Pipeline Safety Stakeholder Communications

PHMSA defines a serious pipeline incident as an event involving a fatality or injury requiring in-patient hospitalization.

The tables below show the number of Serious 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 File. (1)

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

There is also a designation for Significant Incidents which includes all serious incidents as well as incidents with specifically defined consequences beyond injury and fatality. This Significant Incident data set is designed for historical trending and includes adjustments to account for commodity cost fluctuations and general inflation. See Significant Pipeline Incidents for information on this larger set of incidents.

More Pipeline Incidents and Mileage Reports are available.

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• Hazardous Liquid
• Gas Transmission
• Gas Gathering
• Gas Distribution

National All Pipeline Systems: Serious Incidents: 1993-2012

Year	Number (A)	Fatalities	Injuries	Property Damage (B) (C)	Gross Barrels Spilled (Haz Liq)	Net Barrels Lost (Haz Liq) (D)
1993	67	17	111	$3,999,515	1,668	1,609
1994	76	22	120	$38,927,797	711	531
1995	59	21	64	$5,108,902	6,564	4,502
1996	63	53	127	$13,657,499	14,315	13,248
1997	49	10	77	$4,379,250	20,000	20,000
1998	70	21	81	$41,641,086	11,117	11,097
1999	66	22	108	$54,555,184	54,456	52,796
2000	62	38	81	$6,594,791	10,981	10,981
2001	40	7	61	$4,623,094	16,114	16,114
2002	36	12	49	$4,729,928	0	0
2003	61	12	71	$9,688,900	0	0
2004	44	23	56	$9,172,317	860	860
2005	39	13	47	$17,962,166	4,048	3,518
2006	32	19	34	$8,058,829	4,513	4,513
2007	43	15	47	$18,546,862	12,176	11,961
2008	37	8	55	$47,792,096	6,755	5,755
2009	46	13	62	$18,890,344	364	364
2010	34	19	104	$381,117,557	3,104	3,104
2011	34	12	55	$6,933,140	0	0
2012	29	10	55	$10,912,243	1,500	1,245
Totals	987	367	1,465	$707,291,500	169,246	162,198
2013 YTD	1	0	3	$47,220	0	0
3 Year Average (2010-2012)	32	14	71	$132,987,647	1,535	1,450
5 Year Average (2008-2012)	36	12	66	$93,129,076	2,345	2,094
10 Year Average (2003-2012)	40	14	59	$52,907,445	3,332	3,132
20 Year Average (1993-2012)	49	18	73	$35,364,575	8,462	8,110

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• All Hazardous Liquid Systems
• Onshore Only
• Offshore Only

National Hazardous Liquid: Serious Incidents: 1993-2012

Year	Number	Fatalities	Injuries	Property Damage (B) (C)	Gross Barrels Spilled (Haz Liq)	Net Barrels Lost (Haz Liq) (D)
1993	5	0	10	$54,015	1,668	1,609
1994	6	1	7	$3,700,000	711	531
1995	6	3	11	$3,555,000	6,564	4,502
1996	10	5	13	$1,301,147	14,315	13,248
1997	4	0	5	$1,587,500	20,000	20,000
1998	5	2	6	$12,140,000	11,117	11,097
1999	9	4	20	$50,614,000	54,456	52,796
2000	3	1	4	$433,000	10,981	10,981
2001	6	0	10	$3,767,431	16,114	16,114
2002	1	1	0	$7,000	0	0
2003	2	0	5	$200	0	0
2004	3	5	16	$2,964,678	860	860
2005	4	2	2	$9,188,476	4,048	3,518
2006	1	0	2	$740,000	4,513	4,513
2007	5	4	10	$9,025,110	12,176	11,961
2008	3	2	2	$41,511,268	6,755	5,755
2009	3	4	4	$5,961,046	364	364
2010	3	1	4	$559,452	3,104	3,104
2011	2	1	2	$10,500	0	0
2012	2	3	4	$2,836,777	1,500	1,245
Totals	83	39	137	$149,956,600	169,246	162,198
2013 YTD	0	0	0	$0	0	0
3 Year Average (2010-2012)	2	2	3	$1,135,576	1,535	1,450
5 Year Average (2008-2012)	3	2	3	$10,175,809	2,345	2,094
10 Year Average (2003-2012)	3	2	5	$7,279,751	3,332	3,132
20 Year Average (1993-2012)	4	2	7	$7,497,830	8,462	8,110

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National Hazardous Liquid Onshore: Serious Incidents: 1993-2012

