PUC Safety Division Investigating Columbia Gas Service Disruptions To 4,000+ Customers In Beaver County
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On October 17, the Public Utility Commission announced pipeline engineers from the PUC’s Safety Division are investigating an ongoing incident in Beaver County that has disrupted natural gas service to several thousand residents and businesses served by Columbia Gas.

Investigation Overview

Late in the afternoon on Sunday, October 15, Columbia Gas notified the Safety Division of an event affecting two natural gas distribution systems in Beaver County – resulting in the interruption of service to approximately 4,000 customers in and around the communities of Baden, Conway, Economy Borough and Freedom.

Following the precautionary shut-down of service in this area, Columbia Gas crews have been working to purge their gas distribution system and then begin the safe restoration of service to individual customers.

The Safety Division continues to monitor the ongoing purging and restoration efforts by crews from Columbia Gas.

The cause of the outage appears to involve a gas supply interruption from a third-party supplier, but the Safety Division investigation into the circumstances surrounding this incident is ongoing – working to determine whether there are any violations of state or federal pipeline safety regulations – and the PUC has also been in communication with its federal pipeline safety counterparts at the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA).

Updates on the service restoration process, locations for a “warming station,” and additional information for impacted residents and businesses is being posted in the alert center on the Columbia Gas website.

Jurisdiction

The Safety Division recognizes the strong public interest in these types of incidents, especially for those who have been directly impacted, and works to address safety concerns in a timely manner.

Still, it is important to understand that these are complex circumstances which may require extensive analyses by engineers and other experts, or other technical study before conclusions can be reached.

Any determinations and/or actions are based on that information, within the scope of the PUC’s jurisdiction, and any safety concerns identified by investigators are addressed promptly with regulated pipeline operators and/or utilities. 

The Safety Division appreciates the cooperation of emergency responders and officials in Beaver County, as well as the patience and cooperation of residents and businesses impacted by this incident.

NewsClips:

-- Beaver County Times: PUC Investigating Ongoing Columbia Gas Service Outage In Beaver County

-- WPXI: Mayor Of Economy Boro, Beaver County, Expresses Frustration At Ongoing Natural Gas Outage

-- WTAE: Columbia Gas Starts To Restore Service For Thousands Of Beaver County Customers

-- KDKA: Columbia Gas Service Restoration For 4,000 Beaver County Residents Expected To Take Days

-- TribLive: Columbia Gas Shuts Off Service To 4,000 Beaver County Residents Because Of Natural Gas Introduced Into Its System By A Third-Party Gas Supplier, No Service For Several Days

-- KDKA: Columbia Gas Halts Service For Nearly 4,000 Residents After It Identified An ‘Issue With Natural Gas Introduced Into Its System By A Third Party

-- WTAE: Thousands Of Beaver County Columbia Gas Customers To Be Without Service For Several Days

-- Post-Gazette: Columbia Gas Begins Service Restoration For 4,000 Customers In Beaver County Over Next Several Days After ‘Issue’ With Natural Gas

-- WPXI: Columbia Gas Explains Plan To Restore Service To More Than 4,000 Beaver County Customers To Ensure Safety Of Customers

PA Oil & Gas Industry Public Notice Dashboards:

-- Pennsylvania Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - October 14 to 20 - 6 More Abandoned Conventional Wells; Conventional Gas Migration Incident; Inactive Shale Gas Wells [PaEN]

-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices/Opportunities To Comment - October 21  [PaEN]

-- DEP Posted 62 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In October 21 PA Bulletin  [PaEN] 

Related Articles This Week:

-- 9th Compendium Of Studies On Health & Environmental Harms From Natural Gas Development Released - ‘The Rapidly Expanding Body Of Evidence Compiled Here Is Massive, Troubling And Cries Out For Decisive Action’  [PaEN]

-- Gov. Shapiro: We Need Stronger Laws To Deal With The ‘Corporate Greed’ That Let Oil & Gas Operators Get Away With Abandoning Wells For Far Too Long [PaEN]

-- Gov. Shapiro Marks Plugging 100th Conventional Oil & Gas Well In 10 Months; New Initiative Allows Texting Abandoned Well Photos/Locations To Governor That Need Plugging  [PaEN]

-- FracTracker Alliance Recognizes 5 Individuals With The 2023 Community Sentinel Awards - 3 From Pennsylvania  [PaEN]

