Nearby pipelines still working after Appomattox explosion

APPOMATTOX — More than a day after a natural gas pipeline explosion destroyed two homes and injured five people, nearby residents expressed concern that two pipelines are still flowing gas through their community.

The cause of the explosion is still under investigation.

Three pipelines run side-by-side between the charred and shattered brick remains of the homes of Linda Jamerson and Calvin Childress along Kelly Creek and Oakville roads in Appomattox County.

Two pipelines are still funneling gas, said Larry Hjalmarson, vice president of operations for Williams gas company, which runs those lines.

The third, situated in the middle, is 47 feet from one pipe and 25 feet from the other. It failed early Sunday, sparking an explosion that ignited the gas and sent a fireball hundreds of feet in the air. The blast, which created an almost 50-foot crater, destroyed two homes, damaged at least six others and injured five people.

Michelle Marcellino said her children don’t want to return home. One cried, telling her, “Mommy, I don’t want to be here.” Her 6-year-old daughter can’t sleep.

“I’m scared it will happen again,” Marcellino said.

Hjalmarson told the more than 100 people gathered in the auditorium at Appomattox County High School that the lines still in operation are being thoroughly inspected for damage and are running at lower pressure than normal.

Still, some residents questioned how safe it is to move their families back into the homes that neighbor the pipelines built more than 50 years ago.

The A line was inspected for problems in 2000. The C line was inspected early this year. The B line — the one that failed — had just been inspected, but Williams’ officials had not been able to analyze the results when the explosion happened.

“All I can do is assure you that we are operating these pipelines with safety in mind,” Hjalmarson said. “We will not restore full service until we are confident that the whole thing is safe.”

The B line is a 30-inch pipe that operates at about 800 pounds per square inch of pressure. No leak has been detected in that line prior to 7:44 a.m. Sunday, said Stuart Roach, district manager for Williams.

While work was done in the area in recent weeks, Hjalmarson said it was performed on the C line to replace some anti-corrosive material in the pipe.

The Pipeline Safety Improvement Act of 2002 requires all pipelines to be inspected by Dec. 17 this year for high consequence areas and 2012 for all other sections of pipeline. All pipelines must be re-inspected on a seven-year cycle.

“I’ve been out there walking along them,” said Hjalmarson. “We will inspect the A and C lines. We will expose those lines and take a look at them. … We do what is needed to keep it safe.”

Bobby Wingfield, director of public safety for Appomattox County, said more than 600 calls came into Appomattox’s 911 center Sunday in the wake of the explosion.

“I understand the magnitude of this,” Wingfield said. “It is a catastrophic event. They are going to make amends. I live in this community too and I understand they are trying to do the best they can.”

Jeff Pounds, spokesman for Williams, said the company handles everything from the extraction, to the processing and distribution of natural gas. The company is based in Tulsa, Okla.

The Transco Pipeline, which includes the lines that run through Appomattox, covers 10,500 miles from Texas to New York. It is one of three pipelines that the company operates and by far the largest.

Compressor stations are situated every 75 to 100 miles along these pipelines to boost the pressure lost while moving the gas through the pipeline. One such station is in Appomattox.

“I understand why people are concerned, but in 50 years of operation, this is the first rupture that resulted in the injury to the public,” Pounds said. “Right now our first concern is with the families and the public affected.”

Pounds said investigators from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline Hazardous Materials Safety Administration and Williams company have been on site investigating the cause of the explosion.

It is too soon, he said, to know just what caused the explosion and how much damage it caused.

“We know we can never make this right and erase it,” Hjalmarson said.

None of the homes impacted in the explosion have been examined structurally, Hjalmarson said.

Vicky Phelps, spokeswoman for Appomattox County, said with the exception of three families, all the families that were evacuated were allowed to return home Monday morning.

“The Williams people have been in and out all day,” said Deputy Todd Craft, of the Appomattox County Sheriff’s Office. “The investigation takes precedence now.”

Oakville Road is closed and will remain that way until engineers with the Virginia Department of Transportation deem the road safe, Wingfield said. The flames destroyed the asphalt on the road and that needs to be assessed before the road can reopen.

Power is still out for more than 40 residents. Other utilities were also impacted.

Williams has provided housing for families who still can’t return home. The Central Virginia Community Services Board is providing counseling to those traumatized by the explosion.

The immediate scene remains closed while federal investigators and investigators with the Williams company work to determine the cause of the pipeline rupture.

“They don’t want the area disturbed at all for the investigation,” Phelps said.

Numbers provided by the Pipeline Safety Trust from 1986 through 2008 showed 11 non-public injuries and $43 million in damages along the entire length of the Transco line. Most of the failures were caused by material defects, corrosion or outside forces.