1. Pipeline Safety: Lessons Learned From Emergency Incidents
Western Regional Gas
Conference 2010
Pipeline Safety: Lessons
Learned From Emergency
Incidents
Ronald Six
Senior Utility Consultant
Loss Control Division
AEGIS Insurance Services, Inc.
201/
Good Morning everyone and thank you for the opportunity to participate in your association meeting.
As you heard I work for the insurance company but I don’t consider myself an insurance man. I am a gasman having spent my entire first career in gas distribution operations. Now I get to travel around the country and visit gas companies and talk with good gas company people like yourselves about gas operations. This job is more like a hobby than work.

2. Associated Electric Gas Insurance Services
A E G I S
Associated Electric Gas Insurance Services
Before I begin my presentation, some of you may not be familiar with AEGIS, so let me take just a moment to tell you who AEGIS is.
AEGIS is an acronym that stands for Associated Electric and Gas Insurance Services.

3. AEGIS Background Information
Utility Mutual Insurance Company
(member owned)
Formed in 1975 by 22 gas utilities
Electric Utilities began joining in 1977
490 members – 95% utilities and related energy
AEGIS is a mutual insurance company formed nearly 30 years ago.
Discuss slide.

4. AEGIS Policy Types/Coverages
Excess General Liability
Directors & Officers
Employment Practices Liability
Excess Workers’ Compensation
Professional Liability
Financial Products
Property
Other coverages through alliances

5. AEGIS Loss Control Division
Mission
To assist AEGIS Member companies maintain effective and safe operating systems while reducing their overall long-term cost of risk, by developing and providing products, services and training specifically for this purpose.
The mission of the Loss Control Division is to assist AEGIS Member companies maintain effective and safe operating systems while reducing their overall long-term cost of risk, by developing and providing products, services and training specifically for this purpose.

6. AEGIS Loss Control Division
Products/ Services:
Risk Assessments
Self-Administered Risk Assessment Guides
Occupational Safety & Workers’ Compensation Program Assessment
Training - Gas Operator
* First Response
* Investigation of Gas Related Incidents
* Leakage Program Management
* Gas Leak Pinpointing
* Customer Contact
* Utility Locating
These are some of the products and services offered by Aegis: 1) Risks Assessments are conducted by experienced utility personal typically having 20+ years of industry experience. Based on claims Aegis has reviewed over the years, we conduct these assessments with the goal of reducing risk by evaluating company policies & procedures. 2) SARA Guide is useful if you want to review the topics covered during this assessment and at the beginning of each topic segment in the guide, is a description of a claim and the amount the claim was settled for. 3) Occupational Safety Review Program includes a review of how a company is complying with OSHA regulations, reviewing its Occupational safety programs & Occupational Accidents. 4) Training – teaches procedures to be followed when responding to a leak call. 5) Incident Investigation – Discusses actions to be taken by a company upon arrival at an incident. 6) Leak Program Management – targeted toward personnel supervising a leak management program. It reviews types of leak surveys, survey schedules, equipment, and proper documentation. 7) Gas leak pinpointing. 8) Customer Contact – Course for personnel who answer the phone and dispatch odor complaints. Focus of the course is on questions to ask, and proper response to provide. And there is also a review of scenarios. 9) We also offer a Utility Locating Course.

