Gas Line That Exploded In Piedmont Not Within Government Oversite

The gas line that ruptured in Piedmont Wednesday is not regularly inspected by state or federal agencies, according to government sources. Sources said oversite is left up to the line’s owner, DCP Midstream. News 9's Caleigh Bourgeois has the story.

Thursday, September 17th 2020, 6:27 pm



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The gas line that ruptured in Piedmont Wednesday is not regularly inspected by state or federal agencies, according to government sources.

Sources said oversite is left up to the line’s owner, DCP Midstream.

Officials from both the Oklahoma Corporation Commission and US Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration said that particular gas line is not within their jurisdiction, due to its function and location.

Crews worked Thursday to make repairs, turning the power back on, and repairing the surrounding road.

While the law does not allow the Oklahoma Corporation Commission to do routine/maintenance inspections of this gas line, they are able to now that an incident has occurred.

The Corporation Commission inspected the aftermath and said staff did not detect any evidence of environmental ground damage.

The Department of Environmental Quality also didn't detect any evidence of environmental concerns within the air.

Piedmont Chief of Police Scott Singer said he's glad no one was harmed, and things should be back to normal soon.

“We're fortunate to be able to report that no one was injured. There were no fatalities. There was minimal property damage,” Singer said.

DCP Mainstream released the following statement to News 9, as they investigate the cause,

At approximately 8:30 p.m. CT on September 16, 2020, three miles north of Piedmont, OK in Kingfisher County, DCP experienced a natural gas pipeline release on one of its pipelines due to unknown causes. Safety is our number one priority. At this time there are no known injuries with our community members or personnel and the release was immediately isolated. The release resulted in a brief pipeline fire that has been extinguished.  Residual smoke is expected Thursday, Sept. 17th from near-by hay bales impacted by the fire. They are being monitored and do not pose harm to immediate surroundings. We are continuing to work with local emergency response to address the event, and we are in the process of assessing the impacts of the event and conducting an investigation.

News 9 requested past inspection reports from DCP Mainstream.

Piedmont city officials said DCP Mainstream will pay for road repairs.

OCC will investigate the line and make sure it’s safe.

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