At 4:45 p.m., central standard time, April 16, 1980, gasoline at the Williams Pipe Line Company's Minneapolis terminal in Roseville, Minnesota, sprayed from the fractured cast-iron base of a station booster pump at 72 psig pressure, vaporized, and exploded after it was ignited by the arcing of an electric switch in the mainline pump control room 50 feet downwind of the booster pump. The resulting fire burned for 2 days, fueled by gasoline and fuel oil leaking from many burned-out flange gaskets, from drainage from hundreds of feet of pipe connecting 37 tanks, and from the receiving and loading rack manifolds. The explosion killed one person. The fire injured three persons and destroyed the receiving manifold piping and valves, pumping equipment, and four vehicles. About 3,500 barrels (147,000 gallons) of petroleum products burned and property damage was estimated at $3 million. The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of the accident was the fracture of the base of a 30-year-old cast-iron pump which had not been hydrostatically tested at its new installation.


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    Title :

    Pipeline Accident Report: Williams Pipe Line Company Gasoline Explosion and Fire, Roseville, Minnesota, April 16, 1981


    Publication date :

    1981


    Size :

    38 pages


    Type of media :

    Report


    Type of material :

    No indication


    Language :

    English