Incident Report Subject: Newly Constructed Pipeline Explodes Date of Email report: Mon 08/08/2011 Report Detail:
While the amount of natural gas that was vented in the explosion has not been determined, earlier in the day, the Bison was reported to have been transporting 365 million cubic feet of natural gas. A story posted online for the Washington Post noted that the Wyoming Pipeline Authority says other pipelines have enough surplus capacity to make up for the Bison Pipeline while it’s closed. Meanwhile, the 42-inch Ruby Pipeline is set to begin delivering gas by El Paso Corp. from western Wyoming to Oregon within days, reports say. Bison begins in north-eastern Wyoming and travels northeast through Montana and North Dakota before connecting with Northern Border Pipeline Company in North Dakota. Natural gas transported on Bison will reach Midwest markets via Northern Border. Bison is TransCanada’s first pipeline to access natural gas produced in the U.S. Rocky Mountain region. Additional Documentation: Company official says 'mechanical damage' burst Bison Pipeline July 26, 2011 11:45 pm • By JEREMY FUGLEBERG Casper Star-Tribune
 A cloud billows from TransCanada's ruptured Bison Pipeline in northeast Wyoming on July 20. The 6-month-old pipeline is disabled, but the executive director of the Wyoming Pipeline Authority said the accident is unlikely to put a crimp in the state's gas exports. CASPER, Wyo. — An initial assessment of the ruptured Bison Pipeline in northeastern Wyoming shows evidence of "mechanical damage," says a spokesman for the company that owns the pipeline. "Something hit it," said James Millar of Calgary-based TransCanada Corp. "We don't know when, we don't know what, so we're continuing analysis on that as you would expect." Natural gas carried by the underground 30-inch pipeline exploded into the sky about 7:30 p.m. on July 20. The explosion ripped apart a 60-foot length of pipe according to eyewitnesses who visited the site of the incident about 20 miles west of Gillette, and was heard at least 30 miles away. TransCanada's safety systems registered the pipeline's drop in pressure and closed valves to cut the flow of natural gas in the line. Nobody was injured and no property was damaged by the explosion other than the pipeline, which lay in one large, split section and several smaller pieces, according to Campbell County emergency responders who visited the site soon after the blast. TransCanada representatives arrived soon after, followed by federal investigators. The swift determination of mechanical damage is unusual, Millar said. "Usually we don't get something this early that you get an indication what occurred," he said. "On this one they were able to see from visual inspections that gave them a pretty good indication of what would have caused the break." Investigators with the Department of Transportation's Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration handed the site back to TransCanada on Sunday, Millar said. Since then the company has been repairing the ruptured line. The company should finish repairs to the pipeline late Wednesday and wait for a federal go-ahead before sending any gas through the line. In the wake of the rupture, producers rerouted gas through other pipepines heading out of state. TransCanada doesn't yet know when it will get the federal OK to restart operations on the pipe, Millar said. The Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration didn't respond to a request for an update on its investigation of the rupture. The Bison Pipeline is indirectly owned by a subsidiary of TransCanada Corp. The 302-mile pipeline moves gas from Wyoming's Powder River Basin north to the Northern Border Pipeline in North Dakota on its way to customers in the Midwest. The Bison Pipeline entered service in January.
|
