The Dallas Morning News is reporting on an explosion caused by utility workers digging into a 36-inch high-pressure natural gas pipeline owned by Enterprise Products Partners. As observed by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), this is one of the leading causes (i.e., dig-in) of injuries related to natural gas pipeline incidents.
[On a related note, one of our attorneys will be giving a presentation on the applicability of federal pipeline safety regulations to production and gathering operations at the PIOGA Summer Meeting at the Seven Springs Resort - Champion, PA, later this week. For more, see here.]
[On another related note: It does seem that there have been a number of energy incidents in the news lately. First, the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf. Then this pipeline explosion. But also there are reports of a natural gas well explosion in West Virginia (WCHS8), and a well blowout in Pennsylvania (Philadelphia Inquirer).]