On June 8, 2022, piping at an LNG Terminal failed, resulting in an explosion and fire. The explosion and fire occurred entirely within the fenced boundaries of the facilities. The facility immediately shut down its operations and notified first responders. With assistance from local fire departments, the fire at the terminal was brought under control and extinguished.
PHMSA, in coordination with FERC, required the facility to conduct a root cause analysis prepared by an independent third party. The Root Cause Failure Analysis was reviewed and approved by both PHMSA and FERC. As described in this report, which was filed in the Commission’s administrative record (a public version was also released by PHMSA), this failure occurred due to the warming and expansion of LNG within the piping and an improperly isolated pressure relief valve.
The mechanical explosion (BLEVE) that took place at 11:28 a.m. on June 8, 2022, was the result of the over-pressurization of the Line, which caused it to fail catastrophically and cause a cascading series of multiple piping failures within the pipe rack. This explosion resulted in the release of mixed-phase LNG into the pipe rack and surrounding area.
The initial LOPC event continued for roughly 9 seconds and resulted in the atmospheric release of approximately 10,570 pounds of a flammable vapor comprised primarily of methane, with trace materials making up the balance. The initial release of methane in gas phase was released from Line along with a smaller release of approximately 2 barrels equivalent of LNG into the pipe rack containment. The turbulent dispersion of this flammable vapor into the open atmosphere served as the fuel for the resulting secondary vapor cloud explosion.
The warming and expanding LNG increased the pressure within the piping, resulting in a rupture and release of LNG, in both vapor and liquid form. The LNG vapor then encountered an ignition source and exploded, forming a short-lived fireball. Debris from the explosion caused a breach of smaller diameter piping nearby, causing a secondary small LNG pool fire. This incident caused damage to the LNG Terminal facilities but did not extend outside the fence line of the facilities, and no offsite structures were damaged. No injuries or fatalities occurred at the site, and no injuries or fatalities occurring outside the fence line were reported to federal authorities.
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