Tragedy in Johnson County, Texas
by The sound of metal hitting metal and the roar of spewing gas may have been the only warning the crew had of what was to happen. In an instance, sparks from the metal drilling bit ignited escaping gas resulting in an explosion and fire ball that could be heard and seen for more than twenty miles.
During the afternoon of June 7, 2010, a contractor working for Brazos Electrical Cooperation was drilling holes to install electrical transmission lines in Johnson County Texas. A 36-inch natural gas pipeline was known to be in the vicinity. The foreman of the drilling crew had made the mandatory call to the Texas 811 “Call Before You Dig” System several days prior to starting work at the site.
The owner of the pipeline, Enterprise Products, had been requested to mark the location of the pipeline to avoid any damage from drilling activities. After sending a field technician out to the location twice, Enterprise Products finally reported that the drilling activities described should not impact the pipeline and that Enterprise did not plan to mark the location of their pipeline that was somewhere in Johnson County.
Soon after the contractor began drilling the crew foreman sensed that something was wrong. The sound of metal hitting metal and the roar of spewing gas may have been the only warning the crew had of what was to happen. In an instance, sparks from the metal drilling bit ignited escaping gas resulting in an explosion and fire ball that could be heard and seen for miles.
The explosion killed one member of the drilling crew, injured eight other workers and set off a massive grass fire. The blast occurred west of Cleburne, Texas, near the intersection of Johnson, Somervell and Hood counties about 3 p.m. in the afternoon. It took several hours to find the badly burned body of the worker that had been killed. The blast had blown the man’s body into the air and several hundred feet away from the location of the explosion.
Witnesses reported hearing the blast as far as twenty-miles away. Volunteer and city fire department crews from Johnson, Somervell and Hood counties fought for hours to control the grass fire that had been started by the explosion.
In Texas, the Railroad Commission (RRC) regulates the pipeline industry. After the explosion, investigators from the RRC issued a 71-page report citing Enterprise for a number of “alleged” violations of state pipeline regulations. The RRC is now “negotiating” with Enterprise on penalties and fines that might be assessed.
The death of the drilling crew member was indeed a tragedy. The drilling crew had made the required call to the 811 one-call system, but the pipeline owner elected not to locate the 36-inch pipeline known to be in the vicinity. The real tragedy is the Texas RRC has to negotiate on penalties and fines that Enterprise may have to pay. Hopefully, if Enterprise is requested to locate one of their pipelines in you county they will be able to find it. A copy of the RRC investigation report on this incident may be downloaded at the following website: http://lepcnews.squarespace.com/pipeline-safety/.
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