List of pipeline accidents in the United States in the 1970s

The following is a list of pipeline accidents in the United States in the 1970s. 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 re-purposed 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 are at . 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.

1970 January 11 – A home exploded in Bowling Green, Kentucky, killing a man. Contractor damage to a gas line was suspected. January 17 – Workers from Buckeye Partners ignited a fire to burn off petroleum from a leaking pipeline near Warren, Ohio. The fire grew out of control for several hours, requiring 100 fire-fighters to help contain the blaze. One pipeline employee was injured. January 24 – A leaking 2-inch natural gas main exploded in Houma, Louisiana, killing two gas company workers, one firefighter, injuring 28 others, and demolishing half a block of downtown buildings. The workers were attempting to repair the gas line. February 5 – A jet fuel pipeline leaked, and contaminated 50 to 60 acres of farm and pasture land near Lakeland, Florida. Some wildlife was killed, and a small fire broke out in the fuel. April 19 – An 8-inch pipeline broke near Wauseon, Ohio, spilling Number 2 fuel oil into the Maumee River, and endangering the water supply for several cities for a time. July 15 – A 30-inch welded gas pipeline rolled into the trench and killed 20-year-old Art Greminger who had only been working since July 12. He was employed by a contractor out of Cape Girardeau, Missouri, laying the pipeline for Mississippi River Fuel Transmission Co., in more recent years called Center Point Energy.Ste. Genevieve Herald, July 1970 vol 89 issue 26. September 2 – Early in the day, residents of Jacksonville, Maryland, detected gasoline odors and noticed gasoline in a small creek flowing beneath a nearby road. Because fumes were still present in the late afternoon of September 2, a resident notified Colonial Pipeline at 6:19 p.m. about the situation. About 12 hours later, on the morning of September 3, an explosion and fire occurred in a ditch in which contractor personnel for Colonial were manually digging to further expose the pipeline and catch gasoline trickling from the ground. Five persons were injured, none fatally. The NTSB later pointed out that workers had failed to use a flammable vapor percent detector during the work. The leak point was found four days later. The failure resulted in a release of 30,186 gallons (718 barrels) of gasoline and kerosene. September 7 – A pipeline leaked thousands of gallons of gasoline onto farmland near Ontario, Oregon. Roads were closed in the area until the gasoline was removed. December 9 – A Phillips Petroleum Company propane pipeline leaked, in Franklin County, Missouri, causing the 1970 propane vapor cloud explosion in Port Hudson. The leak led to a propane cloud explosion, with a force estimated up to 50 tons of TNT. The NTSB cited past external and internal corrosion issues, and poor welds on the uncoated pipeline as concerns. December – The explosion of a 30-inch 1100 psi inlet natural gas pipeline, bringing offshore natural gas into a gas-drying plant in southern Louisiana. Two plant personnel were killed. Rupture was at a junction of a 12-inch gas line to the 30-inch main line. December 11 – A restaurant owner opened a gas line valve in New York, New York, not knowing that part of the gas line was open and unconnected. The gas in the building exploded, killing fifteen people, and injuring more than 60 others. December 17 – A Mid-Valley pipeline leaked, spilling 250,000 gallons of crude oil onto that companies' land in Dayton, Ohio. There were no injuries or fire. December 28 – A 12-inch pipeline ruptured in Jackson, Wisconsin, spilling of fuel oil into a wildlife sanctuary.

1971 A faulty valve on a 3-inch natural gas pipeline was suspected of causing a gas leak that resulted in three separate explosions, including a house explosion in Lambertville, New Jersey that killed seven people. January 27 - an explosion and fire from a gas main failure in West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania killed 4 people, and destroyed 15 homes.https://morethanthecurve.com/54th-anniversary-of-the-west-conshohocken-gas-leak-explosion-and-fire/ April 17 – A road grader hit a gas transmission pipeline in Mississippi, resulting in fatal burns to the grader operator. Later, it was found the pipeline only had 5 to 6 inches of soil cover in the area. June 5 – An ammonia pipeline failed near Floral, Arkansas, releasing 80 tons of ammonia. A 6-year-old boy had to be hospitalized, cattle were killed or blinded, and 10,000 acres of trees had leaf scorching from the ammonia. Delays were made in notifying Arkansas State Department of Pollution Control and Ecology. July 8 – A six-inch crude oil gathering pipeline ruptured near Flat Rock, Illinois. Crude oil spilled in the Embarras River, extending 10 miles along it. There were no injuries. July 30 – A Sunoco gasoline pipeline leaked 11,000 gallons of gasoline near Ambler, Pennsylvania. Gasoline fumes built up in the basements of nearby homes, but there were no injuries reported. August 20 – Around that day, a Mobil six inch crude oil pipeline leaked near Stafford, New York. About 16,800 gallons of crude oil was slowly released, evading leak detection. Some water wells in the area were at risk. October 4 – Two gas explosions occurred in North Richland Hills, Texas. Gas migrated into two homes from leaking gas pipes. November 17 – A gas company repair crew was overcome in a service vault in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Two workmen were overcome initially, and four others attempting to rescue them were also overcome by gas asphyxiation. All six died.

