Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by DJG on June 7, 2010 at 11:45

Correct, Seems that the work crew installing the electrical poles may have been given inaccurate co-ordinates and hit the transmission line.

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Permalink Reply by BirdDawg, plain ole' idiot on June 7, 2010 at 13:52

Prior to any excavation or any type construction (such as setting new poles) a call should be made to locate ALL utilities. If the company that was doing the work made that request, it is not their fault. If the utilities were located prior to this construction, then apparently they were marked in the wrong place.

Like ShaleGeo said, not an E & P problem.

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Permalink Reply by DJG on June 7, 2010 at 14:18

One question to consider is with the amount of production in the region increasing and with the supporting pipeline infrastructure growing exponentially just how accurate are the existing surveys detailing where that pipeline infrastructure is located?

Is this a case where the backhoe opperator was (tragically) negligent and failed to check where they were digging - or was it a scenario where the survey had the lines location incorrectly marked or omitted?

If the latter, who is responsible for assuring that all existing lines are surveyed and marked correctly and that all of the new lines being added daily get updated in this database?

As much as it is easy to write this one off as non-E&P related, there are potential scenarios where this might not be a situation where only the backhoe opperator is at fault.

If there was not an accurate reporting and surveying of where those transmission lines were located, then it does - ultimately - become an issue that falls upon the industry and upon the regulatory agencies responsible for making sure that the survey data is properly updated and correct.

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Permalink Reply by BirdDawg, plain ole' idiot on June 7, 2010 at 14:27

D. Gaar,
Like I said, just my opinion, you get the utilities marked. The most important of the utilities is the gas tranmission lines. Generally there are no "coordinates" or relying on a "survey". The pipeline company probes the pipe and marks the exact location of the pipeline. In a lot of cases on newer pipelines, they have a location wire attached to the pipe. Then you can attach a line marker to the location wires and readily locate the pipeline. But usually when any excavation is done near any (or especially a MAJOR pipeline), the line is probed and marked as near to exactly as possible.

Next question, did the company setting the pole request a utitlty location marking?

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Permalink Reply by Les Bamburg on June 7, 2010 at 15:22

DG, the Enterprise Texas Pipeline is a major Texas intrastate pipeline that moves natural gas between West Teaxs and the Dallas-Fort Worth Region. You can see where the system passes thru Johnson County on the attached map.

Attachments:

• Enterprise Texas Pipeline.pdf, 114 KB

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Permalink Reply by BirdDawg, plain ole' idiot on June 7, 2010 at 15:28

Les,
Thanks for your info.
What do you think about drilling for power poles or excavation in close proximity to this "major Texas intrastate pipline"?

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Permalink Reply by Les Bamburg on June 7, 2010 at 15:37

BD, I do not have details but it is common for major pipelines and power transmission systems to share right-of-ways. I am surprised that a work crew penetrated such a major natural gas pipeline but it is sure to be heavily investigated and should identify what went wrong.

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Permalink Reply by Randy on June 7, 2010 at 15:41

Sounds like human error... I can't believe they wouldn't do a OneCall before doing any work near such a major line. In which case it would be clear negligence... As other have stated, either way, not the pipelines fault.

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Permalink Reply by BirdDawg, plain ole' idiot on June 7, 2010 at 16:10

Randy and Les,
If you do not do a OneCall in Louisiana prior to any construction, you are subject to a $25,000 fine, plus any additional costs. Not sure about the law in Texas.

$25,000 fine is chicken feed against the additional cost (and liability) in this case.

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