NTSB blames deadly pipeline blast on bad pipe, failed corrosion protection, flow reversal for fracked gas, lots more

NTSB diagram overlays aerial photo of most of burned area onto satellite image. Flame from pipe went east-northeast.

Pipelines carrying natural gas and other flammable products sometimes blow up, bringing destruction and death to rural Americans. A gas pipeline blew up in Central Kentucky in 2019 mainly because of a manufacturing defect and failure of a system that is supposed to prevent corrosion of the pipe, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a report Wednesday.

Bill Estep of the Lexington Herald-Leader reports, "Ineffective electrochemical protection, called cathodic protection, on the outside of the pipe designed to prevent corrosion, the report said. The NTSB also said the operator of the pipeline, Enbridge, didn’t accurately assess the condition of the pipeline or properly assess the risks to it. That contributed to the accident, the agency said."

The report also blamed the Pipeline and Hazardous Safety Materials Administration's "non-conservative assumptions used to calculate the potential impact radius, incomplete evaluation of the risks caused by a change of gas flow direction [fracked northern gas going south], limitations in data analysis related to in-line inspection tool usage, incomplete assessment of threats and threat interactions, and missed opportunities in training and requalification practices."

The 30-inch Texas Eastern Transmission pipeline blew up at 1:23 a.m. Aug. 1, 2019, between Moreland and Junction City, rural communities south of Danville, releasing over 100 million cubic feet of gas that ignited, causing one death, six injuries, destruction of five homes, damage to 14 other residences, other property damage including the burning of 30 acres, and evacuation of more than 75 people. The same line "also failed in November 2003 near Morehead and in February 1986 in Garrard County. The Garrard County incident injured three people," Estep reports. A parallel line "blew up in April 1985 in Metcalfe County, killing five people and injuring three others."