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PHMSA uses specific criterion to identify which incidents are significant from a pipeline safety viewpoint.

PHMSA defines Significant Incidents as those incidents reported by pipeline operators when any of the following conditions are met:

1. fatality or injury requiring in-patient hospitalization
2. $50,000 or more in total costs, measured in 1984 dollars
3. highly volatile liquid releases of 5 barrels or more or other liquid releases of 50 barrels or more
4. liquid releases resulting in an unintentional fire or explosion

PHMSA established a cost reporting threshold of $50,000 for gas pipeline incidents in 1984. Since then, inflation and the rapid rise in the cost of natural gas have caused the cost of incidents to rise significantly along with an increase in the number of incidents reported. To account for the cost increases, PHMSA now considers incidents significant from a cost perspective if they exceed a total cost of $50,000 in 1984 dollars.

We have converted the cost of gas lost during a pipeline incident using the Energy Information Administration, Natural Gas City Gate Prices.(A) (1) For all other costs, we applied the Bureau of Economic Analysis, Government Printing Office inflation values.(A) (2) The costs shown in the tables are in adjusted dollars.

The tables below show the number of Significant Incidents in a year for each type of pipeline operator. Each year and selected column totals provide links to focused reports showing the causes of the corresponding incidents.

The data source for this table is the PHMSA Filtered Incident Files.(3) (4) (5)

Where appropriate, the table columns can be sorted by clicking the corresponding column header.

There is also a designation for Serious Incident which counts only incidents involving a fatality or injury. See Serious Pipeline Incidents for information on this smaller subset of incidents.

More Pipeline Incidents and Mileage Reports are available.

• All Pipeline Systems
• Hazardous Liquid
• Gas Transmission
• Gas Gathering
• Gas Distribution

National All Pipeline Systems: Significant Incidents Summary Statistics: 1988-2008 YTD

Year	Number	Fatalities	Injuries	Property Damage (A) (B)	Gross Barrels Lost	Net Barrels Lost (C)
1988	320	27	144	$81,290,836	198,111	114,410
1989	277	45	157	$53,649,360	201,504	122,745
1990	253	9	76	$46,900,903	123,827	54,443
1991	279	14	98	$76,660,087	200,210	55,575
1992	284	15	118	$92,248,525	136,769	68,647
1993	293	17	111	$84,669,400	116,132	57,218
1994	326	22	(D) 120	$204,554,318	163,920	113,785
1995	259	21	64	$64,943,216	109,931	52,963
1996	301	53	127	$139,924,393	160,188	100,854
1997	267	10	77	$94,744,378	195,421	103,114
1998	295	21	81	$149,827,833	149,348	60,725
1999	275	22	108	$153,020,758	167,082	104,445
2000	290	38	81	$221,214,517	108,614	56,945
2001	233	7	61	$67,951,894	98,046	77,329
2002	258	12	49	$113,731,682	95,663	77,268
2003	296	12	71	$135,834,910	80,041	50,454
2004	330	23	60	$274,554,732	88,145	68,508
2005	358	16	48	(E) $1,087,123,124	137,050	45,816
2006	271	19	33	$132,144,446	136,500	53,963
2007	284	15	53	$132,739,992	89,620	68,460
2008 YTD	211	3	43	$257,232,335	115,601	90,550
Totals	5,960	421	1,780	$3,664,961,647	2,871,725	1,598,220
5 Year Average (2003-2007)	308	17	53	$352,479,441	106,271	57,441
10 Year Average (1998-2007)	289	19	65	$246,814,389	115,011	66,392
20 Year Average (1988-2007)	287	21	87	$170,386,466	137,806	75,384

• All Hazardous Liquid Systems
• Onshore Only
• Offshore Only

National Hazardous Liquid: Significant Incidents Summary Statistics: 1988-2008 YTD