Year	Number	Fatalities	Injuries	Property Damage (B) (C)	Gross Barrels Spilled (Haz Liq)	Net Barrels Lost (Haz Liq) (D)
1993	5	0	10	$54,015	1,668	1,609
1994	6	1	7	$3,700,000	711	531
1995	6	3	11	$3,555,000	6,564	4,502
1996	10	5	13	$1,301,147	14,315	13,248
1997	4	0	5	$1,587,500	20,000	20,000
1998	5	2	6	$12,140,000	11,117	11,097
1999	9	4	20	$50,614,000	54,456	52,796
2000	3	1	4	$433,000	10,981	10,981
2001	6	0	10	$3,767,431	16,114	16,114
2002	1	1	0	$7,000	0	0
2003	2	0	5	$200	0	0
2004	3	5	16	$2,964,678	860	860
2005	4	2	2	$9,188,476	4,048	3,518
2006	1	0	2	$740,000	4,513	4,513
2007	5	4	10	$9,025,110	12,176	11,961
2008	3	2	2	$41,511,268	6,755	5,755
2009	3	4	4	$5,961,046	364	364
2010	3	1	4	$559,452	3,104	3,104
2011	2	1	2	$10,500	0	0
2012	2	3	4	$2,836,777	1,500	1,245
Totals	83	39	137	$149,956,600	169,246	162,198
2013 YTD	0	0	0	$0	0	0
3 Year Average (2010-2012)	2	2	3	$1,135,576	1,535	1,450
5 Year Average (2008-2012)	3	2	3	$10,175,809	2,345	2,094
10 Year Average (2003-2012)	3	2	5	$7,279,751	3,332	3,132
20 Year Average (1993-2012)	4	2	7	$7,497,830	8,462	8,110

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National Hazardous Liquid Offshore: Serious Incidents: 1993-2012

Year	Number	Fatalities	Injuries	Property Damage (B) (C)	Gross Barrels Spilled (Haz Liq)	Net Barrels Lost (Haz Liq) (D)
1993	0	0	0	$0	0	0
1994	0	0	0	$0	0	0
1995	0	0	0	$0	0	0
1996	0	0	0	$0	0	0
1997	0	0	0	$0	0	0
1998	0	0	0	$0	0	0
1999	0	0	0	$0	0	0
2000	0	0	0	$0	0	0
2001	0	0	0	$0	0	0
2002	0	0	0	$0	0	0
2003	0	0	0	$0	0	0
2004	0	0	0	$0	0	0
2005	0	0	0	$0	0	0
2006	0	0	0	$0	0	0
2007	0	0	0	$0	0	0
2008	0	0	0	$0	0	0
2009	0	0	0	$0	0	0
2010	0	0	0	$0	0	0
2011	0	0	0	$0	0	0
2012	0	0	0	$0	0	0
Totals	0	0	0	$0	0	0
2013 YTD	0	0	0	$0	0	0
3 Year Average (2010-2012)	0	0	0	$0	0	0
5 Year Average (2008-2012)	0	0	0	$0	0	0
10 Year Average (2003-2012)	0	0	0	$0	0	0
20 Year Average (1993-2012)	0	0	0	$0	0	0

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• All Gas Transmission Systems
• Onshore Only
• Offshore Only

National Gas Transmission: Serious Incidents: 1993-2012

Year	Number	Fatalities	Injuries	Property Damage (B) (C)
1993	10	1	16	$40,000
1994	10	0	22	$27,300,647
1995	8	2	7	$50,000
1996	6	1	5	$4,306,000
1997	4	1	5	$1,110,000
1998	11	1	11	$19,533,000
1999	5	2	8	$195,184
2000	7	15	16	$1,846,096
2001	4	2	5	$0
2002	4	1	4	$219,949
2003	8	1	8	$2,141,135
2004	2	0	2	$71,400
2005	5	0	5	$602,730
2006	6	3	3	$3,172,500
2007	8	2	7	$4,596,283
2008	5	0	5	$228,252
2009	6	0	11	$1,818,179
2010	6	10	61	$376,452,115
2011	1	0	1	$1,413,979
2012	3	0	7	$737,403
Totals	119	42	209	$445,834,852
2013 YTD	0	0	0	$0
3 Year Average (2010-2012)	3	3	23	$126,201,166
5 Year Average (2008-2012)	4	2	17	$76,129,986
10 Year Average (2003-2012)	5	2	11	$39,123,398
20 Year Average (1993-2012)	6	2	10	$22,291,743

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National Gas Transmission Onshore: Serious Incidents: 1993-2012

Year	Number	Fatalities	Injuries	Property Damage (B) (C)
1993	10	1	16	$40,000
1994	9	0	15	$27,300,647
1995	7	0	7	$0
1996	6	1	5	$4,306,000
1997	4	1	5	$1,110,000
1998	11	1	11	$19,533,000
1999	5	2	8	$195,184
2000	7	15	16	$1,846,096
2001	4	2	5	$0
2002	4	1	4	$219,949
2003	8	1	8	$2,141,135
2004	2	0	2	$71,400
2005	5	0	5	$602,730
2006	6	3	3	$3,172,500
2007	8	2	7	$4,596,283
2008	5	0	5	$228,252
2009	6	0	11	$1,818,179
2010	6	10	61	$376,452,115
2011	1	0	1	$1,413,979
2012	3	0	7	$737,403
Totals	117	40	202	$445,784,852
2013 YTD	0	0	0	$0
3 Year Average (2010-2012)	3	3	23	$126,201,166
5 Year Average (2008-2012)	4	2	17	$76,129,986
10 Year Average (2003-2012)	5	2	11	$39,123,398
20 Year Average (1993-2012)	6	2	10	$22,289,243

