With pipeline controversies popping up all over the country the past few years, a lot of information can get lost in the woods. The three-year average for “serious incidents” has declined from an average of 66 per year from 1994-96 to 28 per year from 2011-13. “Significant incidents” during the same time periods have dropped from 295.3 per year to 278.6.

“Serious incidents” are defined as: Gas distribution incidents with a cause of other outside force damage and a sub-cause by nearby fire or explosion as the primary cause of incident.

PHMSA Pipeline Incidents: (1994-2013) Incident Type: Serious   System Type: ALL   State: ALL

Calendar Year Number Fatalities Injuries 1994 76 22 120 1995 59 21 64 1996 63 53 127 1997 49 10 77 1998 70 21 81 1999 66 22 108 2000 62 38 81 2001 40 7 61 2002 36 12 49 2003 61 12 71 2004 44 23 56 2005 39 16 47 2006 32 19 34 2007 43 16 46 2008 37 8 55 2009 46 13 62 2010 34 19 104 2011 32 12 51 2012 28 10 54 2013 24 9 44 Grand Total 941 363 1,392

“Significant incidents” include:

1. Fatality or injury requiring in-patient hospitalization.

2. $50,000 or more in total costs, measured in 1984 dollars.

3. Highly volatile liquid releases of five barrels or more or other liquid releases of 50 barrels or more.

4. Liquid releases resulting in an unintentional fire or explosion.

PHMSA Pipeline Incidents: (1994-2013) Incident Type: Significant   System Type: ALL   State: ALL

Calendar Year Number Fatalities Injuries Property Damage Current Year Dollars 1994 326 22 120 $229,864,143 1995 259 21 64 $72,978,742 1996 301 53 127 $157,237,457 1997 267 10 77 $106,467,248 1998 295 21 81 $168,366,265 1999 275 22 108 $171,954,256 2000 290 38 81 $248,585,734 2001 233 7 61 $76,344,769 2002 258 12 49 $121,661,817 2003 296 12 71 $159,730,017 2004 310 23 56 $308,168,808 2005 334 16 47 $1,421,763,106 2006 257 19 34 $151,670,059 2007 268 16 46 $145,532,574 2008 279 8 55 $568,864,817 2009 275 13 62 $173,645,089 2010 263 19 104 $1,567,336,354 2011 288 12 51 $406,481,230 2012 249 10 54 $223,101,033 2013 299 9 44 $327,777,221 Grand Total 5,622 363 1,392 $6,807,530,740

All statistics provided by phmsa.dot.gov.

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