National Transportation Safety Board Pipeline Accident Report: Natural GasPipeline Rupture and Subsequent Explosion St Cloud, Minnesota, December 11, 1998

摘要

About 10:50 a.m. on December 11, 1998, while attempting to install a utility polesupport anchor in a city sidewalk in St. Cloud, Minnesota, a communications network installation crew struck and ruptured an underground, 1-inch-diameter, high-pressure plastic gas service pipeline, thereby precipitating a natural gas leak. About 39 minutes later, while utility workers and emergency response personnel were taking preliminary precautions and assessing the situation, an explosion occurred. As a result of the explosion, 4 persons were fatally injured; 1 person was seriously injured; and 10 persons, including 2 firefighters and 1 police officer, received minor injuries. Six buildings were destroyed. Damage assessments estimated property losses at $399,000. The major safety issues identified in this investigation are the adequacy of the safety and emergency procedures used by Cable Constructors, Inc., crews when working in the vicinity of underground facilities and the adequacy of St. Cloud Fire Department procedures and training for responding to natural gas leaks.