Natural Gas Pipeline Explosion

This morning there was a natural gas pipeline explosion about 6 miles to the north, northeast of where I live. The explosion and resulting fires occurred around 8:30 am. The location was just across the Athens County line in Homer Township, Morgan County, Ohio.

I was not home at the time as I was already at work in Athens. I first learned of the explosion at 9:34 am through an emergency notification service called Nixle. The service is really nice and if you haven't heard of it, I recommend that you take a look at their website to see if they have coverage in your area.

The incident was originally reported to have occurred near Robinson and Hooper Ridge Roads. Various news reports now say the explosion was near 9436 and 9500 Taylor Road. Several buildings were destroyed and one woman was taken to an area hospital.

The natural gas pipeline is owned by Tennessee Gas Pipeline. I have seen conflicting news reports on the size of the line. For example, Reuters, reported it as a 25-inch high pressure gas line. The Athens News reported it as a 36-inch gas pipeline.

Of particular interest to me is that there is a natural gas pipeline across the road from my house near the ridge top - approximately 700 feet away. If you look at the "System Map" from Tennessee Gas Pipeline, it shows what looks like one pipeline coming up through Southeast Ohio.



Topographic maps such as what is available from trails.com show several pipelines running through this part of the state. The one closest to me appears to be the one that ruptured today if you follow it northward into Morgan County.

The National Pipeline Mapping System has a public map viewer. By selecting Ohio and then Athens County, I can see that there are four Tennessee Gas pipelines within about 1 mile to the west of my house - actually two on the ridge top within 700 feet.



Those two pipelines (the two on the right) travel along together using mostly the same path into Morgan County. But there are places where they split apart briefly such as where they cross my road (Mill Creek Road).

Once in Morgan County, the pipelines split apart again for a brief while.



Based on an aerial photo of today's explosion site, it appears that it is the west branch of those two pipelines that ruptured.

It will be interesting if we ever hear what caused the leak and explosion.

Update: Thursday, November 17: The Athens Messenger reports that this was a 36-inch, carbon steel pipeline that was constructed in Southeast Ohio in 1963.