CSB Calls For Ban Of Natural Gas 'Blows'

In a video released last week, the head of the Chemical Safety & Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) issued an emergency order requiring industries to end the practice of using natural gas to purge debris from gas piping. CSB Chairman Rafael Moure-Eraso called the practice an "inherently unsafe activity" and recommended that OSHA, states, and professional engineering and safety societies follow the lead of Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell, who recently banned the practice in her state. Rell's ban followed a construction accident at the Kleen Energy power plant site in Middletown, Conn. The CSB investigation found that natural gas purging, a common practice at natural gas sites, was responsible for the deaths of six workers and the destruction of the Connecticut facility in February (C&EN, May 24, page 24). Moure-Eraso notes that alternatives exist, including the use of air or nitrogen to blow out piping or the use of air to drive a "pig" through piping to clear debris.