COLUMBIA GAS TRANSMISSION CORP — Gas transmission and gathering — incident on 2012-08-25

Gas transmission and gathering incident in ELYRIA, LORAIN County, OH. Reported cause: OTHER OUTSIDE FORCE DAMAGE. Reported consequences: 0 fatalities, 4 injuries, 651 NATURAL GAS released, $45,000 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: 20120094.

Operator ID: 2616.

Reported incident date: 8/25/2012 6:30.

Location detail: MS706502

Cause detail: DAMAGE BY CAR, TRUCK, OR OTHER MOTORIZED VEHICLE/EQUIPMENT NOT ENGAGED IN EXCAVATION

Cause detail: ON THE MORNING OF SATURDAY, AUGUST 25, 2012 AT OR AROUND 06:30 AM, IT WAS REPORTED TO THE COMPANY MONITORING CENTER BY A DISTRIBUTION COMPANY PERSONNEL THAT A VEHICLE HAD DAMAGED THE STRUCTURE OF A MEASURING STATION NAMED ELYRIA DELIVERY POINT. THE VEHICLE WAS DRIVEN BY A TEENAGER AND ACCOMPANIED BY THREE OTHER SAME AGE MALE OCCUPANTS. THE FOUR OCCUPANTS HAD VARIOUS TYPES OF INJURIES THAT VARIED FROM CRITICAL TO MINOR. THAT NECESSITATED THEIR ADMITTANCE TO THE EMERGENCY ROOM. THE VEHICLE WAS IDENTIFIED TO BE STOLEN AND THE POLICE INVESTIGATION CONFIRMED THIS FACT. THE FACILITY WAS SHUT DOWN, THE INJURED OCCUPANTS OF THE VEHICLE WERE EXTRACTED BY LOCAL EMERGENCY RESPONDERS AND TRANSPORTED TO THE NEAREST MEDICAL FACILITY. AFTER EMERGENCY RESPONDERS CLEARED THE FACILITY, COMPANY PERSONNEL INSPECTED THE BUILDING AND CONDUCTED INSPECTIONS TO THE BUILDING AND THE PIPELINES INSIDE AND OUTSIDE THE BUILDING. THE INJURED DRIVER AND OTHER OCCUPANTS WERE RELEASED IN SEQUENCE FROM THE HOSPITAL BASED ON THEIR QUICK RECOVERY. THE BUILDING WAS REBUILT AND THE DAMAGED FENCE AROUND THE FACILITY WAS REPAIRED. THE DAMAGED GAUGES AND OTHER INTRUMENTATION SENSING LINES WERE REPLACED WITH THE DAMAGED 0.5-IN NIPPLE THAT WAS REPLACED. THE ENTIRE FACILITY PIPING WAS INSPECTED BY NDT (6, 8, 10 AND 16 INCH DIAMETER PIPING) FOR ANY EVIDENCE OF CRACKS OR OTHER DAMAGES. NO LEAK OR DAMAGE WAS IDNETIFIED SUBJECT TO THE NDT INSPECTION AND THE FACILITY WAS RETURNED TO SERVICE.

PHMSA trend classification: significant incident, serious incident.

PHMSA standardized cause: OTHER OUTSIDE FORCE DAMAGE — VEHICLE NOT ENGAGED IN EXCAVATION.

PHMSA indexed costs: $56,960 reported total cost, $30,605.286 in 1984 dollars, $73,350.225 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.