NTSB Safety Recommendation Letter P-76-076 through P-76-077

Page 1Official PDFL; , ., I:" '1 ,( ,j , 1. I- (,: / ;. NATIONAL T ~ A N S ~ Q ~ ~ ~ T I O N SAFETY BOARD WASHINGTON, D.C. FOR RELEASE: 6:30 A,M,, E.D,T,, OCTOBER 27, 1976 (202) 426-8787 I S S U E D : October 27, 1976 ----_L_I--_-_I--_-__-------------~---..--- Forwarded to: M r Len P r e s n e l l President Jackson Parish Police Jury Courthouse Building Jcinesboro, Louisiana 71251 SAFETY RECOMMENDATION(S) P-76-76 and P-76-77 ___ A t 1:05 p . m . , on August 9 , 1976, a road grader ruptured a Looped, 20-inch, n a t u r a l gas transmission l i n e i n Cartwright, Louisiana. Gas a t 770 psig escaped i n s e v e r a l d i r e c t i o n s from the l i , n e ' s two streams and i g n i t e d within seconds. The r e s u l t i n g flame engulfed the a r e a , k i l l e d s i x r e s i d e n t s , i n j u r e d one person, and i n c i n e r a t e d two houses, a house t r a i l e r , and s e v e r a l a c r e s of land. The Jackson Parish Police Jury (Jury) road grader was cleaning road drainage d i t c h e s on schoolbus r o u t e s before the opening of Parish schools when i t s t r u c k the l i n e crossing under G r i f f i n Road. United Gas Pipe Line Company (United), operator of the l i n e , had n o t been n o t i f i e d t h a t the d i t c h e s woi.11d be cleaned. The National Transportation Safety Board's preliminary i n v e s t i g a t i o n of t h i s accident disclosed t h a t the p i p e l i n e was constructed i n 1.949, before Federal r e g u l a t i o n of the t r a n s - p o r t a t i o n of n a t u r a l gas and before constructi.on of G r i f f i n Road. The p i p e l i n e was o r i g i n a l l y buried 36 inches below the surface; b u t duri,ng construction of the road i n 1972, the pipe cover a t the e a s t drainage d i t c h was reduced by about 2 f e e t . United's aerial. p a t r o l observed t h i s c o n s t r u c t i o n , and United dispatched personnel t o the s i t e t o a s s u r e pro- t e c t i o n of the p i p e . Eight p i p e l i n e markers were i n s t a l l e d over t h e 20-inch and 24-inch pipel.ines. Federal standards f o r newly constructed p i p e l i n e s would r e q u i r e 36 inches of cover a t the drainage d i t c h . 1906#

Page 2- 2 - P-76-76 and P-76-77 Therefore, t h e National Transportation Safe recommends t h a t t h e Jackson Parish Police Jury: Cease grading operations on Jury roads u n t i l plan i s developed and implemented t o n o t i f y operators of buried f a c i l i t i e s a t l e a s t 2 worki days before excavating near t h e i r f a c i l i t i e s ; t would allow time f o r i d e n t i f i l o c a t i o n s and depth. (Class I, Urgent Followup (P-76-76) I n s t r u c t operators of excavation equipment i n recautioris t h a t should be g u r i e d f a c i l i t i e s , and prov information on how t h e l o c a t i of these f a c i l i t i e s may be i d Followup) (P-76-77) TODD, Chairman, McADAMS, HO concurred i n t h e above recommendat d i d n o t p a r t i c i p a t e . By: Webster B . Tod Chairman THIS RECOMMENDATION WILL BE ISSUE DATE SHOWN ABOVE. NO PUBLI DOCUMENT SHOULD BE MADE PRIOR TO THAT DATE.#