Incidenthistorical
PHMSA Report 20180122
MELISSA RENEWABLES — Gas transmission and gathering — incident on 2018-10-30
Current as of 2018-10-30 Government source
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Gas transmission and gathering incident in MELISSA, COLLIN County, TX. Reported cause: EXCAVATION DAMAGE. Reported consequences: 0 fatalities, 0 injuries, 49.251 NATURAL GAS released, $70,294 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: 20180122.
Operator ID: 39730.
Reported incident date: 10/30/2018 17:15.
Location detail: PIPELINE BORE
Cause detail: EXCAVATION DAMAGE BY THIRD PARTY
Cause detail: EXCAVATION ISSUE
Cause detail: IMPROPER BACKFILLING PRACTICES
Cause detail: UTILITY COMPANY WAS EXCAVATING TO INSTALL A NEW SUBDIVISION'S SEWER CONNECTION. THE PIPELINE OPERATOR'S PIPELINE HAD BEEN PREVIOUSLY MARKED BY PIPELINE OPERATOR'S 3RD. PARTY LOCATING SERVICE FOR THIS EXCAVATION PROCESS. THE PIPELINE WAS 17 FEET DEEP IN SOLID ROCK AS IT WAS PART OF A SECTION OF PIPELINE THAT WAS DIRECTIONAL BORED IN. THE UTILITY COMPANY WAS AWARE OF THE PIPELINE LOCATION, BUT DID NOT CALL THE PIPELINE OPERATOR WHEN EXCAVATION STARTED. UTILITY COMPANY EQUIPMENT OPERATOR STATED TO THE PIPELINE OPERATOR'S PLANT MANAGER " WE KNEW THE PIPELINE WAS THERE. WE THOUGHT WHEN WE GOT THROUGH THE DIRT AND HIT SOLID ROCK THAT WE WERE OK". THE UTILITY COMPANY EQUIPMENT OPERATOR STRUCK PIPELINE OPERATOR'S PIPELINE AT APPROXIMATELY 17 FEET IN DEPTH, AND PUNCTURED THE PIPELINE WITH ONE 2" TOOTH ON UTILITY COMPANY'S TRACKHOE. PIPELINE OPERATOR'S PIPELINE HAD APPROXIMATELY 350 PSIG. ON THE PIPELINE.UTILITY COMPANY'S EQUIPMENT OPERATOR DID SHUT DOWN HIS EQUIPMENT AND NOTIFY TEXAS 811 OF THE PIPELINE STRIKE WITHIN A FEW MINUTES OF THE INCIDENT.
PHMSA trend classification: not significant, not serious.
PHMSA standardized cause: EXCAVATION DAMAGE — THIRD PARTY EXCAVATION DAMAGE.
PHMSA indexed costs: $74,828 reported total cost, $36,216.145 in 1984 dollars, $87,996.908 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.
This material provides agency context. It does not replace binding regulatory text, and its legal effect depends on the underlying authority and facts.