LNG pipelines: ruptures and rivers

Officials dissect fatal Wyoming blaze (link)

Communications glitches delayed the response to a fire that killed a bulldozer operator, they concur.

Bulldozer operator Bobby Ray Owens Jr., 52, of Louisiana died Saturday when his machine hit a natural-gas pipeline. The ensuing fire sent flames hundreds of feet into the air, and it took crews about 45 minutes to extinguish it.

Sheriff Danny Glick said responding to the situation was tough because different organizations were trying to get information about what was happening and because there was a lot of emotion on the scene.

Dennis West, chief of Laramie County Fire District 1, said some crews were delayed in getting directions to the scene because cellphones didn't work and radio traffic was jammed.

West said the emergency management communications center in Cheyenne was inundated with calls within minutes of the start of the fire.
...
"(That) was our biggest downfall," West said. "Getting the information and the answers to our questions was the hardest part about it all."

With so many calls coming through the communications center Saturday, determining exactly where the explosion had occurred became a problem.

"The size of the blaze itself made it look further away than we actually were," West said. "Our perception was thrown off."

Spotty cell phone service, a small emergency call center that would be quickly overwhelmed in a catastrophe like this, and a hard time getting information and answers to questions. Sounds sort of familiar, doesn't it?

and another interesting aspect...  (link)

The Wyoming Interstate pipeline was struck and ruptured on Saturday just west of the Cheyenne compressor station. The company declared a force majeure event due to the damage.

You really should take a look at the link on "force majeure" above. Here's a snippet:

"...frees one or both parties from liability or obligation when an extraordinary event or circumstance beyond the control of the parties, such as war, strike, riot, crime, act of God (e.g., flood, earthquake, volcano), prevents one or both parties from fulfilling their obligations under the contract."

...and yet, one might think that a piece of construction equipment hitting a pipeline (or buried power line or other such) is pretty darned controllable. I'm not a lawyer, nor do I play one on the Internet, but this seems like an awfully easy way for a company to duck liability.

Let's move close to home next. This is particularly interesting in light of the above article.

Pipeline falls into Toutle River (link)

A 300- to 400-foot section of the Williams Northwest natural gas pipeline dropped into the Toutle River near Castle Rock when the river bank gave way Thursday and is now bobbing in the water. Pipeline officials say it poses no immediate danger and repairs are under way.

The exposed pipe has not ruptured but is moving as it is buffeted by river water. The pipe needs to be protected from any debris in the rain-swollen river, and workers have reduced the pressure to guard against any explosions if the pipe was damaged, said Williams spokeswoman Michele Swaner.

(ed. So, while the pipeline dangled in the river, the pressure was reduced by 50% -- not cut-off, just reduced. Because a pipeline floating amongst the debris of the rain-swollen river would never rupture.)

Long-term, Swaner said they'll have to replace all of the exposed pipe and may well move that entire section of pipeline because of on-going worries about the integrity of the river bank.

Update: The pipeline is now back to more usual operations, meaning full pressure. In a pipe that, according to the above article is half the size of the usual pipeline. Is that a good idea?