Pipeline Explosion Reveals Lack of Regulation

Thousands of miles of natural gas pipelines sit underground in Oklahoma, and a recent pipeline rupture and explosion in Grady County have residents asking questions.

Monday, March 9th 2009, 9:50 pm

By: News 9


By Amy Lester, NEWS 9

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Thousands of miles of natural gas pipelines sit underground in Oklahoma, and a recent pipeline rupture and explosion in Grady County have residents asking questions.

"We actually thought it was an airplane landing, falling in our front yard," Venita Parker said.

The National Pipeline Mapping System tracks pipelines across the country. Their public database allows users to view all the transmission pipelines, natural gas plants and breakout tanks in their county.

Venita and her husband Al Parker heard a 20-inch natural gas gathering pipeline rupture shoot out gas and catch on fire. The explosion destroyed three nearby homes, seriously burned one woman, and gave the Parkers, who live across the highway, the scare of their lives.

"It was so loud, the roar, and the bright light that it just looked like it was right in our yard," Venita Parker said.

Enogex, a subsidiary of OG&E's parent company, operates the gas pipeline. They claim it was inspected about two weeks prior to the explosion, but why it happened remains a mystery.

"We're looking at the threats trying to identify what potential threats may have caused that including looking even at seismic data," OG&E spokesperson Brian Alford said. "We don't believe that was an issue, but it's the extent that we're having to go to, to understand what happened."

Find hidden pipelinesCurrently, no state or federal agency has a record of the line's history, because this type of pipeline is not regulated by the government.

"How do we know what those lines are like underground?" Venita Parker said.

The Federal Department of Transportation's Pipeline Safety office does not regulate gas gathering lines in rural areas, the lines that move the gas from the wellheads to a processing facility.

Oklahoma has a law that bans the state from enacting regulations tougher than the federal government's, so the Corporation Commission, which oversees the oil and gas business, cannot do a thing.

"As it sits right now, being barred from being more stringent, the commission cannot take any action," said Dennis Fothergill, pipeline safety manager for the Corporation Commission.

The Commission's maps don't show the lines like the one that ruptured. The agency doesn't even know how many of these lines are out there or where they are.

"I do not know how many miles, since we don't have any authority over them, we've never gone out and compiled the miles of line," Fothergill said. "Obviously, there's a lot."

Many companies have hundreds, if not thousands of miles of pipeline. Some companies inspect them regularly, while others wait for a problem to show up before taking a closer look.

"It's a safety issue, number one," State Senator Brian Bingman (R-District 12) said.

Senator Bingman has a bill this session which would allow the Corporation Commission to regulate all pipelines, including gas gathering lines, like the one that caused the damage in Grady County.

"If there's anything we can do to prevent that, certainly we want to interject what safety precautions we can to make sure it doesn't happen again," Senator Bingman said.

The Parkers plan to contact lawmakers and push them to let the state watch over the pipelines hidden underground.

"It should worry everybody in the state of Oklahoma enough to rear up on their hind legs and do something about it," Venita Parker said.

The Corporation Commission has not discussed what new rules or regulations they may consider if the bill becomes law. The bill already passed unanimously in the Senate, it's now heading to the House for consideration.

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