Business, Government Legal News from throughout WVPSC Puts Gas Pipeline Safety Information Front and Center

Kanawha County had the most miles of natural gas pipeline in the state in 2009, at 409, followed by Marshall at 317 miles and Wetzel at 314.

Altogether, about 4,000 miles of gas transmission line criss-crossed the state in 2009, along with more than 10,000 miles of smaller gas distribution line and just 600 miles of gas gathering line.

These are just a couple of the interesting facts now easily accessible through a gas pipeline safety information page the Public Service Commission of West Virginia has created on its website, accessible under "Other Areas of Interest" on the commission's home page.

A link to the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration page for West Virginia offers breakdowns of pipeline mileage. It also gives statistics on pipeline incidents involving injuries, fatalities or property damage for each of the past 10 years  and a database detailing each incident.

Another link sends the user to a Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration page that can create a transmission pipeline map for any county in the state.

In addition, links are provided to the state's gas pipeline safety regulations as well as to contact information for agency staff and for the nearly 50 pipeline companies that operate in the state.

The addition of the gas pipeline safety web page to the PSC's website brings transparency in most of the areas emphasized in a recent report by the Pipeline Safety Trust.

PST's Nov. 28 report reviewed the website of every state's pipeline safety regulatory agency for eight types of information: contact information for agency staff, contact information for pipeline companies, pipeline safety regulations, transmission pipeline maps, incident data, inspection records, enforcement records and excavation damage data.

While the Pipeline Safety Trust ranking had West Virginia tied for 16th-worst among states for transparency, the new, more accessible web page would put it among the several most transparent states.