DUBLIN, CITY OF — Gas distribution — incident on 2009-05-29

Gas distribution incident in EAST DUBLIN, LAURENS County, GA. Reported cause: 9. Reported consequences: 0 fatalities, 2 injuries, $54,200 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: 20090099.

Operator ID: 3560.

Reported incident date: 5/29/2009.

Cause detail: THIRD PARTY EXCAVATION DAMAGE

Cause detail: ON MAY 28,2009, AT APPROXIMATELY 1725 HOURS, I RECEIVED A CALL FROM MR. GARY DUTY, ONE OUR GAS DEPARTMENT'S ON-CALL EMPLOYEES, STATING HE WAS ON JORDAN STREET, IN EAST DUBLIN GA. HE INFORMED ME THAT THE SEWER CONTACTOR FOR THE CITY OF EAST DUBLIN, POPCO INC, HAD CALLED, AND STATED THAT HE HAD HIT A 3/4" GAS SERVICE LINE DURING EXCAVATION. MR. DUTY STATED TO ME THAT HE HAD CHECKED AROUND THE EXCAVATION, USING AN ELECTRONIC CGI, AND HAD NOT DETECTED A GAS LEAK AND THE STEEL SERVICE LINE WAS NOT BROKE. I ADVISED MR. DUTY TO RESURVEY THE AREA AROUND THE HOUSE, OUTSIDE AND INSIDE, AROUND THE STANDPIPE, AND THE SERVICE LINE, AND TO GET WITH THE CONTRACTOR AND SHOW HIM THE RESULTS. I ALSO ADVISED MR. DUTY THAT IF HE FINDS ANY GAS LEAKING, TO CALL ME, SO THAT WE CAN CALL IN A GAS CREW TO SHUTDOWN, AND CUT AND CAP THE SERVICE LINE. APPROXIMATELY 10 TO 15 MINUTES LATER, MR. DUTY CALLED ME BACK, AND STATED THAT HE WAS NOT DETECTING ANY GAS LEAKING. HE ALSO STATED THAT THERE WAS NOT A GAS METER AND THAT THE RISER WAS LOCKED OFF AND CAPPED. MR. DUTY ALSO STATED THAT THE HOUSE WAS LOCKED UP AND THAT NO ONE WAS AVAILABLE TO LET HIM SURVEY FOR LEAKS INSIDE. MR. DUTY STATED THAT THE HOUSE APPEARS TO BE UNDER RENOVATION. MY NEXT CALL FROM MR. DUTY WAS AROURAD 0230 HOURS, ON MAY 29, 2009, STATING THAT HE WAS BACK ON JORDAN STREET AND THE HOUSE WAS ON FIRE. I ARRIVED ON SCENE BY 0300 HOURS AND IDENTIFIED MYSELF TO THE CITY OF EAST DUBLIN'S FIRE DEPARTMENT. I ALSO NOTIFIED THE EAST DUBLIN FIRE DEPARTMENT, THAT WE WERE GOING TO CUT OFF A MAIN GAS VALVE TO REDUCE THE EXISTING 20' PSI MAIN PRESSURE BY APPROXIMATELY 50%) AND THEN WE WILL CUT AND CAP THE SERVICE IN THE STREET TO STOP THE FLOW OF GAS. THE GAS MAIN IS A 2 1/4 " CAST IRON GAS MAIN AND A ONE WAY FEED. THE WORK WAS COMPLETED BY APPROXIMATELY 0445 HOURS, WITH THE FIRE OUT. THE HOUSE WAS A SMALL BLOCK HOUSE THAT APPEARED TO BE ON A CONCRETE SLAB WITH A WOOD ROOF. THE FIRE WAS APPROXIMATELY 3-5 FEET IN FRONT OF THE GAS STAND PIPE, NEXT TO THE HOUSE. THE FLAMES COVERED ABOUT 3 FEET IN DIAMETER, AND REACHED A HEIGHT OF ABOUT 3-4 FEET. THE FIRE DEPARTMENT MAINTAINED A SPRAY OF WATER ON THE FLAME DURING THE SHUTDOWN PROCESS. IN MY CONVERSATION WITH MR. ALLEN, EAST DUBLIN'S FIRE CHIEF, HE STATED THAT TWO PEOPLE WERE AT AND IN THE HOUSE, AND ONE HAD LIT A CIGARETTE, AND