Williams blames natural gas compressor station explosion on worker error

MONTROSE, Pa. - State regulators and natural gas company officials faced nearly two hours of questions from residents about safety, air pollution and eroded public confidence during a briefing on April 17 at Montrose Area High School about a recent natural gas compressor station explosion.

Officials with the state Department of Environmental Protection and Williams, the company that owns the compressor station, sought to fill in gaps in the public understanding of the explosion and fire at the Lathrop station on March 29 and reassure citizens that the operations are safe.

Frank Billings, vice president for Williams' natural gas gathering and processing operations for the region, said the incident began with a worker error during maintenance of one of the compressor engines at the station. The company has since reviewed and reiterated its training protocols.

The mistake allowed gas to enter the compressor before it was ready, and the gas in the building ignited. Workers evacuated the site safely, he said. One employee suffered a minor injury that was reported after the incident.

"It was really a failure to follow one of our basic administration and safety procedures," he said.

PG&E may be assessed $26 million fine for 2008 natural gas explosion

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. - State regulators might finally penalize PG&E $26 million for a deadly pipeline explosion that occurred nearly two years before the blast in San Bruno.

On Christmas Eve 2008, a pipeline exploded in the Sacramento suburb of Rancho Cordova, killing one person and injuring five others. A federal investigation into the incident revealed that PG&E was in violation of several safety requirements.

Despite those findings, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) only opened a penalty case against PG&E in December 2010, after the San Bruno explosion had brought pipeline safety under close public scrutiny.

Now, CPUC staff has announced a settlement that would fine the utility $26 million in shareholder funds for its failure to comply with safety regulations. The settlement must still be approved by the full commission.

TransCanada shuts Keystone Pipeline after leak at Kansas pump station

CALGARY, Alta. - Calgary-based TransCanada shut the 591,000 barrel-a-day Keystone pipeline on May 28 after a "an issue with a fitting" caused a 10- to 40-barrel oil leak at a pump station in Kansas, according to an e-mailed statement from Terry Cunha, a company spokesman. There was no fault on the pipeline itself, he said.

The 591,000-b/d line was shut down over the weekend after a half-inch fitting broke, at the Severance, Kansas, pumping station, the Calgary-based company said on May 31.

"The team is putting together a restart plan and they’re hoping to get the system up and running as soon as possible but it will probably be a few days,”"spokesman Terry Cunha said.

Keystone, which started operations in June 2010, has had 11 such breaks along its line at pumping stations on the United States side of the system. The most recent occurred May 7, when a fitting broke at a North Dakota pumping station spilling about 500 barrels of oil at the pump station and into a neighboring field. In that case, Keystone was shut down for six days while TransCanada replaced similar fittings at 47 pumping stations.

North Dakota Public Service Commission orders probe of oil pipeline leak

BISMARCK, N.D. - State regulators have opened a formal investigation of an oil pipeline accident in southeastern North Dakota. A fitting failure at a pumping station in TransCanada Corp.'s Keystone pipeline spilled more than 14,000 gallons of oil.

North Dakota's Public Service Commission voted on May 13 to investigate the accident.

Commission Chairman Tony Clark said the move allows the commission to take testimony and gather evidence about the accident. It also allows North Dakotans who are interested in the spill to take part in the case.

The pipeline was shut down when the spill happened on May 7.

The oil release happened at the TransCanada Ludden Pump Station.

The oil spill was caused by a damaged three-quarter-inch fitting, and TransCanada has re-inspected all similar fittings at all of its pump stations in the United States and Canada, installing stronger fittings where appropriate, the company said.

PAA Rainbow oil pipeline leak in Canada a 28,000-barrel monster

CALGARY, Alta. - Initial reports that the Plains All American LP Rainbow Pipeline in remote Canada spilled "hundreds of barrels" proved to be understatement. The most recent estimate is that the line spilled 28,000 barrels - 1.2 million gallons of crude.

That makes the spill in Alberta the province's largest in 36 years, according to regulators.

The Rainbow pipeline rupture was discovered April 29, the Energy Resources Conservation Board said on May 3.

A spill of that magnitude on a provincial pipeline hasn't happened since 1975, when the Bow Valley line leaked 40,000 barrels of oil, said board spokesman Davis Sheremata.

Crews reached and exposed the damaged section of Rainbow pipe on the afternoon of May 3 after being hampered by boggy conditions. Sheremata said the spill had been contained and cleanup efforts were ongoing.

Two stopple fittings were installed on the ruptured pipeline segment on May 3. The replacement pipe was hydrotested.

Plains completed repairs on the pipeline and had recovered about 1,900 barrels of spilled crude by May 4, the company said in updates on its Web site.

The restart of the line is contingent on regulatory approval, according to the company.

Magellan line spills up to 225,000 gallons of gasoline in Louisiana

TEXAS CITY, Texas - Twelve hours after a Magellan pipeline carrying gasoline ruptured, state officials reopened state Highway 146 and allowed evacuated residents to return home.

As much as 225,000 gallons of fuel may have spilled into Texas City's Bayou Pierre, officials said.

The pipeline carrying gasoline ruptured at about 3 a.m. Feb. 24, forcing the evacuation of about 30 homes and the highway.

The pipeline owner confirmed at a news conference that as much as 250,000 gallons of gasoline may have leaked from the ruptured pipeline into Bayou Pierre before it was shut down.

No injuries were reported, and there was no fire or explosion.

"We could have 6,000 (barrels) of fuel on the ground and we want to be extra careful," Clawson said.

Officials of Magellan Midstream Partners LP, the owners of the line, said the company received a leak detection alarm on the line at about 1:00 a.m. Crews confirmed the leak at about 3 a.m.

Magellan spokesman Bruce Heine said the underground line is an 18-inch supply line from Texas City to its Pasadena Products Pipeline. The line is a multi-carrier product line and transports refined products to multiple shippers along the company’s Texas City to Houston pipeline, he said.

The company is removing the failed section of the line to determine what caused it to rupture.

Heine said the line was in "compliance with all laws and regulations," but would not confirm when it was last inspected.