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Natural gas pipeline explodes in eastern Ohio

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Natural gas pipeline explodes in eastern Ohio

A natural gas pipeline explosion rocked Noble County, Ohio, on Monday sending one person to the hospital with burn injuries and obliterating two homes.

A 30-inch Texas Eastern pipeline, now owned by Enbridge Inc. of Calgary, burst around 10:40 a.m. Calls began to flood into the Noble County 911 as the fire could be seen for miles.

Enbridge had shut off the valves to cut off the gas to the ruptured portion in less than an hour, said Noble County Emergency Management Director Chasity Schmelzenbach. But as the initial fireball dwindled, secondary fires engulfed the homes, barns and trees, she said.

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Ms. Schmelzenbach said emergency responders quickly figured out the source of the blast: “We’ve had enough experience that our guess was some sort of oil and gas explosion,” she said.

A year ago next week, another natural gas pipeline exploded in Noble County, Reuters notes.

The Texas Eastern pipeline involved in Monday’s blast is part of the same system that ruptured in Westmoreland County on April 29, 2016, severely burning a man. That explosion, on a 1981-vintage pipeline, was determined to have been caused by corrosion

It isn’t clear what caused Monday’s blast and likely won’t be for months.

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Enbridge issued a statement saying that the pipeline involved was built in 1952-1953 and that an in-line inspection was performed in 2012 “and no remediation was needed.”

The Texas Eastern system is a web of pipelines stretching more than 9,000 miles between Texas and Appalachia.

On its website for customers, Enbridge declared a “force majeure,” or an emergency event, on the pipeline system Monday afternoon.

“While efforts to restore this line to full capacity are underway, the estimated time of restoration is unclear at this time,” the company wrote.

Enbridge said its reports indicate two people have been injured. All impacted residents have been evacuated, the company said.

With other pipelines, well pads and compressor stations in the area, other oil and gas companies are monitoring the assets, Ms. Schmelzenbach said. So far, none have reported damage, she said.

Anya Litvak: alitvak@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1455.

First Published: January 21, 2019, 11:17 p.m.

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