The following is a list of pipeline accidents in the United States in the 2010s. It is one of several lists of U.S. pipeline accidents. See also list of natural gas and oil production accidents in the United States.
Incidents
This is not a complete list of all pipeline accidents. For natural gas alone, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), a United States Department of Transportation agency, has collected data on more than 3,200 accidents deemed serious or significant since 1987.
A "significant incident" results in any of the following consequences: fatality or injury requiring in-patient hospitalization $50,000 or more in total costs, measured in 1984 dollars liquid releases of five or more barrels (42 US gal/barrel) releases resulting in an unintentional fire or explosion
PHMSA and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) post incident data and results of investigations into accidents involving pipelines that carry a variety of products, including natural gas, oil, diesel fuel, gasoline, kerosene, jet fuel, carbon dioxide, and other substances. Occasionally pipelines are repurposed to carry different products.Data sets of PHMSA Pipeline Safety-Flagged Incidents for 1986-2001, 2002-2009, and 2010-2017 can be downloaded from the tab by that name on the PHMSA's Pipeline Incident Flagged Files page at https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/data-and-statistics/pipeline/pipeline-incident-flagged-files, accessed 2018.01.10. PHMSA Corrective Action Orders. PHMSA Pipeline Failure Investigation Reports are at https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/safety-reports/pipeline-failure-investigation-reports. NTSB Pipeline Accident Reports are at https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Pages/pipeline.aspx.
2010 January January 2 – Enbridge's Line 2 ruptured near Neche, North Dakota, releasing about 3,784 barrels of crude oil, of which 2,237 barrels were recovered. The cause was a material defect. January 7 – A gas pipeline exploded near Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, killing a pipeline employee.
February February 1 – A plumber trying to unclog a sewer line in St. Paul, Minnesota ruptured a gas service line that has been "cross bored" through the house's sewer line. The plumber and resident escaped the house moments before as an explosion and following fire destroyed the house. The Minnesota Office of Pipeline Safety ordered that gas utility, Xcel, to check for more cross bored gas lines. In the following year, 25,000 sewer lines inspected showed 57 other cross bored gas lines. In Louisville, Kentucky, 430 gas line cross bores were found in of a sewer project, including some near schools and a hospital. The NTSB had cited such cross bore incidents as a known hazard since 1976. February 7 – A power plant explosion occurred at the Kleen Energy Systems, killing 5 and injuring a dozen. February 25 – A natural gas liquids (NGL) pipeline ruptured near Pond Creek, Oklahoma, releasing over of NGL's, and forcing road closures. There was no fire.
March March 1 – At about 8:10 am, Mid-Valley Pipeline identified a release of crude oil in the manifold area of the Mid-Valley tank farm in Longview, Texas. Crude oil was observed "gushing" from the soil in the manifold area. About 198 barrels of crude oil were estimated to have been released and 196 barrels were recovered from the secondary containment area within Mid-Valley's site.Failure Investigation Report – Mid-Valley Pipeline Internal Corrosion Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, November 7, 2011, accessed September 5, 2015, 31 pages March 2 – Reno County 911 dispatch was notified about a natural gas leak in a 26-inch diameter interstate pipeline at Red Rock Road and Andre Road near Abbyville, Kansas. Twenty people were evacuated as a precaution. The leak was caused by a ruptured girth weld in the pipe owned by Southern Star Central Gas Pipeline. The pipe was manufactured in 1967.PHMSA Pipeline Safety-Flagged Incidents for 2010-2017, PHMSA Pipeline Incident Flagged Files page, https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/data-and-statistics/pipeline/pipeline-incident-flagged-files, accessed 2018.01.10. March 15 – A 24-inch gas pipeline burst, but did not ignite near Pampa, Texas. March 25 – There was a release of 1700 barrels of Vacuum gas oil (VGO) from the FM-1 pipeline into an open in-ground valve pit and the surrounding area in the West Yard of the Sunoco, R&M Philadelphia refinery in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The area was under the control of the Operator in a fenced off area that is off-limits to the public.
April April 5 – A crude oil pipeline ruptured near Green River, Wyoming. At least of crude were spilled. Corrosion in the pipeline was the cause. April 13 – A flash fire occurred as a result of incorrect operations while operator and contract employees were conducting planned maintenance at the Seymour Terminal of the Enterprise Products Operating Company, LLC(EPCO) located in Jackson County, Indiana. Two EPCO employees and two contract employees were injured. April 14 – At an Enogex natural gas compressor station in Bennington, Oklahoma, during construction tie-ins related to an expansion project, a contract employee was injured as a result of a flash fire which immediately extinguished itself. The contract employee's injuries required in-patient hospitalization. The cause of the accident was, in part, miscommunication between two crews working in the station at the same time. April 23 – A pipeline ruptured near Niles, Kansas, due to previous excavation damage. About 1,659 barrels of natural gasoline were lost.
May May 10 – In Swifton, Arkansas, a Mississippi River Transmission Corporation employee arrived at the Swifton M&R station and found the regulator engulfed in flames, evidently from a direct hit by a lightning strike which perforated the equipment. May 29 – An Amoco pipeline leaked nearly 89,000 gallons of gasoline into a farm field along Quarterline Road. The leak occurred in Constantine Township, St. Joseph County, Michigan. The cause was from a manufacturing defect in the pipe.
