E&E News: Pipeline in fatal blast had a dime‑sized hole in it

Sept. 10 — The Texas Railroad Commission (RRC), which regulates oil and gas rather than trains, sent inspectors to the explosion site. RRC records obtained by E&E News through an open-records request indicate that Targa had the pipeline excavated.

They found that the steel wall of the line and the tar coating that is supposed to protect it had been “compromised,” according to the RRC incident report. There was a hole, three-eighths of an inch by five-eighths of an inch wide, that had been leaking for “an undetermined length of time.

— E&E News