Explosive Gases are Threat to Public Near and Far

Highly flammable gas leak closes Delaware Memorial Bridge in both directions

From New Jersey News 12, November 25, 2018

PENNSVILLE, N.J. (AP) – A chemical leak shut down the Delaware Memorial Bridge in both directions Sunday evening, bringing traffic on a major East Coast artery to a standstill on one of the busiest travel days of the year.

The leak stems from the Delaware chemical production facility Croda Atlas Point, located near the twin suspension bridges on a major route between Washington and New York City, Holloway Terrace Fire Company Public Information Officer George Greenley said.

The leaked chemical is ethylene oxide, a highly flammable gas that is a finished product stemming from methanol, Greenley said. “If that flume would have had an ignition source it could have been catastrophic with the bridge traffic,” he said.

The bridge closed around 5 p.m. Sunday. Croda operators requested it be shut down, the Delaware River and Bay Authority tweeted.

Greenley said fire officials are waiting for pressure to dissipate in the pipes at the facility before reopening the bridge. He said the chemical is dissipating fairly quickly from the pipes and estimated the bridge could reopen in the next few hours. The state Division of Natural Resources and Environmental Control is on scene at the leak.

Traffic on both sides of the bridge was being diverted to other crossings, including the Commodore Barry Bridge to the north, causing what the authority called a “parking lot” situation to disperse to other clogged roadways.

The bridge carries Interstate 295 on eight lanes over the wide southern reaches of the Delaware River between northern Delaware and southern New Jersey. Southbound traffic from the New Jersey Turnpike also flows across it. More than 80,000 vehicles make the crossing daily, according to the authority.

Lashrecse Aird, a member of the Virginia House of Delegates, was stuck in the bridge traffic on her way home to Virginia from New York. The Thanksgiving commute usually takes her six hours, she said, but she had already been on the road for that amount of time and her GPS told her she had more than three hours to go.

A police vehicle and a hazardous-materials truck were blocking the bridge when she approached. She was at a standstill for an hour before being redirected, she said.

“We ended up taking 295 North to get onto 322, directing us to the Barry Bridge,” she said, “and then that is going to take us back south. Everyone is coming that direction, so we are still really not moving.”

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Two (2) injured in pipeline explosion near Coyanosa, Texas

From an Article by Kirsten Geddes, Newswest 9, November 23, 2018

COYANOSA, TX (KWES) – Fort Stockton and Imperial Fire Departments are responding to a fire that occurred near Coyanosa.

The explosion reportedly happened around 10 a.m. Friday morning.

According to first responders two people were injured. They are both reportedly stable and are being transported to UMC in Lubbock.

The Railroad Commission is reportedly investigating the incident but the offices are closed due to the holidays and thus are not available for comment.

The fire started when a 24-inch pipeline exploded. As of 12:30 p.m. the fire is still burning but contained.

The pipeline appears to be a part of the Permian System from Energy Transfer Midstream,. The system is part of approximately 7,820 miles of natural gas pipeline spread across 8 processing facilities: Waha, Coyanosa, Red Bluff, Halley, Jal, Keyston, Tippet and Rebel.

Here is some information about the pipeline:

The Permian Basin gathering system connects wellhead-to-market Gas supply in the Texas counties of Ward, Winkler, Reeves, Pecos, Crocket, Upton, Crane, Ector, Culberson, Reagan and Andrews as well as into Eddy and Lea counties in New Mexico which surround the Waha Hub, one of Texas’s developing NGLs-rich natural gas market areas. These NGL pipelines include the Lone Star’s NGL pipeline.

Tagged as: explosive gases, fires, leaks, natural gas, pipeline explosion, public health, toxic gases