Year	Number	Fatalities	Injuries	Property Damage (A) (B)	Gross Barrels Lost	Net Barrels Lost (C)
1988	167	2	19	$49,820,283	198,111	114,410
1989	136	3	38	$12,596,314	201,504	122,745
1990	140	3	7	$21,939,754	123,827	54,443
1991	166	0	9	$51,695,028	200,210	55,575
1992	170	5	38	$51,823,655	136,769	68,647
1993	154	0	10	$36,803,605	116,132	57,218
1994	178	1	(D) 7	$79,327,350	163,920	113,785
1995	156	3	11	$40,266,453	109,931	52,963
1996	174	5	13	$105,735,598	160,188	100,854
1997	162	0	5	$67,333,200	195,421	103,114
1998	140	2	6	$76,158,741	149,348	60,725
1999	147	4	20	$102,455,432	167,082	104,445
2000	135	1	4	$175,984,764	108,614	56,945
2001	108	0	10	$28,117,803	98,046	77,329
2002	133	1	0	$52,517,870	95,663	77,268
2003	120	0	5	$54,538,762	80,041	50,454
2004	134	5	16	$159,374,542	88,145	68,508
2005	127	2	2	$158,689,415	137,050	45,816
2006	108	0	2	$62,150,187	136,500	53,963
2007	106	4	10	$49,885,665	89,620	68,460
2008 YTD	77	0	1	$41,267,260	115,601	90,550
Totals	2,938	41	233	$1,478,481,688	2,871,725	1,598,220
5 Year Average (2003-2007)	119	2	7	$96,927,715	106,271	57,441
10 Year Average (1998-2007)	126	2	8	$91,987,319	115,011	66,392
20 Year Average (1988-2007)	143	2	12	$71,860,721	137,806	75,384

National Hazardous Liquid Onshore: Significant Incidents Summary Statistics: 1988-2008 YTD

Year	Number	Fatalities	Injuries	Property Damage (A) (B)	Gross Barrels Lost	Net Barrels Lost (C)
1988	164	2	19	$49,230,900	182,478	98,777
1989	135	3	38	$11,847,846	201,494	122,735
1990	137	3	7	$21,571,707	122,825	53,443
1991	165	0	9	$50,790,811	200,209	55,574
1992	165	5	38	$47,542,391	133,778	66,841
1993	152	0	10	$35,366,589	115,764	57,165
1994	176	1	(D) 7	$78,963,641	159,670	109,535
1995	154	3	11	$39,375,923	109,928	52,960
1996	171	5	13	$104,774,471	153,622	94,288
1997	153	0	5	$51,625,227	188,935	99,256
1998	131	2	6	$63,178,505	138,078	51,190
1999	141	4	20	$96,380,171	162,839	100,446
2000	128	1	4	$154,206,614	106,318	54,655
2001	104	0	10	$26,585,753	98,040	77,323
2002	129	1	0	$50,401,042	95,649	77,254
2003	120	0	5	$54,538,762	80,041	50,454
2004	124	5	16	$72,503,033	76,229	58,053
2005	118	2	2	$126,702,928	136,006	44,772
2006	105	0	2	$46,301,185	135,931	53,394
2007	104	4	10	$49,108,403	89,609	68,460
2008 YTD	77	0	1	$41,267,260	115,601	90,550
Totals	2,853	41	233	$1,272,263,171	2,803,045	1,537,127
5 Year Average (2003-2007)	114	2	7	$69,830,863	103,563	55,027
10 Year Average (1998-2007)	120	2	8	$73,990,640	111,874	63,600
20 Year Average (1988-2007)	139	2	12	$61,549,796	134,372	72,329

National Hazardous Liquid Offshore: Significant Incidents Summary Statistics: 1988-2008 YTD

Year	Number	Fatalities	Injuries	Property Damage (A) (B)	Gross Barrels Lost	Net Barrels Lost (C)
1988	3	0	0	$589,382	15,633	15,633
1989	1	0	0	$748,468	10	10
1990	3	0	0	$368,047	1,002	1,000
1991	1	0	0	$904,217	1	1
1992	5	0	0	$4,281,264	2,991	1,806
1993	2	0	0	$1,437,015	368	53
1994	2	0	(D) 0	$363,708	4,250	4,250
1995	2	0	0	$890,529	3	3
1996	3	0	0	$961,127	6,566	6,566
1997	9	0	0	$15,707,972	6,486	3,858
1998	9	0	0	$12,980,236	11,270	9,535
1999	6	0	0	$6,075,260	4,243	3,999
2000	7	0	0	$21,778,150	2,296	2,290
2001	4	0	0	$1,532,049	6	6
2002	5	0	0	$2,212,659	137	19
2003	0	0	0	$0	0	0
2004	10	0	0	$86,871,508	11,916	10,455
2005	9	0	0	$31,986,486	1,043	1,043
2006	3	0	0	$15,849,002	569	569
2007	2	0	0	$777,262	11	0
2008 YTD	0	0	0	$0	0	0
Totals	86	0	0	$206,314,348	68,802	61,097
5 Year Average (2003-2007)	5	0	0	$27,096,852	2,708	2,414
10 Year Average (1998-2007)	6	0	0	$18,006,262	3,149	2,792
20 Year Average (1988-2007)	4	0	0	$10,315,717	3,440	3,055