7. AEGIS Loss Control Division
Lessons Learned Video Series
* Too Little…. Too Late
* Pressure Point
* The Smell of Danger
* A Toxic Tale
* Hidden Danger
* First Line of Defense
* Recognizing and Avoiding the Hazards (Volume I & II)
* Emergency Exercises “A Look in the Mirror”
* People Don’t Know What They Don’t Know
* Public Safety – Communication and Emergency Response
Anatomy of a Gas Leak (A Collaborative Approach)
Lessons Learned Video Series- These are 10 minute videos that re-enact major losses that have occurred on gas systems. The focus is on critical points to prevent similar future incidents. 1) Too Little Too Late – A contractor hits a supposedly abandoned service stub, and results in an explosion 21/2 hrs after the gas company arrives. 2) Pressure Point Overpressurization of a low pressure system that results in building fires and fatalities. 3) The Smell of Danger - Destruction of a home that occurs 2 hrs after the gas company responded twice to odor complaints. 4) A Toxic Tale – Death of a house sitter caused by CO poisoning 5) Hidden Danger – Depicts ignition of blowing gas by the discharge of static electricity resulting in a fatality of a gas company employee. 6) First Line of Defense – The gas company’s call center representative fails to recognize a hazardous condition a customer was trying to describe. 7) Recognizing and Avoiding the Hazards – Video for Training Emergency Responders. Good for Fire Dept and Police Dept presentations. The first video describes the gas delivery system, what actions first responders should take when arriving at an natural gas emergency, use of CGIs, carbon monoxide indicators and symtoms ( moisture on windows and headaches) Volume II covers natural gas basics, use of a CGI, shutoff cell phones and pagers, how to handle situations involving gas leaking indoors or outdoors, or gas burning indoors or outdoors, static electricity, preplan for fires in industrial Complexes, importance of notifying the gas company, position vehicles upwind, a reminder that a main pulled in the street may cause a service leak near a house foundation, LNG leaks and fires (don’t put water on LNG – let it slowly vaporize and dissipate). 8) A Look in the Mirror – Assists company’s in setting up and conducting an emergency exercise. 9) People Don’t Know What They Don’t Know – Hot tap scenario and a scenario where a furnace is emitting carbon monoxide. 10) Public Safety – Communication and Emergency Response – Shows safety issues first responders should be aware of when entering a customer’s premise. 9) Employee Public Safety Awareness Program is a safety awareness program for electric utilities.10) Consultation – You can take advantage of the services of a Utility Consultant for 10 days, at no charge, to assist with any loss mitigation activity. Such as helping you set up or review an emergency drill, review changes to your O&M plan, or reviewing your public safety program.

8. AEGIS Loss Control Division
First Responder Emergency Response Tip Cards
Hazardous Conditions (Red Tag) Procedure
Employee Public Safety Awareness Program
Webinars (3-4 year)
Investigating Gas & Electric Incidents workshops (5+)
Information regarding the dates and registration for these webinars and workshops can be found at:
1) First Responder Emergency Response Tip Cards – memory aid for actions First Rsponders should take upon arrival either at a gas explosion, outside damage or dig in, inside gas leak investigation, outside gas leak investigation, or carbon monoxide investigation. Information can be downloaded from our website to create your own company tags. 2) Red Tag procedure – This is a suggested procedure that company’s may want to consider if a company is re-evaluating its red tag procedure. 3) Employee Public Safety Awareness Program is a safety awareness program for electric utilities. 4) Consultation – You can take advantage of the services of a Utility Consultant for 10 days, at no charge, to assist with any loss mitigation activity. Such as helping you set up or review an emergency drill, review changes to your O&M plan, or reviewing your public safety program.

9. Where Things Go Wrong Complacency Tunnel Vision Shortcuts
“We’ve done this job dozens of times”
Tunnel Vision
Not focusing on the overall picture
Shortcuts
Not following the approved procedures
Lack of training/inexperience
Have never experienced this situation
The above highlight the importance of using Mock Emergency Drills and Emergency Response pre-planning

10. Odor Complaints

11. Odor complaint investigations …begins with a call
(What does your Public Awareness Program advise your customer to do?)

12. The Key Is Listening
Not every call is a gas emergency, however, calls involving an odor complaint should be considered an emergency.
Listen to the customer and ask questions in order to gather the information needed

13. 20% Gas In Sewer Manhole
2” Steel 53PSI
OAK STREET
CURB LINE

14. Resident calls @ 3:34 pm Gas odor50 54 46
First Responder smells a very strong odor of gas in the area as he arrives (4:05 pm). Checks sewer manholes in the street and finds 20% gas in each manhole. Calls for a crew.
2” Steel 53 PSI Gas Main
Oak Street
20% Gas in sewer manholes 47 55 53 43

15. 46 50 54
Checks inside #46 and finds 0% gas in atmosphere, but gets a
10% gas reading at electric service entrance to building in the basement. Starts taking additional readings outside (next 26 min)
2” Steel 53 PSI Gas Main
Oak Street
20% Gas
Electric service box
Solid Cover
20% Gas in sewer manholes
90% Gas
@ curb 47 55 53 43

16. 46 50 54
Gas mechanics arrive and they lift the cover on the electric service box and
They get a 80% gas in air reading. (4:40)
2” Steel 53 PSI Gas Main
Oak Street
20% Gas
Gas mechanic arrives, lifts
the cover and gets 80% gas.
20% Gas in sewer manholes
90% Gas
@ curb 47 55 53 43