THEN THE EXPLOSION HAD OCCURRED, STARTING THE FIRE. BOTH PERSONS WERE TAKEN TO THE LOCAL HOSPITAL, AND THEN TRANSPORTED TO A BURN CENTER IN AUGUSTA, GEORGIA. AFTER AN INITIAL INVESTIGATION TO COLLECT INFORMATION, I CONTACTED MR. BRUCE MORGAN WITH THE PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION, WHO IN TURN CONTACTED MR. ROBERT PACE, TO REPORT TO DUBLIN TO BEGIN A STATE INVESTIGATION. AFTER THE INITIAL ONSITE INVESTIGATION WITH MR. ROBERT PACE, I RETURNED TO THE GAS DEPARTMENT OFFICE AND NOTIFIED THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION PIPELINE AND HAZARDOUS MATERIALS SAFETY ADMINISTRATION, AND TALKED TO MS. WILSON, AT 1430 HOURS, NOTIFICATION NUMBER 907006. DURING THE INITIAL INVESTIGATION, THE SERVICE LINE IN FRONT OF THE STAND PIPE, AND AT THE POINT OF THE FIRE, WAS UNCOVERED. THE 3/4" STEEL SERVICE LINE HAD BEEN TRANSITIONED WITH A COMPRESSION COUPLING TO 5/8 ORANGE PE PIPE, AT SOME UNKNOWN PERIOD IN THE PAST. THE COMPRESSION COUPLING WAS SEPARATED FROM THE 3/4" STEEL PIPE, ALLOWING 20 PSI GAS PRESSURE, TO BLOW UNDERGROUND IN SANDY SOIL. AT THIS TIME, WE DO NOT KNOW WHEN THE SEPARATION OF THE COMPRESSION FITTING OCCURRED. FINAL NARRATIVE DESCRIPTION ON SEPTEMBER 17, 2009, THE CITY OF DUBLIN RECEIVED NOTICED FROM THE GEORGIA PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION, ON A HEARING IN REFERENCE TO A RULE NISI. THE FIRST MEETING WAS SCHEDULED FOR OCTOBER 22, 2009 IN REFERENCE TO DOCKET #30228 AND DOCKET #30452. THE JOINT CONSENT AGREEMENT WAS SIGNED ON OCTOBER 27, 2009. DUBLIN PAID $30,000.00 IN PENALTIES TO THE PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION. PART OF THE CONSENT AGREEMENT WAS FOR DUBLIN TO UPDATE OPERATOR QUALIFICATIONS, USING A THIRD PARTY TRAINER, BY JULY 28, 2010. THE REGULATORY COMPLIANCE SECTION OF THE MUNICIPAL GAS AUTHORITY OF GEORGIA PROVIDED ALL TRAINING. SEE ATTACHMENT ON COMPLETION. DUBLIN'S NATURAL GAS SYSTEM WAS ALREADY UNDER CONTRACT IN THE MANDATED CAST IRON MAIN AND BARE STEEL SERVICES REPLACEMENT. AS OF OCTOBER 31, 2009, APPROXIMATELY 3,340 L.F. OF 2 1/4" CAST IRON GAS MAIN, ON JORDAN STREET, WAS REPLACED WITH 2,640 L.F OF 2� P.E. MAIN. ALL ACTIVE GAS SERVICES WERE ALSO REPLACED WITH 5/8" P.E. PIPING. DURING THIS PROCESS THERE WERE A TOTAL OF 4 INACTIVE SERVICES ABANDONED. THE FINAL SETTLEMENT WAS MADE TO BOTH PARTIES INJURED IN THE HOUSE FIRE ON FEBRUARY 24, 2010.

PHMSA trend classification: significant incident, serious incident, not fire-first.

PHMSA standardized cause: EXCAVATION DAMAGE — THIRD PARTY EXCAVATION DAMAGE.

PHMSA indexed costs: $54,200 reported total cost, $30,000.687 in 1984 dollars, $72,753.378 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.