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Questar Gas Replaces Ruptured Pipeline in South Weber, Utah

Posted on: Tuesday, 21 February 2006, 15:01 CST

By Jeff DeMoss, Standard-Examiner, Ogden, Utah

Feb. 21--The explosion that destroyed a South Weber home Saturday evening was an "extremely rare" event in which the main natural gas pipeline in the area was damaged, Questar Gas said Monday.

Workers for Questar spent Sunday replacing a 9-foot section of ruptured steel pipeline that spewed natural gas into the neighborhood and home of Luana Fowers at 1745 E. 7600 South, causing the explosion at 6:15 p.m. that leveled most of the home.

No one was in the house at the time, and no one was injured in the incident.

The 14-inch-diameter line, which does not connect directly to homes, is one of the largest, most high-pressure lines in the area, Questar spokesman Steve Chapman said.

Some of the company's interstate transmission lines in remote areas are as wide as 24 inches, but the largest lines in residential areas are about 18 inches wide, Chapman said.

"In our system, a problem with a high-pressure pipeline is extremely rare," he said. "No one here can remember anything like this happening before."

Investigators have not yet determined the reason for the damage. A sinkhole in the road was originally thought to be the cause, but Chapman said it is probably more likely that gas escaping from the rupture pushed the pavement upward and cleared debris from underneath it, causing the surface to sag after the explosion.

The line that ruptured is a transporter line that takes gas to "regulator stations" throughout the area. The stations gradually reduce the pressure of the gas before sending it to "main lines," and eventually to individual homes.

"Because of redundancies in our system, having this pipe out is not hampering our ability to provide service," Chapman said. Other than a temporary shutoff of service at one neighboring home, "there has been no loss of service in the area at this time."

He said the pressure of the gas moving through the section that was damaged is between 200 and 250 pounds per square inch. Steel pipelines can typically withstand at least 1,000 pounds per square inch.

By the time gas passes through a series of regulators and reaches home furnaces, the pressure has been relieved to "a couple of ounces per square inch," he said.

He said the majority of gas leaks happen outdoors and are caused by human error, when contractors or others accidentally come across smaller gas lines while digging.

The damaged section of pipeline has been sent to an independent, third-party laboratory to undergo a "complete, intense, metallurgic forensic analysis to determine what led to this particular failure," Chapman said. He did not know when the analysis will be complete.

Workers were planning to perform X-ray inspections today(Tuesday) of the welds on the replacement section, and to push a large rubber cork known as a "pig" through the line to force out any water, air or other debris before returning gas to the line.

IF YOU SMELL GAS IN YOUR HOME:

--Get everyone out of the house immediately

--Do not turn on lights, appliances, or other electrical equipment

--Leave a door open

--Use a neighbor's phone or cell phone to call 911

--To report a gas-line break or leak outdoors, call (800) 541-2824

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To see more of the Standard-Examiner, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.standard.net.

Copyright (c) 2006, Standard-Examiner, Ogden, Utah

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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STR,

Source: Standard-Examiner

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