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National Gas Transmission Offshore: Serious Incidents: 1993-2012

Year	Number	Fatalities	Injuries	Property Damage (B) (C)
1993	0	0	0	$0
1994	1	0	7	$0
1995	1	2	0	$50,000
1996	0	0	0	$0
1997	0	0	0	$0
1998	0	0	0	$0
1999	0	0	0	$0
2000	0	0	0	$0
2001	0	0	0	$0
2002	0	0	0	$0
2003	0	0	0	$0
2004	0	0	0	$0
2005	0	0	0	$0
2006	0	0	0	$0
2007	0	0	0	$0
2008	0	0	0	$0
2009	0	0	0	$0
2010	0	0	0	$0
2011	0	0	0	$0
2012	0	0	0	$0
Totals	2	2	7	$50,000
2013 YTD	0	0	0	$0
3 Year Average (2010-2012)	0	0	0	$0
5 Year Average (2008-2012)	0	0	0	$0
10 Year Average (2003-2012)	0	0	0	$0
20 Year Average (1993-2012)	0	0	0	$2,500

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National Gas Gathering: Serious Incidents: 1993-2012

Year	Number	Fatalities	Injuries	Property Damage (B) (C)
1993	1	0	1	$0
1994	0	0	0	$0
1995	2	0	3	$10,000
1996	0	0	0	$0
1997	0	0	0	$0
1998	0	0	0	$0
1999	0	0	0	$0
2000	1	0	2	$2,000
2001	0	0	0	$0
2002	1	0	1	$30,000
2003	0	0	0	$0
2004	1	0	1	$20,000
2005	1	0	2	$0
2006	1	0	1	$350
2007	0	0	0	$0
2008	0	0	0	$0
2009	0	0	0	$0
2010	0	0	0	$0
2011	0	0	0	$0
2012	0	0	0	$0
Totals	8	0	11	$62,350
2013 YTD	0	0	0	$0
3 Year Average (2010-2012)	0	0	0	$0
5 Year Average (2008-2012)	0	0	0	$0
10 Year Average (2003-2012)	0	0	0	$2,035
20 Year Average (1993-2012)	0	0	1	$3,118

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National Gas Distribution: Serious Incidents: 1993-2012

Year	Number (A)	Fatalities	Injuries	Property Damage (B) (C)
1993	51	16	84	$3,905,500
1994	60	21	91	$7,927,150
1995	43	16	43	$1,493,902
1996	47	47	109	$8,050,352
1997	41	9	67	$1,681,750
1998	54	18	64	$9,968,086
1999	52	16	80	$3,746,000
2000	51	22	59	$4,313,695
2001	30	5	46	$855,663
2002	30	10	44	$4,472,979
2003	51	11	58	$7,547,565
2004	38	18	37	$6,116,239
2005	29	11	38	$8,170,960
2006	24	16	28	$4,145,979
2007	30	9	30	$4,925,469
2008	29	6	48	$6,052,576
2009	37	9	47	$11,111,119
2010	25	8	39	$4,105,990
2011	31	11	52	$5,508,661
2012	24	7	44	$7,338,063
Totals	777	286	1,108	$111,437,698
2013 YTD	1	0	3	$47,220
3 Year Average (2010-2012)	27	9	45	$5,650,905
5 Year Average (2008-2012)	29	8	46	$6,823,282
10 Year Average (2003-2012)	32	11	42	$6,502,262
20 Year Average (1993-2012)	39	14	55	$5,571,885

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Notes

1. Gas Distribution incidents where fire/explosion was the primary cause of failure, such as a house fire that subsequently resulted in - but was not caused by - a distribution line failure are excluded from 2004 onward. This exclusion has not been applied in years prior to 2004 due to difficulty in identifying these types of events with the older report formats.
2. The costs presented here are nominal (that is, as reported by the Operator at the time of the incident) and are not adjusted to account for commodity cost fluctuations or general inflation.
3. 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.
4. Net Barrels Lost applies only to Liquid incidents and is the difference between Gross Barrels Spilled and Barrels Recovered.

Sources

1. PHMSA Flagged Incidents File - February 7, 2013. Note: Incidents occurring up to 30 days prior the Incident File source date may not appear in these reports due to the 30-day reporting period allowed by PHMSA regulation.

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