CenterPoint Energy plans to dig up gas line connections at 153 Annandale homes and businesses as a precaution after a faulty hookup caused a fatal explosion in Ramsey. Gas company crews will check out the connections sometime before frost settles into the ground, officials said, explaining that if there were a gas leak, it would dissipate in the air during the warm months. The fact that the company will examine the Annandale installations doesn’t mean they’re faulty, they said, because it’s checking everything that records don’t confirm is up to standards. The Minnesota Office of Pipeline Safety announced last week that the Dec. 28 blast, which killed three workers and injured another in a small office building in Ramsey, was caused by a faulty connection. A steel coupler that joined two pieces of plastic pipe about 50 feet from the building failed to maintain a tight seal and separated over a period of time. Charles Kenow, Office of Pipeline Safety administrator, cited two factors that may have contributed: The metal coupler wasn’t designed to be used with plastic pipe, and freeze-thaw cycles underground could have affected the seal. The frozen ground and pavement above the pipes trapped the gas underground, and it seeped through the soil, which filtered out its odor, to an unknown source of ignition in the building, he said. The faulty connection between a gas main and building supply line was installed in 1980 by North Central Public Service Co., which was bought by Midwest Gas Co. in 1986. CenterPoint Energy acquired Midwest in 1993. The former Midwest system serves about 80,000 customers in 43 towns and townships north and west of Minneapolis. They include Annandale, South Haven, Southside Township, Maple Lake, Maple Lake Township, Buffalo, Buffalo Township and Kimball. CenterPoint spokesman Rolf Lund said it was reviewing incomplete records from Midwest and would do field work to find out if there are any more faulty connections. The field investigation could involve digging up thousands of connections, he said. Annandale city administrator Mark Casey said a CenterPoint official visited him last week and talked about excavating connections at 153 properties. The company was going to begin contacting the owners this week, he said, and would restore any lawns it tore up. But Tracy Bridge, another CenterPoint spokesman, said later that plan has been changed. The company has been doing a pilot digging project in Buffalo to determine how long the larger task would take, he said, and anticipated expanding it into Annandale this week. But it’s now looking at another alternative and won’t expand the pilot to Annandale. CenterPoint crews will dig in Annandale sometime this year, he said, and the company is committed to completing the entire investigation before the frost comes in. May not meet standards CenterPoint is going to look at the Annandale installations because potentially, from records and other information, they may not meet its standards, Bridge said. The couplers used in Annandale may not be like the Ramsey one, he said. That’s yet to be determined. But they may not be up to company standards either. “We’re obviously concerned enough to look throughout the former Midwest service area,” Bridge said. But he noted conditions are different than they were in the Ramsey explosion because now any escaping gas would dissipate in the atmosphere. Just because the company is looking at 153 properties in Annandale doesn’t mean each customer has a coupler that’s substandard, he said. “We are erring on the side of caution” by examining any installation that records can’t confirm isn’t substandard. “We are committed to finding and replacing any coupling in the former Midwest gas area that does not meet standards,” Bridge said. He called the Ramsey explosion “a contributing factor” in the investigation, but he said CenterPoint is continually making sure its distribution system is up to appropriate standards. Lund said he didn’t know if digging would be required in South Haven, Maple Lake, Southside and Maple Lake Townships. Know how to respond Residents should know how to respond in a gas emergency, he said. “If you smell gas in your home, leave the house immediately.” Don’t use the phone or light switches, Lund said, because they could be a source of ignition. Go to a neighbor’s house and call CenterPoint’s emergency number, 1-800-722-9326 or 612-372-5050, or call 911.
