Fed agency attacks pipelines for lack of disaster planning

Journal Record, The (Oklahoma City), Sep 6, 1996 by Michelle Mittelstadt Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- Pipeline operators have disaster plans to deal with oil spills -- but most haven't put on paper any preparations to prevent or minimize accidental releases, the National Transportation Safety Board says.

Members of the investigative board have renewed their appeal for more planning by the industry, pointing to the massive fuel spills and fires triggered by torrential flooding in southeast Texas in 1994.

While praising the disaster response to the October 1994 flooding, the NTSB found that numerous pipeline breaks in the San Jacinto River pointed up industry and government shortcomings. Some 1.5 million gallons of fuel from 39 ruptured pipelines gushed into the river after days of relentless flooding unearthed some of the so-called "spaghetti bowl" pipeline network. Lines buckled when up to 15 feet of soil washed out from beneath the pipes, leaving them exposed. Errant sparks ignited the oily sheen that stretched for miles along the swollen river's surface, giving birth to walls of flames that flared as high as 400 feet. Breathing problems or burns were suffered by 547 people. Damage from the spills and cleanup costs added $23 million to a flooding tab reaching into the hundreds of millions of dollars. While pipeline operators and federal officials do have response plans to deal with oil spills once they've occurred, planning is woefully lacking on ways to prevent pipeline breakage and emergency fuel releases, NTSB officials said Wednesday. That's despite a requirement in the 1990 federal Oil Pollution Act that the Transportation Department's Research and Special Programs Office and pipeline operators develop plans to prevent accidental releases, said NTSB Chairman Jim Hall. "The time to look at the worst-case scenario is not when you're in the middle of a worst case," he said. With 1.9 million miles of petroleum and natural gas pipelines snaking across the United States, Texas isn't the only area where pipelines intersect with flood plains or river beds, Hall noted. On a 4-0 vote, the NTSB approved a report calling on the American Petroleum Institute, Association of Oil Pipe Lines and Interstate Natural Gas Association to develop design and construction standards for pipelines located in flood plains and stream beds. The last time the industry issued such guidelines was in 1955, said NTSB investigator Charles Batten. Industry standards also should include ways to re-evaluate the integrity of the pipelines as conditions in the flood plains or stream beds change, the NTSB said. The American Petroleum Institute issued a statement saying it would work with other industry groups to "consider development of standards for design and construction of pipelines crossing flood plains and stream beds" as recommended by the NTSB. Transportation Department officials did not return a call seeking comment. The NTSB also renewed its oft-repeated call, first made in 1971, for use of automatic cutoff valves on pipelines. Both the Transportation Department and industry have resisted heeding the NTSB's frequent recommendation for the valves, which have proven their effectiveness during California earthquakes, Hall said. He said automatic cutoff valves are "the most effective thing that can be done to provide for the public safety of the American people in an industry as growing and as dynamic as the pipeline industry is," Hall said. The agency's recommendations are not binding on other federal entities.