America's Dangerous Pipelines
A new analysis of oil and gas pipeline safety in the United States reveals a troubling history of spills, contamination, injuries and deaths.
According to the data, since 1986 there have been nearly 8,000 incidents (nearly 300 per year on average), resulting in more than 500 deaths (red dots on the video), more than 2,300 injuries (yellow dots on the video), and nearly $7 billion in damage.
Since 1986 pipeline accidents have spilled an average of 76,000 barrels per year or more than 3 million gallons. This is equivalent to 200 barrels every day.
- 1965: An explosion from a gas line destroyed several apartments in the LaSalle Heights Disaster in LaSalle, Quebec killing 28 people, the worst pipeline disaster in Canadian history.
- 1965: On October 12, an explosion & fire involved the Albert Gas Trunk Line LTD. near Sundre, Alberta, killing 2 pipeline workers.[4]
- 1969: On October 25, a faulty pipe exploded in a gas line beneath Malton, Ontario. One person died, about 20 were injured, 9 stores and several homes were destroyed. Gas in a dead end section of gas pipeline.[5]
- 1962: An explosion on a gas pipeline occurred on a lateral line on January 17, about 50 kilometers northwest of Edson, Alberta. 8 people were killed.[2][3]
- 2003: A backhoe punctured a pipeline in Etobicoke, Ontario, the resulting explosion killed 7 people
- 2009: On 12 September 2009, TransCanada Corporation's Gas Control received notification, from the Englehart Fire Department through its Emergency Notification Line, of an explosion and fire south of its Compressor Station 107, located near Swastika, Ontario. At the time of the occurrence, TransCanada was transporting sweet natural gas. Escaping gas from a pipeline rupture had ignited, resulting in the explosion. A large crater was created and two sections of pipe broke from the system, with one section being ejected approximately 150 metres from the rupture site. There were no injuries.[21]
- 2009: On 26 September 2009, TransCanada Corporation's Line 100-1 ruptured, near Marten River, Ontario. At 1151, Gas Control at TransCanada's Calgary office became aware of this event when Main Line Valve 112-1, on the upstream side of Compressor Station 112, automatically shut off due to low pipeline pressure. At the time of the occurrence, TransCanada was transporting sweet natural gas. The escaping gas did not ignite. A large crater was created and pipe pieces were ejected from the failed pipeline section and spread around the occurrence site. There were no injuries.[22]
- 2011: On February 19, TransCanada PipeLines Limited's gas control operator received notification through its emergency notification line of a pipeline fire and explosion, near Beardmore, Ontario. At the time of the occurrence, TransCanada was transporting sweet natural gas. Escaping gas from a pipeline rupture had ignited, resulting in the explosion. A large crater was created and three pieces of pipe broke from the system, with pipe and other debris being ejected up to 100 m from the rupture site. Six residents near the site evacuated until the fire was extinguished. There were no injuries.[24]
- 2018: On October 9, a 36-inch Enbridge natural gas pipeline exploded 13 km north of Prince George, British Columbia. About 1 million BC customers and 750,000 US customers were affected. Natural gas customers were asked to reduce use.[45]
Since we arent sticking to the United States - and Mexico is basically our 52nd state, right?
- 1978: On November 1, a gas pipeline exploded and burned, killing 52 people in colonia Benito Juarez, Mexico, and injuring 11 in a town of only 100 people. The failure created a crater 300 feet wide and 20 feet deep.[56][57]
- 2010: The explosion on December 19, 2010 of an oil pipeline at a Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) pumping station in San Martín Texmelucan de Labastida in central Mexico, killed at least 27 people and injured more than 50. The explosion is believed to have been caused by attempts to puncture the pipe to steal oil.[58]
- 2012: On September 18, 2012, twenty-two workers died when a gas leak from a Kinder Morgan pipeline at Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico sparked an explosion which became a fireball that overtook workers running for their lives, lead plaintiff Javier Alvarez del Castillo said. "They were engulfed in fire that burnt and singed every inch of skin from their head to their ankles, taking every bit of hair from their head, laying the plaintiffs 'skinless,' like skeletons bare to the bones, with in most cases only their footwear attached to the only portion of their body not reduced to skeleton.
- 2019: On 18 January 2019, a pipeline transporting gasoline exploded in the town of Tlahuelilpan, in the Mexican state of Hidalgo killed at least 96 people and injured dozens more.[62][63] The explosion is believed to be related to the government crackdown on fuel thieves.[64]
United States:
- 1965 (March 4) A 32-inch gas transmission pipeline, north of Natchitoches, Louisiana, belonging to the Tennessee Gas Pipeline exploded and burned from Stress corrosion cracking (SCC) on March 4, killing 17 people. At least 9 others were injured, and 7 homes 450 feet from the rupture were destroyed. The same pipeline had also had an explosion on May 9, 1955, just 930 feet (280 m) from the 1965 failure.[81][82]
- 1999 (June 10) An Olympic gasoline pipeline ruptured near Bellingham, Washington, resulting in 3 deaths: a fly fisherman and two 10-year-old boys. The cause was a series of errors and malfunctions in relief systems and process control computer systems in the Olympic Pipe Line Company's system, resulting in 277,000 gallons of gasoline spilled to Whatcom Creek. The fire burned for five days.[83][84]
- 2000 (19 August) A 30-inch El Paso Energy natural gas pipeline exploded, killing twelve people in southeast New Mexico. They were camping under a bridge which carried the pipeline across the Pecos River. The explosion occurred underground on the east side of the river 200 to 300 yards from the campers around 5:30 a.m.. The explosion left a crater 86 feet long, 46 feet wide and 20 feet deep. The fireball was visible 20 miles north in Carlsbad, N.M. The pipeline was installed in 1950.[85]
- 2010 (September 9) The San Bruno pipeline explosion: At 6:11 PM, a PG&E 30-inch natural gas line exploded in San Bruno, California, killing 8. Eyewitnesses reported the initial blast "had a wall of fire more than 1,000 feet high".[87]
- 2014 (Feb) In Knifely, Adair County, Kentucky, a Columbia Gulf gas pipeline exploded at 1 a.m. flattening homes, burning barns, and causing one casualty. The 30-inch natural gas pipeline was about 100 feet from Highway 76 and buried 30 feet underground. When it exploded, large rocks and sections of pipeline flew into the air, leaving a 60-foot crater. Columbia Gulf, part of NiSource’s Columbia Pipeline Group, owns and operates more than 15,700 miles of natural gas pipelines, one of the largest underground storage systems in North America. The pipeline that exploded was carrying natural gas from the Gulf of Mexico to New York.[102]
- 2018 (September 13) Suspected over-pressurization of natural gas pipes by Columbia Gas caused multiple explosions and fires in 3 towns in Massachusetts (Andover, Lawrence, and North Andover), leaving 1 dead.[110]
- 2019 (August 1) An Enbridge natural gas pipeline ruptured causing a massive explosion in Lincoln County, Kentucky, leaving 1 person dead and 5 hospitalized. The explosion and resulting fire destroyed railroad tracks and at least 5 homes in a nearby trailer park.[112]