• All Gas Transmission Systems
• Onshore Only
• Offshore Only

National Gas Transmission: Significant Incidents Summary Statistics: 1988-2008 YTD

Year	Number	Fatalities	Injuries	Property Damage (A) (B)
1988	39	2	9	$13,287,117
1989	40	22	28	$26,773,480
1990	46	0	17	$14,780,394
1991	29	0	11	$14,764,934
1992	42	3	14	$30,877,040
1993	50	1	16	$28,724,831
1994	45	0	22	$55,873,060
1995	32	2	7	$11,832,909
1996	43	1	5	$15,000,149
1997	33	1	5	$12,908,845
1998	51	1	11	$48,907,159
1999	38	2	8	$20,327,638
2000	54	15	16	$18,836,127
2001	50	2	5	$14,628,177
2002	56	1	4	$34,558,620
2003	69	1	8	$56,232,363
2004	62	0	2	$38,262,823
2005	109	0	5	$237,060,084
2006	79	3	4	$38,827,402
2007	76	2	7	$53,907,130
2008 YTD	46	0	3	$120,955,570
Totals	1,089	59	207	$907,325,861
5 Year Average (2003-2007)	79	1	5	$84,857,961
10 Year Average (1998-2007)	64	3	7	$56,154,753
20 Year Average (1988-2007)	52	3	10	$39,318,515

National Gas Transmission Onshore: Significant Incidents Summary Statistics: 1988-2008 YTD

Year	Number	Fatalities	Injuries	Property Damage (A) (B)
1988	31	2	9	$6,707,494
1989	29	4	15	$16,303,907
1990	36	0	15	$12,752,888
1991	27	0	11	$14,456,387
1992	32	3	14	$13,078,380
1993	43	1	16	$21,762,671
1994	34	0	15	$53,262,153
1995	22	0	7	$8,269,519
1996	34	1	5	$12,589,358
1997	26	1	5	$11,068,642
1998	40	1	11	$40,150,999
1999	34	2	8	$19,370,527
2000	45	15	16	$16,897,783
2001	45	2	5	$12,977,700
2002	40	1	4	$21,306,317
2003	61	1	8	$52,523,788
2004	43	0	2	$10,045,994
2005	63	0	5	$133,927,001
2006	60	3	4	$29,028,775
2007	55	2	7	$39,477,042
2008 YTD	36	0	3	$103,564,812
Totals	836	39	185	$649,522,145
5 Year Average (2003-2007)	56	1	5	$53,000,520
10 Year Average (1998-2007)	49	3	7	$37,570,593
20 Year Average (1988-2007)	40	2	9	$27,297,867

National Gas Transmission Offshore: Significant Incidents Summary Statistics: 1988-2008 YTD

Year	Number	Fatalities	Injuries	Property Damage (A) (B)
1988	8	0	0	$6,579,622
1989	11	18	13	$10,469,573
1990	10	0	2	$2,027,506
1991	2	0	0	$308,546
1992	10	0	0	$17,798,660
1993	7	0	0	$6,962,159
1994	11	0	7	$2,610,907
1995	10	2	0	$3,563,389
1996	9	0	0	$2,410,791
1997	7	0	0	$1,840,202
1998	11	0	0	$8,756,160
1999	4	0	0	$957,110
2000	9	0	0	$1,938,344
2001	5	0	0	$1,650,477
2002	16	0	0	$13,252,303
2003	8	0	0	$3,708,574
2004	19	0	0	$28,216,828
2005	46	0	0	$103,133,082
2006	19	0	0	$9,798,627
2007	21	0	0	$14,430,088
2008 YTD	10	0	0	$17,390,758
Totals	253	20	22	$257,803,716
5 Year Average (2003-2007)	23	0	0	$31,857,440
10 Year Average (1998-2007)	16	0	0	$18,584,160
20 Year Average (1988-2007)	12	1	1	$12,020,648

