The following is a list of pipeline accidents in the United States in the 1990s. It is one of several lists of U.S. pipeline accidents. See also: list of natural gas and oil production accidents in the United States.
Incidents
This is not a complete list of all pipeline accidents. For natural gas alone, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), a United States Department of Transportation agency, has collected data on more than 3,200 accidents deemed serious or significant since 1987.
A "significant incident" results in any of the following consequences: Fatality or injury requiring in-patient hospitalization. $50,000 or more in total costs, measured in 1984 dollars. Liquid releases of five or more barrels (42 US gal/barrel). Releases resulting in an unintentional fire or explosion.
PHMSA and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) post-incident data and results of investigations into accidents involving pipelines that carry a variety of products, including natural gas, oil, diesel fuel, gasoline, kerosene, jet fuel, carbon dioxide, and other substances. Occasionally pipelines are re-purposed to carry different products.Data sets of PHMSA Pipeline Safety-Flagged Incidents for 1986–2001, 2002–2009, and 2010–2017 can be downloaded from the tab by that name on the PHMSA's Pipeline Incident Flagged Files page at https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/data-and-statistics/pipeline/pipeline-incident-flagged-files , accessed 2018.01.10. PHMSA Corrective Action Orders are at https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/comm/reports/enforce/CAO_opid_0.html . PHMSA Pipeline Failure Investigation Reports are at https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/safety-reports/pipeline-failure-investigation-reports . NTSB Pipeline Accident Reports are at https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Pages/pipeline.aspx .
1990 January 2 – An ExxonMobil underwater pipeline, located at the mouth of Morse Creek, discharged approximately 567.000 gallons of No. 2 heating oil into the Arthur Kill waterway, between New Jersey, and Staten Island, New York. Later, it was disclosed that the pipeline controlling system had been giving false leak alarms before, and had automatically shut down that day, for a leak being detected, but was restarted twice after that. January 13 – A Sunoco pump facility, in Seminole County, Oklahoma, leaked about 14,700 gallons of petroleum products. February 13 – An ExxonMobil 18 inch pipeline failed near Crane, Texas, spilling 20,027 barrels of petroleum. The pipe failed from external corrosion. March 6 – A bank was destroyed in Crested Butte, Colorado from a leaking propane gas main. 3 employees were killed, and 14 others injured. A ruptured pipe coupling and a pipe separated from a coupling were found on the gas main during the investigation into the explosion. March 13 – A TEPPCO Partners propane pipeline ruptured, sending out propane vapors that later caught fire, in North Blenheim, New York. Stress from previous work done on the pipeline caused the pipeline rupture and vapor cloud that moved downhill into a town. Two people were killed, seven persons injured, 8 homes destroyed, and more than $4 million in property damage, and other costs resulted when the cloud ignited. March 30 – A Buckeye Partners 10-inch pipeline ruptured from overstress, due to a landslide in Freeport, Pennsylvania, resulting in the release of approximately of mixed petroleum products. Spilled petroleum products entered Knapp's Run, a small creek emptying into the Allegheny River and, eventually, the Ohio River. The product release resulted in extensive ground and water pollution and interrupted the use of the Allegheny River as a water supply for several communities, causing severe water shortages in those areas. Damage to the pipeline and environmental cleanup and restoration costs exceeded $12 million. A 6-hour delay in Buckeye contacting the federal National Response Center were also noted. April – A pipeline rupture spilled about 294,000 gallons of crude oil into the Sabana River, near Gorman, Texas. April 1 – A Mid-Valley crude oil pipeline failed, due to external corrosion, near Leitchfield, Kentucky. About 3,000 gallons of crude oil were spilled. April 2 – Six people were treated for injuries from explosions in Danvers, Massachusetts, sparked by gas leaks after a Boston Gas Co. worker accidentally fed high pressurized natural gas into a low-pressure system serving homes. The explosions occurred in houses and condominiums on Beaver Park Avenue and Maple, Lafayette, and Venice streets. Several injuries were reported. May 6 – A spool on a Texaco pipeline off of the Louisiana coast ruptured. of crude oil were estimated to have spilled. August 13 – A 10-inch Koch Industries pipeline failed in Linwood, Wisconsin, spilling about 7,980 gallons of gasoline, forcing 12 nearby families to evacuate, and shutting down a nearby railroad. August 29 – A private contractor laying conduit for underground power lines ruptured a pipeline that fouled a Western Branch creek with diesel fuel in Chesapeake, Virginia. Over of fuel were spilled. August 29 – A natural gas explosion and fire destroyed two row houses and damaged two adjacent houses and three parked cars in Allentown, Pennsylvania. One person was killed, and nine people, including two firefighters, were injured. A cracked gas main, that was stressed by soil erosion from a nearby broken water line, was the cause of the gas leak. November 5 – An Amoco crude oil pipeline ruptured near Ethel, Missouri on a farm, fouling over of the Chariton River. About 2,400 barrels of crude were spilled. November 8 – A Williams LPG pipeline failed in Whiteside County, Illinois, from a drain valve leak, killing 1 person and injuring 1 other.PHMSA - Data & Statistics - Distribution, Transmission & Gathering, LNG, and Liquid Accident and Incident Data November 23 – It was announced that at least 3 leaks that spilled over a thousand gallons of oil were found in a pipeline in Cerritos, California. One of the failed section of pipeline was 6 to 7 years old. December 9 – A gas system valve between one of Fort Benjamin Harrison, near Indianapolis, Indiana, gas distribution systems and a discontinued steel gas system segment was inadvertently opened, allowing natural gas to enter residential buildings that had previously received their gas from the discontinued segment. Gas accumulating in Building 1025 of Harrison Village was ignited by one of many available sources, and the resulting explosion killed 2 occupants and injured 24 other persons. One building was destroyed, and two others were damaged. December 18 – A bulldozer hit a pipeline supplying jet fuel from a West Texas refinery, to Carswell Air Force Base in Fort Worth, Texas, on December 18, spilling 20,000 gallons of jet fuel. 100 people in nearby apartments were evacuated for a time.