17. Oak Street 46 54 50 55 47 53 43 Electric service box 90% Gas 80% Gas
Odor complaint call 3:34pm
Dispatched at 3:55
Arrived at location 4:05
Called for crew 4:10
Checks inside of #46 4:15
Checks outside next 26 min
Gas mechanics arrive and find 80% gas in electric service box. 4:42
Explosion at #50 occurs at 4:50pm
Cause of the leak attributed to a short in electric service cables caused current to flow onto the steel gas main where they crossed. Arcing created holes in both the electric conduit and the gas main. 46 50 54
Explosion occurs at 4:50pm, a forty
year old woman was killed others injured.
2” Steel 53 PSI Gas Main
Oak Street
20% Gas
Electric service box
80% Gas
90% Gas
@ curb
20% Gas in sewer manholes 47 55 53 43

18. Hole Made When Shorted Electric Cable Arced Over To Gas Main

20. Evaluating The Leak
Where is the gas? w h e r is
the
gas?

21. Evaluating The Leak W H E R
here is the gas?
ow much is there?
xtent of hazard (migration)
elation to other structures
valuate/evacuate

22. “Centering” = Where is the Gas?

23. Be Careful – “Don’t make a leak, looking for a leak.”
Centering The Leak
Probe holes must be of sufficient depth
Test all available openings
“Zero out” N-S-E-W
You must have sufficient information to make a good judgement
Be Careful – “Don’t make a leak, looking for a leak.”

24. Incident (2005)
A homeowner contacted the gas company stating that “she smelled a very strong odor of gas in the vicinity of her gas meter”.
The gas company sent a service technician to investigate the odor complaint. Upon arrival, the technician noticed the smell of gas as soon as he got out of his truck.
He decided to put a bar hole down near the riser to check the soil atmosphere. The temperature was around 5 degrees and there was frost in the ground making it difficult to make the test hole.
Read from slide.
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25. Incident (2005)
Cont’d.
After a lot of effort, he was able to get a test hole in the ground below the frost layer. When he pulled his probe bar out of the ground, gas started blowing up through the test hole. The escaping gas was making considerable noise so he put the probe bar back in the hole. He ran back to the truck to get a shovel to dig the plastic service up in order to squeeze it off and stop the leak.
As he was attempting to expose the service, approximately 30 minutes after the line was hit, there was an ignition and two people inside of the home were slightly injured.
Read from slide.
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26. What Happened?
Bar testing and checking the soil atmosphere for gas is a crucial part of the overall odor complaint investigation. It is necessary to make the test hole a sufficient depth in order to obtain an accurate reading, thus getting below the frost layer is essential.
In this case, the bar should have been left out of the bar hole to allow the gas to “vent” and notifying the occupants to leave the house until the line could be shut off.
The main priority is Public Safety!
Read the slide.
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27. Our main job is not
finding & fixing leaks
Our main job is
public safety

28. Odorization Issues

29. Odorization must be continuous (every day)
and it must be adequately documented!

32. Incident (2000) Company Retention $200K
While parking the family car in his attached garage, a retired 83 year-old physician lost control of his automobile and struck the concrete block foundation that supported and elevated his home’s heating and hot water equipment.
The impact moved the boiler about one foot from its original position. The damage was severe enough to warrant an inspection, so the doctor called his regular plumbing and heating service provider who agreed to check the unit that afternoon.
The doctor then called the local gas company and explained what had happened.
Natural gas leaking from a service line migrated into the basement of a neighborhood bar resulting in an explosion which killed six people, injured two others, completely leveled the building, and damaged several nearby structures and vehicles. The ¾-inch polyethylene line, which supplied gas to the building, had developed a circumferential crack just beyond the compression coupling where it attached to a 4-inch steel main.
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33. AEGIS Incurred $2.7 Million
Incident (2000) Cont’d. Company Retention $200K
Cont’d.
He was asked whether he smelled gas. He answered that he did not. The company’s call center representative then explained that the company would not examine the damage unless he smelled gas, but if he did, he should please call back and they would gladly send someone out to his home.
90 minutes later the home exploded and the doctor and his wife were severely burned. Less than one month later, suffering from severe burns over most of his body, the doctor died.
Natural gas leaking from a service line migrated into the basement of a neighborhood bar resulting in an explosion which killed six people, injured two others, completely leveled the building, and damaged several nearby structures and vehicles. The ¾-inch polyethylene line, which supplied gas to the building, had developed a circumferential crack just beyond the compression coupling where it attached to a 4-inch steel main.
CLICK
AEGIS Incurred $2.7 Million

34. What Happened?
At times, customers and the general public seek assistance from gas utilities for situations that are not commonly encountered. Such was the case in this unusual incident. The call center representative did not recognize the potential severity of a situation involving an automobile striking the heating equipment.
Listening to callers and their circumstances is critical to effectively achieve the ultimate goal of emergency response and the protection of life and property.
The doctor, being 83 years old may have lost much of his sense of smell with age.
The call center is the “First Line of Defense”
Read the slide.
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35. Handling Grade 1 Leaks

