P.H. Dexippus said:

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CDUB98 said:

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Feel sad for those folks who are losing their house.

They move into them expecting safety from the operators.

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Do we have any reason to believe this is due to a lack of "safety from the operators" at this point?

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We don't, but I didn't want to toss out a terrorist conspiracy.

It is always possible a dumbass driver did dumbass things.

I simply assumed it was an operator checking on something at that spot and something went wrong.

txags92 said:

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CDUB98 said:

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htxag09 said:

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CDUB98 said:

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htxag09 said:

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How long does it take to shut off this line? Seems like it should be able to be done fairly quick….

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Shutting off the line is easy and likely happened very quickly due to interlocks in the DCS, but it still has to burn through the product in the line.

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But the size of the fire doesn't seem to be getting smaller.....

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Depends on how much volume is in there. It could be a mile of 30" pipe trying to squeeze through a 4" hole.

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Especially if it is a liquid being flashed to vapor in the line by the heat of the fire. I worked a high volatile crude pipeline break that had 9 miles of line between valves with 14 bayou crossings. The heat of the sun on those crossings was enough to keep the line pressurized for days while the sun was shining.

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I used to love sunny days when I was building plants and we were hydrotesting the lines and systems. Made it much easier to pass tests.

sushi94 said:

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I hope whoever was in the SUV on site is safe

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From the looks of it, the initial pressure rolled their vehicle 25'-30' while roasting it.

P.H. Dexippus said:

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sushi94 said:

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I hope whoever was in the SUV on site is safe

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From the looks of it, the initial pressure rolled their vehicle 25'-30' while roasting it.

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That would be a hell of an explosion.

I assumed that was the operator's car where he/she parked it.

Where is the person in the SUV?

And how do you crash into the valve?

Accidentally or on purpose?

Gator92 said:

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Where is the person in the SUV?

And how do you crash into the valve?

Accidentally or on purpose?

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We simply don't know these things right now.

If a person was outside the vehicle right next to that, they may be having to air sample of DNA markers.

The person may still be in the car.

There's a lot we won't know until the fire is out.

my buddy is fighting the fire right now.

he said he sees no way this was an accident.

just his opinion.

Could be an operator that backed up wrong or did something stupid while onsite. Or could be intentional.

Here is Energy Transfer's full statement (pulled from KHOU Website):
"We experienced an incident this morning in La Porte, Texas, at a valve station along Spencer Highway for a 20" natural gas liquids line that resulted in a fire. There are no reports of injuries at this time. The LaPorte Fire Department is on the scene and has evacuated all homes and businesses within a half mile of the incident site. The line has been isolated so that the residual product in the line can safely burn itself out. We have no timeline at this point on how long that process will take, but we are working closely with local authorities. We are aware of early reports indicating that an unknown passenger car entered our right-of-way and struck the value location. Air monitoring equipment is in the process of being set up in the area. We will continue to release details as they become available."

Hmmmm. Unknown car.

If so, had to come down this "road"

you seem obsessed with me

Google wouldn't let me go to street view.

That's not a road. Those are mats to distribute weight for equipment. Someone was doing work in that corridor.

Just before that, theres a gravel drive and gate.

Lots of lines in that area.

Finally got Google to let me street view.

Yeah, if some disgruntled former employee or a terrorist ******* wanted to ram a care into the valve station using the matte road, it would be an easy, straight shot.

They announced it's an Energy Transfer pipeline...LNG.

Supposedly the line is off and now just burning the fuel in the line.

Deer Park Mayor just held presser.

Confirmed most everything on thread already.

Except wouldn't speculate on the "car". Asst Police Chief answered that there was a fence around the location.

No one bothered to ask about the driver...

ETA Mayor said it could burn til tomorrow.

CDUB98 said:

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Finally got Google to let me street view.

Yeah, if some disgruntled former employee or a terrorist ******* wanted to ram a care into the valve station using the matte road, it would be an easy, straight shot.

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The valve station is about 50' off of Spencer Highway with only a chain link fence around it.

Could have been an idiot doing 65 and worrying about their instagram and ran off the road or something as simple as that. There isn't anything there that would stop a vehicle that was out of control or whatever.

heard it was Y-grade so mixture of ethane, propane, butane + I believe.

The disgruntled ex employee theory seems fairly plausible. You'd have to know what you're running in to.

Looks like the vehicle was blown over.

Wouldn't put it past Greenpeace. Especially if this guy is about to literally put them out of business in the US. They've got nothing more to lose.

schmellba99 said:

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CDUB98 said:

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Finally got Google to let me street view.

Yeah, if some disgruntled former employee or a terrorist ******* wanted to ram a care into the valve station using the matte road, it would be an easy, straight shot.

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The valve station is about 50' off of Spencer Highway with only a chain link fence around it.

Could have been an idiot doing 65 and worrying about their instagram and ran off the road or something as simple as that. There isn't anything there that would stop a vehicle that was out of control or whatever.

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Fully agree that is a possibility as well. We simply don't know. It would take a hell of an accidental detour to get from Spencer over to that valve station.

AJ02 said:

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Interesting....I just read an article about Energy Transfer yesterday. The owner (CEO? Owner?) just filed a lawsuit that is going to bankrupt the US arm of Greenpeace. Over the Dakota pipeline protests. The article said he will almost assuredly win and bankrupt Greenpeace in the US and deliver a big blow to Greenpeace globally.

Coincidence????

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Except doing something like this on purpose REALLY goes against the mission of Greenpeace.

schmellba99 said:

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CDUB98 said:

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Finally got Google to let me street view.

Yeah, if some disgruntled former employee or a terrorist ******* wanted to ram a care into the valve station using the matte road, it would be an easy, straight shot.

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The valve station is about 50' off of Spencer Highway with only a chain link fence around it.

Could have been an idiot doing 65 and worrying about their instagram and ran off the road or something as simple as that. There isn't anything there that would stop a vehicle that was out of control or whatever.

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Yep, my bet is that Hanlon's razor applies here.

schmellba99 said:

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CDUB98 said:

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Finally got Google to let me street view.

Yeah, if some disgruntled former employee or a terrorist ******* wanted to ram a care into the valve station using the matte road, it would be an easy, straight shot.

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The valve station is about 50' off of Spencer Highway with only a chain link fence around it.

Could have been an idiot doing 65 and worrying about their instagram and ran off the road or something as simple as that. There isn't anything there that would stop a vehicle that was out of control or whatever.

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Seems like it would be a no brainer to put up car stopping barriers around vulnerable exposed pipes that close to a major road.

The ETC 20"line is on the east side of the Centerpoint corridor and is wedged between a 20" DCP and 16" DOW line. Honestly with it being on the side of the corridor that abuts the water district it would take a determined driver to be able to hit anything that would cause the line to go up!