Select a page
Select a page

Safety

Emergency Responders & Public Officials

Emergency Responders & Public Officials

Responding to an Emergency

If you are an emergency responder or public official, take steps to safeguard the public in the event of a pipeline emergency. The following suggestions are offered as a guide:

  • Upon the first indication gas is involved in an emergency – Notify Pensacola Energy at 850-474-5300 as quickly as possible. If a pipeline is involved, pipeline marker signs show the pipeline company’s name, emergency telephone number and pipeline contents. Notify the company indicated on the marker as soon as possible or call 911.
  • Secure the area around the emergency site to a safe distance, considering wind and migration of natural gas. Control access and entry to the emergency site. It may be necessary to evacuate the public or have the public shelter in place depending on the situation. If necessary, evacuate people upwind and to a safe distance from the emergency site.
  • Take steps to prevent ignition by prohibiting smoking, rerouting traffic and shutting off the power supply and by not operating electrical equipment (cell phones, pagers, two-way radios, lights).
  • If the pipeline is burning, try to prevent the spread of fire but do not attempt to extinguish it. If the fire is extinguished, gas or vapor will collect and could explode if reignited by secondary fires.
  • Establish a command center. Work with pipeline representatives as you develop a plan to address the emergency. Pensacola Energy personnel are trained to work with the fire department’s Incident Command System.

 

Pensacola Energy’s Actions During an Emergency

We will immediately dispatch personnel to the site to help handle the emergency and provide information to public safety officials to aid in their response. We will also take the necessary operating actions to restrict the flow of gas and minimize the impact of the emergency. Public safety personnel and other unauthorized personnel should not attempt to operate any of the valves on the pipeline. Improper operation of the pipeline valves could make the situation worse and cause other accidents to happen.

 

Natural Gas Do’s:

  • Protect life, then property
  • Notify Pensacola Energy immediately
  • Treat all gas leaks as potentially hazardous
  • Control all potential ignition sources
  • Evacuate structures as needed
  • Secure affected areas
  • Use only properly calibrated detection equipment
  • Always anticipate and expect that an explosion could occur
  • Use only intrinsically safe equipment, such as communications and other electrically operated equipment

 

Natural Gas Don’ts:

  • Don’t park over, in front of or downwind of emergency locations
  • Don’t park over manhole, valve covers, storm drains or too close to structures
  • Don’t use open flames (flares, smoking, other sources)
  • Don’t operate any in-ground, underground or above-ground valves
  • Don’t operate any potential ignition sources (doorbells, light switches, pagers, cell phones, radios)
  • Don’t turn off venting relief valves
  • Don’t extinguish gas fires until fuel sources have been secured and shut off
  • Don’t shut off gas service to industrial facilities without knowledge of its effect
  • Don’t attempt to make repairs to gas facilities
  • Don’t ventilate structures with non-intrinsically safe fans/blowers

 

The 5 Basic Natural Gas Emergency Situations:

  1. Gas Escaping Outside – Control ignition sources.
  2. Gas Burning Outside – Let it burn! Burning gas will not explode!
  3. Gas Escaping Inside – Do not operate electrical switches.
  4. Gas Burning Inside – Shut the gas valve off at the meter and leave it off.
  5. A Blowing Relief Valve – Let it blow, but call Pensacola Energy at 850-474-5300.

 

Recognizing a Pipeline Emergency

The best way to recognize a pipeline leak is by using your eyes, ears and nose.

Look – Persistent bubbling in standing water or discolored vegetation are signs of a possible leak around the pipeline area. A pool of liquid on the ground, a dense white cloud or fog, a slight mist of ice, or unexplained frozen ground near the pipeline are also signs of a possible leak.

Listen – Listen for any unusual noise like a hissing or roaring sound.

Smell – Notice any strange or unusual odor (the products will have a petroleum odor or smell like rotten eggs).

