NTSB Safety Recommendation Letter P-81-020

Page 1Official PDFf-/ e 5 - NATIQI\IAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD WASHINGTON, D.C. ISSUED: July 28, 1981 Mr. Charles J. DiBona President American Petroleum Institute 2101 L Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20037 Mr. G. H. Lawrence PresiCwt American Gas Association 1515 Wilson Boulevard Arlington, Virginia 22209 Mr. Jerome 3 . McGrath President Interstate Natural Gas Association of America 1660 L Street, N . K . Washington, D.C. 20036 SAFETY RECOMMENDATION(S) P-81-20 I At 4:45 p.m., c.s.t., on April 16, 1980, gasoline a t the Williams Pipe Line Company's Minneapolis terminal in Roseville, Minnesota, Sprayed from the fractured cast-iron base of a station booster pump at 7 2 psig pressure, vaporized, and exploded after it was ignited by the arcing of an electric switch in the mainline pump control room 50 feet downwind of the booster pump. - 1/ The explosion killed one person and the following fire burned three other persons and destroyed the receiving manifold valves and piping, the station pumping equipment, and four vehicles. About 3,500 barrels (147,000 gallons) of petroleum products burned and property damage was estimated a t $3 million. The newly installed pump together with its valves and fittings had not been hydrostatically tested as a completed facility prior to this accident. The electric switch in the mainline pump control room which was located 50 feet away from the failed station booster pump was not explosion-proof and it arced when disengaged. I/ For more information, read Pipeline Accident Report--"Williams Pipe Line Company, Gasoline Explosion and Fire, Roseville, Minnesota, April 16, 1980" INTSB-PAR-81-3). 3298#

Page 2-2- Therefore, the National Transportation Safety Board recommends that the American Petroleum Institute, the American Gas Association, and the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America: Advise its member companies of the circumstances of this accident and urge that they review the adequacy of their explosion- proof electrical sfstems and their hydrostatic test procedures. (Class 11, Priority Action) (P-81-20] KING, Chairman, DRIVER, Vice Chairman, McADAMS, GOLDMAN, and BURSLEY, Mernbers, concurred in this recommendation. \ -#