1972 January 7 – A huge explosion and fire occurred on a 24-inch gas transmission pipeline west of Centerville, Iowa. The fire was visible for far around. There were no injuries or major property damage. January 12 – The second pipeline leak in a month into the Tippecanoe River in Indiana on a Buckeye Pipeline company (now Buckeye Partners ) line hit on January 12. The Buckeye Pipeline was owned by the bankrupt Penn Central Railroad, preventing money from being spent on repairs. One EPA official stated "they know they have a leaky system". January 11 – A 10-inch pipeline ruptured in Clinton, Montana, spilling of diesel fuel, with some of it reaching the Clark Fork River. January 28 – The rupture of a 20-inch gas pipeline shut down most of the gas supply for Joplin, Missouri. An estimated 25,000 people were affected. January 29 – During the blowdown of a dehydrator, LPG fumes caught fire at Conway, Kansas, killing a pipeline company worker. February 2 – A Colonial Pipeline pipeline ruptured in Cobb County, Georgia, spilling about 2,000 gallons of fuel oil into the Chattahoochee River upstream of a water intake for the city of Atlanta. Much work went into keeping the spill from the water intake. There were no injuries. February 12 – A Conoco pipeline rupture spilled of diesel fuel into the Spokane River near Spokane, Washington. March 24 – A 2-inch steel gas main was pulled out of a compression coupling, at Annandale, Virginia, causing a leak. Natural gas later exploded, killing three people, injuring one other person, and, destroying two homes. May 14 – A shutdown, closed-in 8-inch pipeline owned by the Exxon Pipe Line Company ruptured near Hearne, Texas. Crude oil at an initial pressure of 530 p.s.i.g. sprayed from a 6-inch irregular split on top of the pipe. The crude oil flowed along a small stream and was dammed up 1 foot deep in a stock pond 1,800 feet from the leak. At 5 a.m., vapors from the crude oil, which continued to leak from the rupture, entered a small frame house 600 feet away and were somehow ignited. The resultant explosion killed one person, seriously burned two others, destroyed the house, melted nearby communication lines, and scorched an 1,800-foot-long area. An estimated 332,346 gallons of crude burned. June 15 – A crew was welding on a gas main in Bryan, Ohio that had been shut off, when someone inadvertently opened a valve that fed gas into that main. The gas ignited, and exploded, seriously injuring two workers. June 20 – A 12-inch diameter high-pressure propane pipeline, near Butler, Alabama, was ruptured by a road grader. A short time after the line was ruptured, a car drove into the vapor cloud. The car stalled, and trying to restart it was suspected to have ignited the vapor cloud, killing four people. August 9 – Heavy equipment ruptured a butane pipeline near Houston, Texas. One person was injured. August 15 – Two pipeline workers were injured when a lid on a pipeline pig trap blew off of a gas pipeline, near Barstow, Texas. A fire followed. September 5 – A gasoline pipeline ruptured and ignited at a Plantation Pipeline Terminal in Bremen, Georgia. For a time, there were fears the fire might spread to nearby fuel storage tanks, but the fire was limited to the pipeline. September 26 A 10-inch crude oil pipeline ruptured and burned, next to pipeline terminal, in Midland, Texas. There were no injuries reported, and 2 pick up trucks & a pipeline metering station were damaged. October 10 A crude oil spill was spotted coming from a leaking oil pipeline off of Grand Isle, Louisiana. About 8,000 barrels of crude were spilled. A Texas-New Mexico Pipeline Company crude oil pipeline ruptured near Shiprock, New Mexico, spilling of crude oil into the San Juan River, polluting it for 100 miles. Later, it was discovered that the pipeline company had increased pressure on the pipeline before the rupture to make up for an earlier pipeline shut down. October 30 – A bulldozer working on a power company construction project ruptured a gas main in Lake City, Minnesota. Leaking gas accumulated, then exploded, in a nearby variety store, killing six and injuring nine. November 15 – A 24-inch diameter natural gas pipeline rupture ejected a 30-foot section of pipe, which was followed by fire, near Abbeville, Louisiana. There were no injuries reported. November 18 – A leak in a weld on a 36-inch gas transmission pipeline in Bend, Oregon forced the shutdown of gas service to 3,000 customers.

1973 January 10 – An abandoned farm near Bellingham, Washington was coated in crude oil, when a Trans-Mountain 16-inch pipeline failed. Over 300,000 gallons of crude were recovered.