Pipeline falls into Toutle River
Saturday, November 11, 2006 12:22 AM PST
By Barbara LaBoe
Printable version
E-mail this articleA 300- to 400-foot section of the Williams Northwest natural gas pipeline dropped into the Toutle River near Castle Rock when the river bank gave way Thursday and is now bobbing in the water. Pipeline officials say it poses no immediate danger and repairs are under way.
The exposed pipe has not ruptured but is moving as it is buffeted by river water. The pipe needs to be protected from any debris in the rain-swollen river, and workers have reduced the pressure to guard against any explosions if the pipe was damaged, said Williams spokeswoman Michele Swaner.
Crews will work on the pipeline around the clock throughout the weekend, she said.
Swaner stressed that there's no reason to fear an explosion because the pipe has not ruptured and natural gas is not explosive on its own and would dissipate in the air if released. A spark of any kind near a natural gas leak, though, can cause an explosion. Cowlitz County emergency crews established a 300-foot perimeter around the exposed pipe Thursday night, but all of that was on county-owned land so no precautionary evacuations were needed.
Short-term, crews have dropped the pressure in the pipeline from about 800 pounds per square inch to 400 pounds to further protect the pipe if it were hit by debris. Also, they likely will use smaller, 16-inch pipe to hook into unexposed portions of the 30-inch pipeline and bypass the section in the water. Service has not been disrupted because natural gas is still flowing through the pipes, Swaner said.
Long-term, Swaner said they'll have to replace all of the exposed pipe and may well move that entire section of pipeline because of on-going worries about the integrity of the river bank.
"What really concerns us is the fact that the bank is still eroding," Swaner said.
The pipeline is on land east of Interstate 5 and near the Toutle River Road and Old Pacific Highway North. It is part of a 4,000-mile-long pipeline that carries fuel to Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah and Colorado. The pipeline portion near Castle Rock used to run along the river, but the bank gave way and the pipeline is now resting in the water.
If the company does decide to reroute the pipeline, surveys would be done and landowners would be contacted, Swaner said. Right now, she said the company is focused on ensuring the public's safety and maintaining service to its customers.
There were two fiery explosions in Cowlitz County in the 1995 and 1997 due to ruptured gas lines near Castle Rock and Kalama, but Swaner said this situation, while serious, is different.
"That was a pipeline rupture and this is not the case now," she said. When a pipe is broken or ruptured, control crews notice a drop in pressure. That has not happened this time, Swaner said.
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