEER CREEK, THIS CREEK LIES SOUTH OF THE ONWARD COMPRESSOR STATION NEAR MILE POST 1. AT 16:00, A KMI LINE PATROLLER USED A LASER METHANE LEAK DETECTOR AND CONFIRMED THE PRESENCE OF METHANE GAS. AT 17:30, KMI OPERATIONS BEGAN TO BLOW DOWN THE FIRST 2.3 MILES OF THE ONWARD VICKSBURG LINE TO BELOW 100 PSI; BUBBLES WERE NO LONGER VISIBLE IN THE CREEK AND METHANE WAS NOT DETECTED THEREAFTER. THROUGH ITS INVESTIGATION, SNG HAS CONCLUDED THAT THIS 2.3 MILE SEGMENT OF PIPE WILL BE ABANDONED WITHOUT AFFECTING THE CAPACITY OR OPERATION OF THE REST OF THE SNG SYSTEM. THIS 2.3 MILE SEGMENT OF PIPE IS ONE OF THREE PARALLEL PIPES ACROSS THIS 2.3 MILE AREA, AND THE REMAINING TWO PIPES HAVE SUFFICIENT CAPACITY TO MAKE-UP FOR THE LOSS OF THIS ONE 2.3 MILE SEGMENT OF PIPE. THEREFORE, SNG DOES NOT PLAN TO EXCAVATE THE LEAKING PIPE TO FURTHER ASSESS IT OR REPAIR IT. SNG WILL CONTINUE TO MAINTAIN THIS SEGMENT OF PIPE TO BELOW 100 PSI UNTIL CONDITIONS ALLOW FOR IT TO BE ABANDONED WITH MINIMAL IMPACTS. PHMSA trend classification: significant incident, not serious. PHMSA standardized cause: MATERIAL FAILURE OF PIPE OR WELD — CONSTRUCTION, INSTALLATION OR FABRICATION-RELATED. PHMSA indexed costs: $83,370 reported total cost, $51,407.647 in 1984 dollars, $100,816.16 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: `0765e5e9c721747a41757b5049ee3f8d0b1b3d3b1f0e54f9ea82076a103cbf19` - Retrieved: 2026-08-20T03:30:32.010Z - Exported: 2026-08-26T06:17:56.255Z - Document slug: `phmsa-incident-c058742cb23035720b8036ac` ### Source metadata ```json { "recordKind": "pipeline_incident", "datasetType": "gas_transmission_gathering", "datasetLabel": "Gas transmission and gathering", "datasetPeriod": "January 2010 to present", "report": { "number": "20150077", "supplementalNumber": "17077", "type": "SUPPLEMENTAL FINAL", "receivedDate": "2015-06-09", "receivedDateRaw": "6/9/2015" }, "operator": { "id": "18516", "name": "SOUTHERN NATURAL GAS CO" }, "incident": { "date": "2015-03-20", "dateRaw": "3/20/2015 15:30" }, "location": { "city": "ROLLING FORK", "county": "SHARKEY", "state": "MS", "postalCode": "39159", "latitude": 32.69974, "longitude": -90.93102, "type": "PIPELINE RIGHT-OF-WAY", "details": { "DESIGNATED_NAME": "1" }, "facilityName": "ONWARD/VICKSBURG LATERAL" }, "cause": { "category": "MATERIAL FAILURE OF PIPE OR WELD", "details": { "CAUSE_DETAILS": "DESIGN-, CONSTRUCTION-, INSTALLATION-, OR FABRICATION-RELATED", "NARRATIVE": "A TRUCK DRIVER STOPPED OFF OF HIGHWAY 61 AND NOTICED BUBBLING WATER IN DEER CREEK. THE TRUCK DRIVER CALLED MS811, WHO THEN NOTIFIED SOUTHERN NATURAL GAS CONTROL AT APPROXIMATELY 15:30. KMI OPERATIONS ARRIVED ON SITE AND CONFIRMED THAT THERE WERE BUBBLES IN DEER CREEK, THIS CREEK LIES SOUTH OF THE ONWARD COMPRESSOR STATION NEAR MILE POST 1. AT 16:00, A KMI LINE PATROLLER USED A LASER METHANE LEAK DETECTOR AND CONFIRMED THE PRESENCE OF METHANE GAS. AT 17:30, KMI OPERATIONS BEGAN TO BLOW DOWN THE FIRST 2.3 MILES OF THE ONWARD VICKSBURG LINE TO BELOW 100 PSI; BUBBLES WERE NO LONGER VISIBLE IN THE CREEK AND METHANE WAS NOT DETECTED THEREAFTER. THROUGH ITS INVESTIGATION, SNG HAS CONCLUDED THAT THIS 2.3 MILE SEGMENT OF PIPE WILL BE ABANDONED WITHOUT AFFECTING THE CAPACITY OR OPERATION OF THE REST OF THE SNG SYSTEM. THIS 2.3 MILE SEGMENT OF PIPE IS ONE OF THREE PARALLEL PIPES ACROSS THIS 2.3 MILE AREA, AND THE REMAINING TWO PIPES HAVE SUFFICIENT CAPACITY TO MAKE-UP FOR THE LOSS OF THIS ONE 2.3 MILE SEGMENT OF PIPE. THEREFORE, SNG DOES NOT PLAN TO EXCAVATE THE LEAKING PIPE TO FURTHER ASSESS IT OR REPAIR IT. SNG WILL CONTINUE TO MAINTAIN THIS SEGMENT OF PIPE TO BELOW 100 PSI UNTIL CONDITIONS ALLOW FOR IT TO BE ABANDONED WITH MINIMAL IMPACTS." } }, "consequences": { "fatalities": 0, "injuries": 0, "commodity": "NATURAL GAS", "release": "5", "propertyDamage": 60000, "estimatedOperatorCost": 0, "estimatedEmergencyCost": 850, "estimatedEnvironmentalCost": null, "ignition": "NO", "explosion": "NO", "evacuated": 0, "raw": { "FATAL": "0", "INJURE": "0", "UNINTENTIONAL_RELEASE": "5", "EST_COST_PROP_DAMAGE": "60000", "PRPTY": "83370" } }, "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": 1343, "rowSha256": "58c68430024fd66bb1d2aef4fa3e5b3fac7fd9e02b9c4cd0aa200d87549f9452" }, "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": "MATERIAL/WELD/EQUIP FAILURE", "sevenSubcategory": "CONSTRUCTION, INSTALLATION OR FABRICATION-RELATED", "eightCategory": "MATERIAL FAILURE OF PIPE OR WELD", "eightSubcategory": "CONSTRUCTION, INSTALLATION OR FABRICATION-RELATED" }, "costs": { "reported": 83370, "in1984Dollars": 51407.64698359379, "currentYearDollars": 100816.16020215653 }, "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": 676, "rowSha256": "0b480b7a21884a45cc9a08a46d07b9fe5d597d3e7a44b46623bc8115c9afd124" } }, "jurisdiction": "US", "operatorName": "SOUTHERN NATURAL GAS CO" } ```