A 67-foot pipeline rupture in Texas triggered massive methane plume

A pipeline rupture longer than a bowling lane was responsible for a massive release of the potent greenhouse gas methane over Texas in March, spewing the equivalent of annual emissions from 16,000 American cars into the atmosphere.

Photos of the rupture show a nearly 67-foot long tear along the 16-inch diameter Big Cowboy natural gas pipeline excavated from a dirt road in a remote corner of Texas. The images were obtained through a public information request to the Railroad Commission of Texas, the regulator that oversees oil and gas production in the state. The pipeline operator, a unit of Energy Transfer LP, has said in regulatory filings that the rupture resulted in a release of 52.15 million cubic feet of gas.

Big Cowboy is part of a vast web of gathering lines in the U.S. that have operated outside the purview of federal authorities because historically they were smaller diameter, low pressure lines deemed less of a risk than the transmission conduits that cross state boundaries. But the massive gas release in March underscores how the failure of even small parts of the U.S. gas network can have profound consequences for the climate.

The pipeline likely experienced a “longitudinal seam rupture failure” based on the photos, although a scientific metallurgical forensic analysis is needed to confirm that assessment, said Richard Kuprewicz, a chemical engineer and president of Accufacts Inc., which specializes in gas and liquid pipeline investigations. The only way to reliably avoid that sort of failure is to perform a spike hydrotest, which isn’t mandated for gathering lines under federal requirements, he said.