-- Senate Committee Briefing Finds No Definition Or Standard For ‘Responsibly Sourced’ Natural Gas; PA Producers Already Below One RS Threshold  [PaEN]

-- PA Physicians For Social Responsibility: Methane Leaks From SEPTA Gas Generation Plant, Philadelphia  [Video]

-- Protect PT, Partners Host Oct. 26 Webinar On PFAS 'Forever Chemical' In Pennsylvania's Oil & Gas Production  [PaEN]

-- EPA, West Virginia Officials Working To Secure Fairmount Oil & Gas Wastewater Processing Facility To Prevent Release Of Radioactive, Hazardous Materials  [PaEN]

-- Susquehanna River Basin Commission Holds Nov. 2 Hearing On Water Withdrawal Requests, Including Shale Gas Drilling In Loyalsock, Pine Creek Exceptional Value Watersheds  [PaEN]

-- Susquehanna River Basin Commission Approves 19 Shale Gas Well Pad Water Use General Permits In Bradford, Susquehanna, Tioga Counties  [PaEN]

-- PUC Safety Division Investigating Columbia Gas Service Disruptions To 4,000+ Customers In Beaver County  [PaEN]

-- PUC Updates Investigation Into Dec. 2022 Natural Gas House Explosion In Dauphin County  [PaEN]

-- PUC PA One Call Damage Prevention Committee Imposes $177,875 In Penalties Against 120 Violators

-- DEP Responds To Oil Spill In Conodoguinet Creek; PA American Water Company Shuts Water Intake, Customers Asked To Conserve Water In Cumberland County  [PaEN]

-- DEP Blog: Attention Home Heating Oil Users - Check Your Tanks To Prevent Costly Leaks, Spills

-- Guest Essay: My Hometown Shows The Benefits Of The Fossil Fuel Industry Come At A Tremendous Cost - Gov. Shapiro, Let's Hold Them Accountable - Support The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative  - By Rev. Mitchell Hescox, Evangelical Environmental Network - Action  [PaEN]

-- Environmental Advocates To Spend More Than $250,000 In Support Of McCaffery In Critical PA Supreme Court Race To Protect Constitutional Right To Clean Air, Pure Water  [PaEN]

NewsClips:

-- Inside Climate News - Jon Hurdle: Research By Public Health Experts Shows ‘Damning’ Evidence Of Harms From Natural Gas Development; Industry Rejected The Reports As ‘Junk Science’

-- Spotlight PA: Potter County Township Wants To Make It Easier For Other Places In PA To Fight Oil/Gas Wastewater Injection Wells

-- Inside Climate News: Answers About Old Conventional Gas Wells Repurposed As Injection Wells For Oil/Gas Wastewater May Never Be Fully Unearthed

-- Energy News Network: Ohio Oil & Gas Industry Spills, Releases Boost Worries About Drilling Under State Parks

-- Hilco Redevelopment Breaks Ground For Bellwether District In South Philadelphia On Former Philadelphia Energy Solutions Refinery Site

-- WHYY/BillyPenn: What To Know About The Bellwether District, The Giant Complex Now Rising On The Site Of The Former Philadelphia Refinery

-- Courier Times: Nooses And Slurs vs. Contested Firing: PA Workplace Discrimination Cases Yield Very Different Outcomes; Case Of Oil & Gas Employee vs. Starbucks Manager

-- Pittsburgh Business Times: Mountain Valley Natural Gas Pipeline’s Costs Rise Again As Timeline Extends

-- Inside Climate News: Federal Pipeline & Hazardous Materials Safety Administration Begins Regulating 400,000 Miles Of Natural Gas Gathering Pipelines, Industry Isn’t Happy  [8.6 to 16 inches]

-- Utility Dive: PJM Interconnection Asks FERC To Approve Capacity Market Reforms In Push To Bolster Grid Reliability After Winter Storm Elliot

-- Utility Dive: Investments In PJM-Area Natural Gas And Traditional Power Plants Hurt Private Equity Funds’ Performance Due To Nonperformance Penalties From Winter Storm Elliot

-- Williamsport Sun: Lycoming College Clean Water Institute’s Matt Kaunert Speaks About Declining Populations Of Hellbenders In Pennsylvania

[Posted: October 17, 2023]


10/23/2023

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