Aging Gas, Hazmat Pipelines Threaten Schools, Streets, Homes

"They wind underground beneath homes, across plains and through the state's most populous cities.

And, according to a Houston Chronicle investigation, more than half of the major natural gas transmission lines in Texas were laid more than 40 years ago and now are vulnerable to failure.

Nationwide, the issue of pipeline safety took on more urgency in September, when a natural gas transmission line exploded in San Bruno, Calif., killing eight people and destroying three dozen homes. The National Transportation Safety Board said it has not ruled out pipeline age, or associated problems with welds and corrosion, as potential causes. The Pacific Gas & Electric Co. pipeline in San Bruno was installed in 1956.

In Texas alone, more than 25,000 of nearly 46,000 miles of transmission pipe are older than 1970, some dating to the Great Depression, according to federal records.

Federal regulators warned companies more than 20 years ago to reconsider the use of all pipelines built with lower-quality welding techniques that were widely employed in pipe factories prior to 1970, documents show. Also a potential problem is some aged protective coating on pipes that actually can make them more vulnerable to corrosion, according to a number of pipeline experts."

Eric Nalder reports for the Houston Chronicle November 15, 2010.