Study Indicates Risk To LDC Assets Posed By Static Electricity

摘要

The danger of static electricity in natural gas distribution pipe has been well-documented by third-party industry associations and federal oversight agencies. The American Gas Association issued static electricity precautions in the Plastic Pipe Manual in 1985. It recommended external static suppression procedures as well as procedures for static suppression during purging operations. In 1988 the Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued a safety hazard information bulletin about static electricity in natural gas operations as a result of at least one fatality linked to static electricity. As recently as September 2010, the federal government's Chemical Safety Board issued urgent safety recommendations concerning purging and ignitions as a result of its investigation into the Feb. 7, 2010 Kleen Energy natural gas explosion.