National Gas Gathering: Significant Incidents Summary Statistics: 1988-2008 YTD

Year	Number	Fatalities	Injuries	Property Damage (A) (B)
1988	3	0	2	$357,672
1989	4	0	0	$2,521,064
1990	1	0	0	$505,163
1991	4	0	1	$761,211
1992	6	0	1	$1,590,649
1993	1	0	1	$0
1994	5	0	0	$1,543,146
1995	3	0	3	$152,662
1996	0	0	0	$0
1997	3	0	0	$515,256
1998	7	0	0	$3,272,651
1999	2	0	0	$387,973
2000	3	0	2	$999,140
2001	6	0	0	$11,204,402
2002	4	0	1	$1,353,379
2003	3	0	0	$2,004,378
2004	12	0	1	$35,512,213
2005	18	0	2	$154,202,256
2006	12	0	1	$11,304,786
2007	10	0	0	$5,512,694
2008 YTD	8	0	0	$45,592,794
Totals	115	0	15	$279,293,495
5 Year Average (2003-2007)	11	0	1	$41,707,266
10 Year Average (1998-2007)	8	0	1	$22,575,388
20 Year Average (1988-2007)	5	0	1	$11,685,035

National Gas Distribution: Significant Incidents Summary Statistics: 1988-2008 YTD

Year	Number	Fatalities	Injuries	Property Damage (A) (B)
1988	111	23	114	$17,825,763
1989	97	20	91	$11,758,501
1990	66	6	52	$9,675,590
1991	80	14	77	$9,438,913
1992	66	7	65	$7,957,180
1993	88	16	84	$19,140,963
1994	98	21	91	$67,810,761
1995	68	16	43	$12,691,191
1996	84	47	109	$19,188,644
1997	69	9	67	$13,987,075
1998	97	18	64	$21,489,280
1999	88	16	80	$29,849,714
2000	98	22	59	$25,394,484
2001	69	5	46	$14,001,510
2002	65	10	44	$25,301,812
2003	104	11	58	$23,059,405
2004	122	18	41	$41,405,153
2005	104	14	39	(E) $537,171,369
2006	72	16	26	$19,862,069
2007	92	9	36	$23,434,503
2008 YTD	80	3	39	$49,416,711
Totals	1,818	321	1,325	$999,860,602
5 Year Average (2003-2007)	99	14	40	$128,986,500
10 Year Average (1998-2007)	91	14	49	$76,096,930
20 Year Average (1988-2007)	87	16	64	$47,522,195

Notes

1. Costs in the current year (2008) are nominal (as reported). The costs for incidents prior to 2008 are presented in 2007 dollars. Cost of Gas lost is indexed via the Energy Information Administration, Natural Gas City Gate Prices. All other costs are adjusted via the Bureau of Economic Analysis, Government Printing Office inflation values.
2. For years 2002 and later, property damage is estimated as the sum of all public and private costs reported in the 30-day incident report. For years prior to 2002, accident report forms did not include a breakdown of public and private costs so property damage for these years is the reported total property damage field in the report. All costs prior to 2008 are expressed in 2007 dollars. Costs in current year (2008) are nominal.
3. Net Barrels Lost applies only to Liquid incidents and is the difference between Gross Barrels Lost and Barrels Recovered.
4. Does not include 1,851 injuries that required medical treatment reported for the October, 1994 accidents that were caused by severe flooding near Houston, Texas.
5. Approximately 94% of the Property Damage for Gas Distribution Incidents in 2005 was caused by flooding in New Orleans. The $466.5 million associated with this incident represents lost gas and operator property damage, but does not include damage to public and private property caused by the flooding.

Sources

1. Natural Gas Wellhead, City Gate, and Imports Prices 1949-2007. Release date: July 29, 2008.
2. Gross Domestic Product (Chained) Price Index. Table 10.1 GDP & Deflators Used In the Historical Tables: 1940-2012 (FY2000=1.000). Index verified on Aug 15, 2008.
3. PHMSA Hazardous Liquid Filtered Incidents File - October 14, 2008
4. PHMSA Gas Transmission Filtered Incidents File - October 14, 2008
5. PHMSA Gas Distribution Filtered Incidents File - October 14, 2008

See Pipeline Incidents and Mileage Reports for more pipeline safety reports.