Kinder Morgan’s Tennessee Gas Pipe Explodes Sparking Wildfire in Pennsylvania

By Mary Holcomb, Digital Editor

A segment of Kinder Morgan’s Tennessee Gas Pipeline running through Clermont, PA, reportedly exploded Tuesday igniting a wildfire in the surrounding area, The Bradford Era reported on June 13.

According to the newspaper, fire officials responded to reports of a “large wildfire” around 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday and later discovered the 24-inch line had ruptured.

“At approximately 7 p.m. ET today, Tennessee Gas Pipeline (TGP) was notified of a fire in the rural area of McKean County, Pennsylvania,” TGP released in a statement to the news organization. “The company began investigating and has shut down a TGP pipeline segment in the area. TGP is currently mobilizing resources for a response. There are no known injuries at this time.”

An investigation into the explosion found that the rupture sparked the fire that burned approximately five acres of surrounding land. TGP was able to lower the pressure on the pipeline to aid the emergency crews on site with extinguishing the flames.

Kinder Morgan decided to shut down the pipeline system on Tuesday evening, taking 330 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) of gas offline, according to Seeking Alpha.

TGP said that 125 MMcf/d will remain offline from the ruptured pipeline until further notice.

“As of (Tuesday) evening, Tennessee Gas Pipeline (TGP) confirmed that there was a natural gas release and fire on a pipeline segment of its 300 system in a rural area of McKean County, Pennsylvania,” TGP said in a statement. “The company shut down the impacted pipeline segment and worked with local responders to isolate the area. The fire was extinguished later that evening, and there were no injuries from the event. The incident remains under investigation, and the company is working with regulatory agencies as needed.”

The 11,900-mile Tennessee Gas Pipeline linking the northeastern U.S. to the Texas Gulf Coast is one of the largest pipeline systems in the U.S.

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