One Appomattox pipeline may be pumping soon

APPOMATTOX — In the coming days, the company that operates three natural gas pipelines through Appomattox expects to get federal approval to restore one of those lines to normal service.

After a rupture and subsequent explosion of one of the pipelines leveled two houses, damaged several others and injured five people last month, those who neighbor that line are still concerned about the safety of the three lines running through their community.

Williams Gas held a meeting Thursday to try to assure Appomattox residents that their experts have inspected the line and believe it to be safe.

“Because of this accident your trust is broke and your confidence has been shattered,” said Larry Hjalmarson, vice president of operations for Williams. “We want to restore that trust and confidence. … I recognize your trust is broken and we want to restore your trust with day after day, month after month, year after year of safe operations.”

Williams issued a letter Monday to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration asking for the federal regulatory agency’s permission to increase the pressure on its A line, said Christopher Stockton, the company’s spokesman.

“We want to reassure you that we are doing our jobs, that Williams and Transco will comply with all our corrective action orders prior to all these lines going into service,” said Alex Dankanrich, a representative of the federal regulatory agency.

“We required of Williams/Transco to have a plan prior to putting the A line to full pressure. We are reviewing that plan. Upon our review, if we agree with the plan, we will allow Transco to operate at full pressure. They will also have to submit a plan for the B and C lines.”

In the wake of the explosion of the B line, the pressure on lines A and C was reduced from its normal operating pressure of 800 pounds per square inch to 670 psi, then even lower after a corrective action order was issued from the regulatory agency.

After inspecting the A line, Williams officials say it is safe to return to service.

“We are doing everything we possibly can on A line to know that it is safe,” said John Batchelder, pipeline integrity manager for Williams. “We plan to do another leak inspection following returning (the) line to normal pressure. … We have a high level of confidence that we didn’t leave anything behind that will cause a problem.”

Batchelder said that by returning the A line to full service, the company can then start focusing on the B line, the one that exploded.

The portion of the B line that ruptured has now been replaced, but Hjalmarson said company officials hope to have the line in service by January.

The B line that crosses Virginia 26 just north of the town of Appomattox failed before 8 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 14. The natural gas it released blew into a fireball that burned an area 1,125 feet in diameter, according to preliminary findings in the federal investigation.

Testing is still being done to determine what caused the line to fail, although a preliminary investigation showed some metal loss at the explosion site, according to a federal report.