Fire killed one, damaged or destroyed 19 homes
WASHINGTON (Sept. 14, 2022) — The National Transportation Safety Board said Wednesday that the rupturing of a 30-inch natural gas pipeline and a subsequent fire caused the 2019 death of one person and the destruction of five homes near Danville, Kentucky.
The accident occurred when a 30-inch pipeline, owned and operated by Enbridge Inc., ruptured and released natural gas that ignited on Aug. 1, 2019. Fourteen other residences were damaged, and the fire burned about 30 acres of land.
NTSB investigators determined that the combination of a pre-existing manufacturing defect -- known as a hard spot – together with a degraded pipeline coating and ineffective cathodic protection, led to hydrogen-induced cracking at the outer surface of the pipe.
Contributing to the accident, according to the NTSB, was Enbridge’s integrity management program, which did not accurately assess the condition of the pipeline or estimate the risk from interacting threats. The report said Enbridge underestimated the risk posed by hard spots because its processes and procedures were inconsistent with PHMSA guidance and industry knowledge of hard spot threat interaction.
Investigators noted Enbridge and its predecessors increased cathodic protection voltages on the affected pipeline segment to compensate for the increased external corrosion. Buried steel pipelines will corrode because of the presence of moisture and ground water in the soil. Cathodic protection is an electrochemical method used to prevent corrosion on buried pipelines where the applied coating has been damaged, exposing bare pipeline metal to the soil.
Based on the results of its investigation, the NTSB issued six safety recommendations, three to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration and three to Enbridge Inc. The safety recommendations address:
- Incomplete evaluation of the risks caused by a change of gas flow direction;
- Limitations in data analysis related to in-line inspection tool usage;
- Incomplete assessment of threats and threat interactions;
- Missed opportunities in training and requalification practices.
The Pipeline Accident Report 22/02 is available online.
The accident docket, which contains interviews, photos, and other factual material is also available online.
To report an incident/accident or if you are a public safety agency, please call 1-844-373-9922 or 202-314-6290 to speak to a Watch Officer at the NTSB Response Operations Center (ROC) in Washington, DC (24/7).
