At 1:38 p.m., c.d.t., on September 27, 1981, near Ackerly, Texas, the Chaparral Pipeline, a refined petroleum products 12-inch steel pipeline owned by the Santa Fe Pipeline Company, was damaged by a rathole drill bit; the wall of the pipe was weakened, and it ruptured under the 1,100 psig operating pressure. The ethane-propane mixture in the pipeline began to escape and was ignited by the drilling rig engine. The ensuing explosion and fire killed three persons; critically burned one person, who died 4 days later; destroyed the rathole drilling rig, a pickup truck, a road grader, a compactor, and 60 acres of cotton; and burned 12,749 barrels (535,458 gallons) of ethane-propane mixture. The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of the accident involving the rupture of a 12-inch products pipeline, which was damaged when struck by a rathole drill, was the failure of the oil company to determine the existence of the pipeline before drilling operations began.
Pipeline Accident Report - The Chaparral Pipeline, Explosion and Fire, Ackerly, Texas, September 27, 1981
1982
30 pages
Report
No indication
English