Some gases are odorless, and odorant cannot always be added. It is important to use your ears and eyes as well as your nose to recognize a potential problem.

On occasion, a pressure-relieving device may activate at an above-ground pipeline facility. These devices are acting as designed to relieve pressure on the system to prevent over pressurization.

Under no circumstances should a pressure-relieving device be capped or turned off.

 

Odor Fade: (Loss of Odorant)

Odor fade (loss of odorant) can cause the odorant to diminish so that it is not detectable. Do not rely on your sense of smell alone to detect the presence of natural gas. Odor fade is caused by physical and chemical processes. It occurs predominantly in installations of new pipe rather than existing pipe. Odor fade is more pronounced in new steel pipe and in pipe of larger diameter and longer length. However, it can occur in plastic pipe and smaller pipe installations. In addition, if a natural gas leak occurs underground, the surrounding soil may cause odor fade.

 

Carbon Monoxide Emergencies:

  • Site Clues include: Condensation on windows and burning eyes upon entering premises; CO monitor alarming
  • Exposure Symptoms: Headache or breathing difficulty

 

Natural Gas Characteristics:

  • Is lighter than air.
  • Is not toxic.
  • Is odorless in its natural state.
  • Treated (odorized) gas smells like rotten eggs.
  • Natural gas should not be confused with propane, which is heavier than air.
  • The explosive or FLAMABLE range is 5% to 15% gas to air mixture.

 

Pipeline Contents:

  • Pipelines carry both gaseous and liquid materials under high pressure.
  • Many liquids form gaseous vapor clouds when released into the air.
  • Many pipelines contain colorless and odorless products.
  • Some gases are lighter than air and will rise.
  • Other heavier-than-air gases and liquids will stay near the ground and collect in low spots.
  • All petroleum gases and liquids are flammable.
  • Any pipeline leak can be potentially dangerous.

 

Locating Pipelines

Since most pipelines are buried underground, pipeline markers are used to indicate their approximate location along the route. They cannot be relied upon to indicate the exact position of the pipeline. The markers can be found where a pipeline intersects a street, highway or railway. It is a federal crime to damage, remove or destroy a pipeline marker. The markers display the material transported in the line, the name of the pipeline operator and a telephone number where the operator can be reached in the event of an emergency. You may obtain access to view maps of natural gas transmission and hazardous liquid pipeline facilities by visiting www.phmsa.dot.gov.

Local distribution pipelines are not typically identified with pipeline markers. A call to 811 will help identify the location of these pipelines.

 

Pipeline Markers

Pipeline Marker – This marker is the most commonly seen. It contains operator information, type of product and an emergency contact number.

Aerial Marker – These skyway-facing markers are used by patrol planes that monitor pipeline ROW.

Casing Vent Marker – This marker indicates that a pipeline (protected by a steel outer casing) passes beneath a nearby roadway, rail line or other crossing. Sometimes overflow of product may be seen.

Additional Training Material

Pensacola Energy would like to remind local emergency responders of the easily accessible and free training material available for their use at pipelineawareness.org. Pipeline Emergencies offers a comprehensive emergency response training program designed to teach emergency responders and pipeline industry personnel to safely respond to pipeline incidents. The second edition offers several improvements over the first edition, including a completely electronic format with embedded videos and new material on highly volatile liquid and ethanol emergencies. All revisions, as well as the original program, were developed with input from the fire service, the pipeline industry and PHMSA.

Again, the electronic edition of Pipeline Emergencies is available free of charge online at pipelineawareness.org. Users must create an account to access the curriculum, however, registration is simple, free and users have unlimited access to it after registering. Pipeline Emergencies can be printed directly from the website, but it cannot be downloaded.

The National Association of State Fire Marshals (NASFM) has also developed an iPhone app entitled Pipeline Emergencies that is available free of charge through the Apple Store. Using the app, an emergency responder will have the same functionality as if they were accessing the materials at pipelineawareness.org.

Additional Pipeline Resources and Information