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Subject:                  OSHA Investigate Metering Station Pipeline Failure During N2 Pressure Test  

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SMITH COUNTY, MS (WLBT) - It will take the Occupational Safety and Health Administration several months to be sure what caused the pipeline accident in Smith County Wednesday afternoon near Sylvarena.  OSHA calls it "a high pressure blowout of a metering station" rather than an explosion.  OSHA spokesman Clyde Payne said the gas line, that runs from Texas to Alabama, is brand new and had no gas in it.  It was being tested for leaks with nitrogen when it failed at the metering station.  Smith County Sheriff Charlie Crumpton tells us 40-year-old James Lee Candler of Sulpher, Louisiana was killed at the scene.  51-year-old David Mathews is in serious condition, 31-year-old Wayne Williams is in fair condition and 50-year-old Rick Lee is in good condition.  They are all from south Louisiana. "They were bringing it up to pressure, they do it in stages, according to company representatives and they were up to pressure when it did rupture," said Kevin Butler, director of Emergency Operations in Smith County. Sheriff Charlie Crumpton says he is simply sealing the area of the accident off for investigating agencies.  "They have asked us to remain here at the scene and keep the scene closed until they get here, so that's what we are doing."  There was no explosion or fire and what happened was the line erupted when nitrogen was put into it for testing.

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