36. OLD MAIN STREET #400 #402 #404 30% Gas @ Foundation Wall
90% Curb
Concrete Sidewalk
8” CI UP
OLD MAIN STREET
#400
#402
#404
This slide is used for determining priorities when a Grade 1 leak is encountered by either the First Responder or the crew. Obviously this is a Grade 1 leak a First Responder has called for a crew to pinpoint and repair. When the crew arrives, the First Responder is still on site. What should the crew leader ask the First Responder? Have you checked inside? This by itself is a Grade 1 condition, if there is no gas penetrating the foundation consider having the First Responder continue to monitor the atmosphere until something can be done to get the gas away from the foundation. If there is gas showing up in the inside atmosphere, obviously the main job is not finding and fixing the leak it is Public Safety and evacuation. This is also a scenario where various techniques such as vent holes, soil purgers etc. should be discussed as to their proper use and location in order to reduce the hazard while the leak is being pinpointed and repaired.

37. Types of Soil Purgers/Aerators

38. Never purge near foundation
#404
#402
#400
Never purge near foundation
30% Foundation Wall
Concrete Sidewalk
90% Curb
Purge Away From Foundation
This will draw the gas away from the building and block the gas from migrating to the foundation wall
8” CI UP
OLD MAIN STREET

39. Response To “Dig-Ins”

40. #6 ASH STREET Sewer Ditch Figure # 1 Gas Meter 4” Steel Main 35 PSI
A contractor has snagged the 1” steel service and bowed it in the ditch. A small hole was made in the line and gas is blowing in the ditch.
What would be your actions?

41. Incident (1998) Company Retention $5M
A contractor working on a highway reconstruction project struck the service line to a house, causing the service line to separate from a compression coupling near the gas main.
The gas company was called at 11:15 am; a serviceman arrived on the scene at 11:45 and immediately called for a crew. Thinking the gas was venting out into the street, he sat in his truck for 20 minutes until the crew arrived. Although the damage location was only 32 feet from the incident site, no attempt was made to check nearby buildings with a combustible gas indicator for the presence of migrating gas.
Natural gas leaking from a service line migrated into the basement of a neighborhood bar resulting in an explosion which killed six people, injured two others, completely leveled the building, and damaged several nearby structures and vehicles. The ¾-inch polyethylene line, which supplied gas to the building, had developed a circumferential crack just beyond the compression coupling where it attached to a 4-inch steel main.
CLICK

42. AEGIS Incurred $15 Million
Incident (1998) Company Retention $5M
Cont’d.
The leaking gas migrated to the house where an explosion occurred killing an elderly woman and severely burning 3 children, the explosion occurred at 1:00 pm. The children received burns to over 45% of their bodies with most of the burns occurring in the facial areas.
In the settlement the contractor also paid more than $15,000, in claims.
Natural gas leaking from a service line migrated into the basement of a neighborhood bar resulting in an explosion which killed six people, injured two others, completely leveled the building, and damaged several nearby structures and vehicles. The ¾-inch polyethylene line, which supplied gas to the building, had developed a circumferential crack just beyond the compression coupling where it attached to a 4-inch steel main.
CLICK
AEGIS Incurred $15 Million

43. Public Safety What Happened?
First Responder failed to recognize the gravity of the situation and made the assumption that the pulled line was leaking in only one place.
The First Responder’s main job on a reported gas leak is to determine “Where is the gas?” and “Is it affecting people or property?” The appropriate way of determining this is with a combustible gas indicator (CGI) – Test Don’t Guess!
Our first priority must always be focused on
Public Safety
Read the slide.
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44. Anatomy Of A Gas Leak A Collaborative Approach
CLICK on the remote to start video.
Click two times in the blue area after video is done to advance slide.

45. AEGIS Investigating Natural Gas Incident Workshops
2010 INGI Workshops:
Unitil Portsmouth, NH January 27, 2010
Southwest Gas Las Vegas, NV March 16, 2010
AMEREN Springfield, IL May 19, 2010
AMEREN St. Louis, MO May 20, 2010
Puget Sound Energy Bellevue, WA Oct 12, 2010
Entergy New Orleans, LA Feb 17, 2011
To register go to the AEGIS website:

46. AEGIS Insurance Services, Inc. Thank You Please visit our website @ www.aegislink.com
Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today and to participate in your conference.
The Loss Control Division is here to contribute to your continued success.
Thank you.
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