NTSB Safety Recommendation Letter P-76-078 through P-76-080

Page 1Official PDFTIONAL T A ~ S ~ ~ ~ T A T I O N SAFETY BOA WASHINGTON, D.C. FOR RELEASE: 6:30 ABM,, E,D,T,, OCTOBER 27, 1976 (202) 426-8787 ISSUED: October 27, 1976 I Forwarded to: Mr. J . Hugh Roff, Jr. President United Gas P i p e Line Company SAFETY RECOMMENDAT ION ( S ) P . 0. Box 1478 Houston, Texas 77001 I P-76-78 through P-76-80 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 p s i g escaped i n s e v e r a l d i r e c t i o n s from t h e l i n e ' s two streams and i g n i t e d w i t h i n seconds. The re- s u l t i n g flame engulfed t h e 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, 3 house trailer, and s e v e r a l a c r e s of land. The Jackson P a r i s h P o l i c e Jury (Jury) road grader w a s cleaning road drainage d i t c h e s on schoolbus r o u t e s b e f o r e t h e opening of P a r i s h schools when it s t r u c k t h e line c r o s s i n g under G r i f f i n Road. United Gas Pipe Line Company (United), operator of t h e 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 would 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 a c c i d e n t d i s c l o s e d that the p i p e l i n e was constructed i n 1949, before Federal r e g u l a t i o n of n a t u r a l gas t r a n s p o r t a t i o n and b e f o r e c o n s t r u c t i o n 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 b u r i e d 36 inches below the s u r f a c e ; b u t during c o n s t r u c t i o n of t h e road i n 1972, t h e pipe cover a t t h e e a s t drainage d i t c h was reduced by about 2 f e e t . U n i t e d ' 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 t h e s i t e t o a s s u r e p r o t e c t i o n of t h e pipe. Eight p i p e l i n e markers were i n s t a l l e d over the 20-inch and 24-inch p i p e l i n e s . 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 t h e drainage d i t c h . 1906#

Page 2_. 2 - P-76-78 t h r o u g h P-76-80 Currently, United communicates with excavato after a company patrol discovers activity near its After the accident, United rerouted the road aro accident site, replaced the damaged pipe and cove dirt. United did not determine immediately a way o tecting the pipe in the future. Therefore, the National Transportation Safet recommends that United Gas Pipe Line Company: Protect the 20-inch and 24-inch pipelines from future excavation damage before reopening Griffin Road (Class I, Urgent Followup) (P-76-78) Determine the depth of pipelines at all other road crossings where the cover over the pipeline may have been reduced by later road construction and take necessarv action to Drevent damage bv ditch- u cleaning or rbad-grading activities I (Cliss I, Urgent Followup) (P-76-79) Complete promptly development of an educationa program for excavators and institute a program advise excavators how to recognize pipeline of -way, provide general information about pr when excavating near pipelines, and encourage notifi- cation before excavating. (Class I, Urgent Followup) (P- 7 6 - 8 0 ) TODD, Chairman, McADAMS, HOGUE and HALEY, Members, concurred in the above recommendations. BAILEY, did not participate. By: Webster B THIS RECOMMENDATION WILL BE ISSUE DATE SHOWN ABOVE. NO PUBLIC DISSEMINATION DOCUMENT SHOULD BE MADE PRIOR TO THAT DATE.#