June June 7 – A 36-inch Enterprise natural gas pipeline leaked, exploded and started a fire in Johnson County, Texas when it was disturbed by workers installing poles for electrical lines. The mapping of subsurface utilities was inadequate, leading to inaccurate maps. Confusion over the location and status of the construction work led to the pipeline not being marked beforehand. These inaccuracies led to a miscommunication between the locator and the excavator, As a result, one worker was killed and seven were injured. The pipe was manufactured and installed in 1970.PHMSA Pipeline Safety-Flagged Incidents (2010-present), PHMSA Pipeline Incident Flagged Files page, https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/data-and-statistics/pipeline/pipeline-incident-flagged-files, accessed 2018.01.10. June 8 – Construction workers hit an unmarked 14-inch gas gathering pipeline near Darrouzett, Texas. Two workers were killed, and 3 others injured.Associated Press. "Natural gas line blast kills 2 in Panhandle; three others injured", Austin American-Statesman, June 9, 2010, page B8. June 12 – Red Butte Creek oil spill: A Chevron crude oil pipeline was damaged by lightning and ruptured, causing of crude to spill into Red Butte Creek in Salt Lake City, Utah. Crude then flowed into a pond in Liberty Park.
July July 5 – A landowner operating a bulldozer hit an 8-inch LPG/propane pipeline near Thomson, Georgia. Later, the propane fumes ignited, killing the adult son of the landowner, and igniting fires that destroyed a trailer house and woodlands. July 26 – The Kalamazoo River oil spill: Enbridge Energy Partners LLP (Enbridge), reported that a pipeline belonging to Enbridge burst in Marshall, Michigan. Enbridge had numerous alarms from the affected Line 6B, but controllers thought the alarms were from phase separation, and the leak was not reported to Enbridge for 17 hours. Enbridge estimates over of crude oil leaked into Talmadge Creek, a waterway that feeds the Kalamazoo River, whereas EPA reports over 1,139,569 gallons of oil have been recovered as of November 2011. On July 27, 2010, an Administrative Order was issued by U.S. EPA requiring the performance of removal actions in connection with the facility. The Order requires Enbridge to immediately conduct removal of a discharge or to mitigate or prevent a substantial threat of a discharge of oil and to submit a Work Plan for the cleanup activities that was to include a Health and Safety Plan, as required by 29 CFR 1910.120 (HAZWOPER). In 2012, the NTSB later cited known but unrepaired cracks and external corrosion as the cause.
August August 10 – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Justice Department announced that Plains All American Pipeline and several of its operating subsidiaries have agreed to spend approximately $41 million to upgrade of crude oil pipeline operated in the United States. The settlement resolves Plains' Clean Water Act violations for ten crude oil spills in Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Kansas, and requires the company to pay a $3.25 million civil penalty. August 17 – Smell from a mixture of gasoline and diesel fuel were detected in Hammond, Indiana. The source was from a leaking Amoco/BP pipeline in the area, and about 38,000 gallons of the mixture was released. About 5,000 gallons of the spillage was not recovered. The cause was external corrosion to the pipeline. August 24 – A gas compressor station explosion in Shongaloo, Louisiana injured one worker. August 25 – A construction crew installing a gas pipeline in Roberts County, Texas hit an unmarked pipeline, seriously burning one man. August 27 – An LPG pipeline leaked in Gilboa, New York, forcing the evacuation of 23 people. The cause was stress corrosion cracking. There were no injuries or ignition.
September September 9 San Bruno pipeline explosion: A 30-inch diameter high pressure natural gas pipeline exploded in San Bruno, California, a suburb of San Francisco. The blast destroyed 38 homes and damaged 120 more. More than a hundred people were evacuated. Eight died and at least 50 were injured. Ten acres of brush also burned. Later, PG&E was unable to supply the California Public Utilities Commission with documents on how PG&E established pressure limits on some of its gas transmission pipelines. It was also revealed that this pipeline had 26 leaks between Milpitas and San Francisco during the time of 1951 to 2009, with some of the leak causes listed in records as "unknown". Later hydrostatic testing of the pipeline that failed found a pinhole leak, and a previously damaged section blew out. The pipe was manufactured in 1949.PHMSA Pipeline Safety-Flagged Incidents (2010-2017), www.phmsa.dot.govdata-and-statisticspipelinepipeline-incident-flagged-files, accessed 2017.12.29. A 20-inch diameter Columbia Gas Transmission Company pipeline failed in Lawrence County, Kentucky. While there was no fire or evacuations, the condition of this uncoated, non-cathodic protected, unknown grade pipeline caused PHMSA to enter into a Consent Order to eventually replace this pipeline. September 28 – A repair crew was working on a corroded gas pipe in Cairo, Georgia, when the line exploded. One crew member was killed, and three others burned.
October October 11 – Equipment failure on Centurion Pipeline caused it to fail in Levelland, Texas, releasing about 428,000 gallons of crude oil. October 15 – A natural gas pipeline under construction in Grand Prairie, Texas was running a cleaning pig without a pig "trap" at the end of the pipe. The 150 pound pig was expelled from the pipeline with enough force to fly , and crash through the side of a house. No one was injured.
November