Report: States could help prevent natural gas explosions

Three powerful accidents in recent years highlight weaknesses in oversight of how natural gas providers maintain the largest pipelines in their networks, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.

A rupture at Sissonville, West Virginia, might have been preventable. (AP photo)

A major effort a decade ago by the federal government to check a rise in violent pipeline failures in “high-consequence” areas, where people are more likely to be hurt or buildings destroyed, has resulted in a slight leveling off of such incidents, but no decline, the NTSB said in late January.

And while the frequency of such accidents remains low, they are still more likely to occur in more densely populated areas despite increased safety efforts in those areas, the report found.

More safety improvements are needed “to prevent catastrophic gas transmission line accidents from ever happening again,” said Chris Hart, the acting NTSB chairman.

Existing regulations have spurred gas companies nationwide to spend billions on pipeline replacement. The work is a growth driver for Cleremont-based Miller Pipeline Corp., a subsidiary of Evansville-based Vectren Corp.

Yet state-regulated pipelines are a continuing source of concern, the report said. Since 2004, pipelines that don’t cross state borders have had a 27-percent higher incident rate than federally regulated pipelines.

Three ruptures since 2010—in the San Francisco suburb of San Bruno; Sissonville, West Virginia; and Palm City, Florida—illustrate many of the systemic problems, the board said.•