Inspectors to dig into Appomattox pipeline

Portions of a natural gas pipeline that run parallel to one that exploded in Appomattox last fall will be unearthed and inspected in the coming weeks.

Williams Gas Co. will begin digging up about 12 places along the line for inspection in hopes of bringing the line back up to full pressure, said Chris Stockton, spokesman for the company. This line, called the C line, is one of three that run side by side through Appomattox County carrying natural gas from the Gulf of Mexico to New York.

The pressure on the C line had been reduced from its normal level of 800 pounds per square inch to 640 psi after the explosion of its neighboring line on Sept. 14, 2008.

The natural gas it released blew into a fireball that scorched an area 1,125 feet in diameter, according to preliminary findings in the federal investigation. Five area residents were injured and two houses were leveled and several others damaged in the blast.

Pressure was restored on the line that exploded, the B line, in December and on the other line, the A line, the month before.

“We are bringing in equipment and preparing to mobilize for our C line inspections, which will likely begin next week,” Stockton said.

The inspection process should last about three weeks, he said.

“The inspections involve excavating certain areas of pipe and visually inspecting the pipe’s protective coating,” he said. “If a section of pipe needs to be replaced, then we will cut it out and replace it. There are about a dozen identified areas where we will be performing these inspections across the county.”

Once this process is complete, Williams will request approval from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration to fully restore pressure to the line.

About 2,500 feet of the B line was replaced following the explosion.
The investigation into the failure revealed that the more than 50-year-old pipe was corroding from the outside, and that thinning wasn’t fully revealed by the tools used to examine the pipes.

The natural gas pipelines that run through Appomattox are part of the Transco line, which extends from the Gulf of Mexico to New York, including 858 miles in Virginia.