{"operation":"document","citation":"P-80-088","title":"NTSB Safety Recommendation Letter P-80-088","source_type":"guidance","agency":"National Transportation Safety Board","status":"guidance","official":true,"published_on":"1981-02-26","effective_on":"1981-02-26","summary":"Official NTSB transmittal letter for safety recommendation P-80-088, issued 1981-02-26.","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/ntsb-transmittal-letter-p80-88.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/ntsb-transmittal-letter-p80-88.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/ntsb-transmittal-letter-p80-88","source_url":"https://www.ntsb.gov/safety/safety-recs/recletters/P80_88.pdf","body":"Page 1\nNATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD / 1 -/ %, WASHINGTON, D.C. I S S U E D : February 26, 1981 Mr. Enrique Jimenez President Puerto Rico Telephone Company G.P.O. Box 998 San Juan. Puerto Rico 00936 SAFETY RECOMMENDATION(S) P-80-88 --,--------------------------------------- I A t 9 5 0 a.m., on January 30, 1980, an 8-inch-diameter, refined petroleum products pipeline owned by The Pipelines of Puerto Rico, Inc., and operated by the Shell Oil Company (Puerto Rico) Ltd. was struck and ruptured by a bulldozer during maintenance work on a nearby waterline in the Sector Cana of Bayamon, Puerto Rico, about 10 miles southwest of San Juan. Gasoline from the rupture sprayed downhill and ran off into a small creek. About 1 1/2 hours later, the gasoline vapors were ignited by an undetermined source and exploded; the subsequent fire killed one person and extensively damaged 25 houses and other property. - 1/ Earlier that morning, an employee of the Aqueduct and Sewer Authority of Puerto Rico had been using a pavement breaker 2/ during repair work on a fi-inch-diameter waterline. Unable to remove a cement anchor that supported the waterline with the pavement breaker, an Aqueduct and Sewer Authority employee a t the site requested help from Highway Authority of Puerto Rico personnel who were working nearby. The Highway Authority contractor moved a bulldozer-ripper 3/ to the site. About 9 5 0 a.m., the ripper struck and punctured the pipeline which waslocated approximately 3 inches below the waterline. The Safety Board believes that good communication between excavators and operators of underground facilities is essential for any successful pipeline damage prevention program and that one of the most effective methods of preventing excavation-caused damage to underground facilities is to insure that excavators notify the owners or operators of utility companies in advance of the proposed excavation work so that operators can mark t h e location of their facilities before excavation begins. The most convenient method for such notification is a \"one-call\" system. If an excavator gives reasonable advance notice of his plans, owners of underground facilities can locate and mark their facilities promptly and accurately, or can advise the excavators that there are no facilities in the proposed area of excavation. In all, \"onecall\" systems operate in 43 States. _I - 1/ For more detailed information, read \"Pipeline Accident Report--The Pipelines of Puerto Rico, Inc., Petroleum Products Pipeline Rupture and Fire, Bayamon, Puerto Rico, January 30, 1980\" (NTSB-PAR-80-6). - 2/ A pavement breaker is a hydraulic or air-operated piece of equipment used to break or fracture pavement. - 3/ A ripper is the name given to a bulldozer which has as a part of its excavation equipment a heavy, metal, extendable tooth resembling a plow. - 2920B\n\nPage 2\n-2- The llone-call\" system international committee of the American Pub Association Utility Location and Coordination Council, located at Chicago, Illinois, (telephone 312-947-2520), has appointed nine regional representatives who are available to consult with community officials around the continental United States and its territories to set up \"one-call\" systems. While the Safety Board full understands that the \"one-caW system is not a panacea for all undergrou accidents, i t believes that an established \"one-call\" system, with a requi contractors to use it, is an extremely valuable tool for the pre pipelines. In this case, if such a system had been in operation and if t h e hi contractor, by his contractual requirements, had been continuously \"in contact wi 'one-caU1 notification system or the individual facilities opera precise depth and location of any underground facility,\" this ac occurred. Therefore, the National Transportation Safety Board recom Rico Telephone Company: In cooperation with other operators of underground facilities, helD establish an island-wide \"one-call\" excavation notification system in Puerto Rico. (Class II, Priority Action) (P-80-88) KING, Chairman, DRIVER, Vice Chairman, McADAMS an concurred in these recommendations. GOLDMAN, Member, did not participate.","truncated":false,"body_characters":4174}