1991 January 2 – A crew installing a water main hit a 6-inch gas main at 450 psi of pressure in Novi, Michigan. Gas company workers were trying to install a sleeve over the failure when the gas exploded and burned, injuring 6 of the Gas Company crew. A telephone cable was also damaged, knocking out phone service for about 5-- customers. January 31 – A Mobil Company crude oil pipeline ruptured near Valencia, California, spilling up to 75,000 gallons of crude oil. The same day, a report was released showing that particular pipeline had a 99.8% chance of a leak in the next 5 years. February 5 – A backhoe hit a gas distribution line, next to apartments in Greendale, Wisconsin, causing an explosion & fire that killed 3 and injured 6 others. March 2 – Construction crews ruptured a propane pipeline, forcing the evacuation of 2,500 from several subdivisions in Richland County, South Carolina for a time. There was no fire. The break was 5 feet from a pipeline marking sign. March 3 – A Lakehead (now Enbridge) crude oil pipeline, near Grand Rapids, Minnesota, ruptured. More than 1,700,000 gallons of crude spilled onto a wetland and the Prairie River, a tributary of the Mississippi River. About 1,672,000 gallons of oil were eventually recovered. About of oil had spilled from that pipeline from the early 1970s to 1991, per Minnesota records. A resident in the area noticed the smell of oil and alerted the local fire department. Approximately 300 people living in homes near the site were evacuated for safety, but were allowed to return to their homes later in the night. March 16 – An anchor from a ship ruptured a Chevron Corporation pipeline offshore of El Segundo, California, spilling about 55,000 gallons of light oil. Wildlife was affected. June 8 – A Diamond Shamrock 10 inch crude oil pipeline ruptured in Knox City, Texas, spilling about 84,000 gallons of crude oil, with much of it entering the Brazos River. Heavy rains caused the pipeline to fail. June 24 – Excavation work at a Sunoco tank farm facility, in Berks County, Pennsylvania, caused a leak of about 12,900 gallons of petroleum products. June 27 – A bulldozer hit a Chevron Corporation crude oil pipeline near Park City, Utah. About 126,000 gallons of crude oil were spilled. June 29 – About 54,222 gallons of fuel oil and gasoline leaked from a 10-inch Koch Industries pipeline in Portage County, Wisconsin, from a 3-inch crack. A previous significant leak had occurred on this pipeline in that area the year before. Local officials urged Koch to upgrade its leak monitoring equipment, and, the Office of Pipeline Safety ordered this pipeline to be shut down until tested. Koch later replaced of that pipeline in the area. The original pipe was installed in 1988. June 30 – An Amoco pipeline failed near Denver City, Texas, spilling 28,200 barrels of petroleum. The failure was caused by internal corrosion. July 17 – Workers were removing a corroded segment of the Consumers Power Company's (CP) 10-inch transmission line pipeline in Mapleton, Michigan. As a segment of the pipeline was being removed, natural gas at 360-psig pressure exerted about 12 tons of force on an adjacent closed valve (H-143), causing it and a short segment of connected pipe to move and separate from an unanchored compression coupling. The force of the escaping gas killed one worker (a welder), injured five other workers, and collapsed a steel pit that housed valve H-143. August 27 – Contractors doing work at a Dixie Pipeline station in Sulphur, Louisiana rupture a 4-inch pipeline carrying propane, which ignited. 3 of the contractors were burned, with 2 of them needing hospitalization. August 30 – An earth mover hit a 16-inch ExxonMobil pipeline near Beaumont, Texas, causing a leak that spilled about 19,000 gallons of crude oil. Nearby businesses were evacuated. September 5 – About of crude oil spilled from a broken Amoco pipeline at a barge facility at High Island, Texas on September 5. September 7 – A Sunoco pipeline failed from external corrosion, in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. About 28,000 gallons of petroleum product was spilled. December 19 – A 36-inch Colonial Pipeline ruptured from prior excavation damage about downstream of the pipeline's Simpsonville, South Carolina, pump station. The rupture allowed more than of diesel fuel to flow into Durbin Creek, causing environmental damage that affected of waterways, including the Enoree River, which flows through Sumter National Forest. The spill also forced Clinton and Whitmire, South Carolina, to use alternative water supplies. December 28 – Two explosions in rapid succession occurred in apartment No. 3 of a two-story, eight-apartment, wood-frame structure in Santa Rosa, California. Two people were killed and three others were injured. Fire after the explosions destroyed that apartment and three other apartments in the front of the building.
1992