Pipeline Safety Trust

05/30/2026

It is possible that after the gas line was hit that the gas migrated underground and into the apartment building, where it then reached explosive levels before igniting. It is also possible that the gas was ignited above ground as well. It's hard to pinpoint exactly what happened as we are still waiting for the investigation to unfold.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has sent investigators. NTSB will share some early details in a press conference soon and usually release a preliminary report within a month.

At the moment, Atmos Energy claims it did not have anything to do with the explosion, but that is hard to stomach since it sounds like it was gas from its pipeline.

Atmos has a history of incidents throughout Texas and other parts of the Gulf South that have resulted in fatalities and injuries. Just eight years ago, in Dallas, a 12-year-old girl was killed in her house when it blew up from an undetected gas leak from an Atmos Energy pipeline.

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/article/how-struck-gas-line-caused-oak-cliff-explosion-22282784.php

A gas line was reportedly struck near an Oak Cliff apartment and may have leaked into the building, causing an explosion.

05/21/2026

In 2020, Congress passed the PIPES Act of 2020, mandating that PHMSA create rules to

modernize its leak detection and repair standards as well as mitigate intentional emission events.

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https://pstrust.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/PST-Federal-Factsheet-Leak-Detection-and-Repair.pdf

05/19/2026

When it comes to Hydrogen Pipeline Safety, there are still a lot of unanswered questions.

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05/15/2026

While the American Petroleum Institute has finalized its RP 1192 - Transportation of Carbon Dioxide by Pipeline. It’s important that communities know that it is not regulation.

We still need strong federal safety standards on CO2 pipelines to keep our communities safe.

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05/13/2026

For decades the NTSB has recommended the installation of Natural Gas Alarms or In-Home Methane Detectors.

These devices can detect a gas leak well before it ignites and would save lives.

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https://pstrust.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/PST-Federal-Factsheet-In-Home-Methane-Detectors.pdf

05/11/2026

PHMSA’s mission is to protect people and the environment by advancing the safe transportation of energy and other hazardous materials. That mission cannot bend to operator convenience, political pressure, or assertions of an energy emergency. The special permit process exists to allow limited, safety-justified flexibility, not to provide a mechanism for deregulation by accommodation. PHMSA should deny the special permit application as substantively and procedurally deficient.

The public record on this pipeline is extensive. The 2015 failure, its causes, and the conditions that remain unresolved are documented in PHMSA’s own Failure Investigation Report. The communities and the unique sensitive coastal areas along this pipeline corridor deserve a safety determination that is procedurally sound and grounded in that record, not one shaped by the political circumstances surrounding a particular operator’s restart timeline.

https://pstrust.org/phmsas-abdication-of-its-duty-on-sables-santa-ynez-pipeline/

05/08/2026

"It cites an analysis from the Pipeline Safety Trust, an advocacy group, which argues that the Trump administration’s decision to limit enforcement of pipeline safety measures in line with its 2025 energy emergency order allows operators to forgo required safety work without having to worry about the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration intervening."

While attorneys for a major Canadian pipeline company argue that federal regulators hold sole authority in regulating pipelines across the country, a recent report argues that national-level oversight is not strict enough to prevent oil spills and other safety concerns. Enbridge, which operates the....

05/07/2026

Hall said the chemical that gives natural gas its distinctive odor can be stripped away as the gas moves through the ground. He adds residents may never have smelled the impending danger.

“Dating back to the 1970s, the NTSB has been asking for methane detectors in homes. Like a smoke detector but it detects the odorless gas. They are lifesavers for people that have gas services,” Pipeline Safety Trust Senior Technical Advisor Robert Hall said.

A former NTSB director says tree roots may have led to the house blasts, that injured five people on April 21.

05/06/2026

“In total, there have been at least 42 spills as a result of pipeline operations by True subsidiaries since 2010. According to data collected by the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, more than a third of those spills had detrimental effects on the environment or people. The data shows that the Bridger Pipeline company alone is responsible for seven of those spills in just the last three years. The most recent spill took place in March near Guernsey, Wyoming.”

“That definitely sets off some alarm bells,” said Kenneth Clarkson, communications director with the nonprofit Pipeline Safety Trust. “It’s not acceptable to have one incident, and when we have this quantity, it’s definitely troubling.”

The Trump administration is rushing to approve a 650-mile pipeline to bring oil from Canada’s tar sands into the U.S.