National Association of Counties * Washington, D.C.         Vol. 32, No. 16 * September 11, 2000

Fatal accident highlights need for pipeline law

By
Stephanie Osborn
associate legislative director

An Aug. 19 natural gas pipeline explosion near Carlsbad in Eddy County, N.M., took the lives of 11 people camping nearby and critically injured another. The accident occurred when an underground pipeline owned by El Paso Energy Co. ruptured, discharging flammable gas and engulfing the campsite in flames.

The tragedy has renewed calls from county officials and others for federal legislation aimed at improving oil and gas pipeline safety across the country.

Pipelines are the primary method of transporting petroleum and natural gas products to consumers across the United States. The two million miles of pipelines in the United States, primarily underground, are located in almost every state. Most begin their journey in the oil fields of Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma, heading up the East Coast and into the far reaches of Midwest and West.

Pipelines are generally regarded as the safest and most preferable mode of transporting oil and gas, compared to transportation via train or truck. However, the number of tragic accidents in recent years has brought attention to the need to improve the industry’s safety and environmental record.

By way of example, another pipeline accident in June 1999 killed two children in King County, Wash., where NACo President Jane Hague serves as a county council member. In April of this year, a pipeline burst on the edge of Prince George’s and Charles counties, in Maryland, spilling 125,000 gallons of oil into sensitive marshlands that buffer the Patuxent River.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS) is the agency responsible for regulating the industry. OPS statistics indicate there have been more than 3,000 pipeline accidents in the transmission and distribution of natural gas alone, resulting in 309 deaths, since 1986. Oil pipelines account for an additional 2,000 accidents and 35 fatalities.

In Eddy County, site of the recent accident, more than a dozen companies own multiple pipelines that run through the jurisdiction. Harry Burgess, the county’s emergency manager, says minor pipeline incidents are frequent in the county; in addition to the El Paso Energy Co. accident, two others in August have required emergency response.

Burgess, who is also the county’s fire marshal, manages 11 volunteer fire departments, along with overseeing the county’s emergency preparedness activities for a refinery and a nuclear waste repository. He has one part-time paid employee.

Burgess believes public safety would be better served if pipeline companies were required to provide the county with more accurate information about the location and physical details of their lines, and if they were inspected by OPS more frequently.

The pipeline that failed, which was installed in 1952, was inspected in 1996 and had recently begun undergoing another inspection. It is suspected that corrosion may have played a role in the explosion. However, the cause of the accident remains under investigation by OPS and the National Transportation Safety Board, and the pipeline has been shut down while the investigation proceeds.

Concerned about the growing number of pipeline incidents occurring in counties nationwide, NACo's members recently adopted a policy resolution on the matter.

The resolution supports legislation to strengthen federal rules regarding pipeline operation, maintenance and public reporting, and to allow states and local governments flexibility to impose pipeline safety requirements beyond those implemented by the federal government.

In July, members of NACo's Environment, Energy and Land Use Steering Committee heard a presentation by Leon County, Fla., Commissioner Bob Rackleff, who serves as president of the National Pipeline Reform Coalition. Rackleff's organization has been working to raise awareness and build support for pipeline reform legislation.

In response to these mounting pressures, pipeline safety bills now have been introduced into both houses of Congress. The proposals include provisions such as:

• federal certification of operator training and qualification;

• increased inspection requirements for pipeline corrosion;

• implementation of state-of-the-art leak detection systems;

• required installation of effective fail-safe mechanisms;

• required reporting of spills to OPS;

• required disclosure to state and local authorities of the results of inspections;

• required emergency response coordination between OPS and local emergency response providers;

• periodic management audits of pipelines companies to assure compliance; and

• enhanced funding to federal agencies charged with the oversight of pipeline safety laws and regulations.

The Senate Commerce Committee amended and passed S. 2438, the King and Tsiorvas Pipeline Safety Improvement Act of 2000, on June 15. The bill has been placed on the legislative calendar for a vote by the full Senate in September.

For more information contact Osborn at 202/942-4269 or

sosborn@naco.org; or go to the Web and visit: U.S. DOT Office of Pipeline Safety: http://ops.dot.gov; Fuel Safe Washington: www.fuelsafewashington.org; or Association of Oil Pipelines: www.aopl.org.