Gas explosion investigation renders few answers, but corroded pipeline became evident

On Dec. 19, 2010, the home that Thuan Nguyen shared with his family in Chantilly, VA exploded. More than a year later, regulators still have not been able to pinpoint an exact cause for the disaster. In a November 2011 report, the Virginia State Corporation Commission released disturbing new details about the gas explosion, citing Washington [...]

Port Explosion Report Reveals Tank Corrosion “Easily” Detectable

An investigation into the cause of a Gibraltar port explosion last May has uncovered a litany of alleged physical faults and management shortfalls at the sullage plant operated by Nature Port Reception Facilities [Nature], including claims that storage tanks were heavily corroded and badly maintained. Investigators from specialist company Capita Symonds attributed the explosion to [...]

US Senate approves pipeline safety bill

The Senate unanimously approved a pipeline safety bill that stemmed from a spate of incidents, including last year’s deadly explosion in San Bruno, California. The measure had been held up by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who lifted his hold after reaching agreement with Democrats to add a key recommendation from the National Transportation Safety Board. Usually wary of regulatory oversight, Paul [...]

Lawsuit leaves large gas storage fields in Kansas unregulated

Bill Knox knows to respect natural gas. He’s a former oil- and gas-field worker who helped lay the foundations for a mammoth underground gas storage operation three miles from his home; he lost a friend in a gas explosion in Texas; and he well remembers 10 years ago when gas escaped from underground storage and blew [...]

PG&E says it is not to blame for San Bruno blast

Officials with PG&E have reached their conclusion about what caused a natural-gas pipeline to explode in San Bruno last September. And they have concluded the event was not the utility’s fault. Federal investigators asked PG&E, the agency that regulates it, the city of San Bruno and other parties to submit analyses about what caused and [...]

Pipeline bill may be easier sell than oil policies

WASHINGTON: “The tragic spill in the Kalamazoo River and recent leak in Stockbridge underscores the importance of strengthening pipeline safety and cracking down on violators,” said Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich. The Lansing area’s federal lawmakers split along party lines — as did most of Congress — over recent measures to expand oil drilling and to [...]

Rush to Replace Aging Natural Gas Lines

Natural gas lines are usually safe, but when they go bad the consequences can prove deadly. Buildings reduced to rubble and entire neighborhoods in flames. In much of the tri-state there is a rush to replace the type of aging gas lines that can fail with tragic consequences. Fairport Harbor a picturesque resort town on [...]

Danger underground: Aging natural gas lines a concern

More than 120 miles of cast-iron natural gas lines still lie beneath streets and byways in Northeast Pennsylvania, an aging infrastructure UGI Utilities Inc. says it is already aggressively replacing amid growing pressure on utilities nationwide to step up the pace. With the investigation into a deadly gas explosion two months ago in Allentown squarely [...]

Feds call on industry to repair aging pipelines

  ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Federal transportation officials demanded Monday that pipeline companies speed up efforts to repair and replace aging oil and gas lines, saying recent deadly explosions in Pennsylvania and California highlight the urgent need for safety improvements. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced plans to strengthen oversight of companies that operate a 2.5 million-mile [...]

Aging natural gas pipelines pose danger in Ohio

Thousands of miles of gas pipelines in northeast Ohio are 60 years or older and made of untreated steel, which is prone to corrosion, federal records show. WKYC News examined the data in the wake of a series of gas explosions, including a deadly blast in San Bruno, Calif., last September. “We have some of [...]