Natural Gas Line Inspection

[TechMan]

Okay, we got a call from an automated system telling us that technicians were going to be in our area to inspect our natural gas line.  Our local utility is Duke Energy (blah).  So I called the number back and waited on hold for 15 minutes until I got a live body.  I gave my information to the lady and she stated that they need to inspect our inside gas meter, I said there's one problem we have an outside gas meter.  She told me they still need access to inspect the pipes as this is a requirement of the city, but the recording said it was a federal requirement.  This is a contract company for Duke Energy.  I said let me speak to somebody at Duke, so she gave me a number which turned out to be the same number I called.   I did some google-fuing and found notices from various police departments about this so it does seem legit.  

From the information that I found that this inspection is a requirement of the US Department of Transportation.  Why the hell is the USDOT involved in pipeline inspections?

ETA:  We have lived in our house since late 2005 and this is the first time that we have ever had this inspection.

[Boomhauer]

I know up to the meter they own it (just like power) but after that is a good question...I don't see why they would have any access.

[Tallpine]

Don't let them in the house 

[Hawkmoon]

Don't let them in the house 

Agreed. They have no responsibility after the meter. If the meter is outside, they can look at everything they need to see out there. They don't have any need or reason to be looking at YOUR pipes.

[TechMan]

SWMBO and I are of the same mindset, we don't want them in our house when the meter is outside.  It used to be inside, but when they replaced the pipe from cast iron to plastic they couldn't make the 90 degree turn into my house so they moved the meter to the outside.  I have a feeling that Duke's data has never been updated.

I also found where the USDOT is involved in pipelines and why we are experiencing this inspection (see bolding):

Legislative Authority
Two statutes provide the framework for the Federal pipeline safety program. The Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act of 1968 as amended (NGPSA) authorizes the Department to regulate pipeline transportation of natural (flammable, toxic, or corrosive) gas and other gases as well as the transportation and storage of liquefied natural gas (LNG). Similarly, the Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Safety Act of 1979 as amended (HLPSA) authorizes the Department to regulate pipeline transportation of hazardous liquids (crude oil, petroleum products, anhydrous ammonia, and carbon dioxide). Both of these Acts have been recodified as 49 U.S.C. Chapter 601.
 
Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act of 1968
 
Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Safety Act of 1979
 
Pipeline Safety, Regulatory Certainty, and Job Creation Act of 2011

[Tallpine]

I doubt you have any "pipelines" inside your house 


Either just a case of mistaken / outdated records, or the DHS is trying yet another detour around the 4th Amendment.  You know about all the encouragement for various repair/delivery/etc persons to report "suspicious" stuff in people's homes 

[charby]

I know in Iowa if your interior gas pipes are not to code the utility company can not provide you with gas.

[Scout26]

I thought the .gov was shutdown?  How come the pipeline inspectors are still working ?

[vaskidmark]

I know in Iowa if your interior gas pipes are not to code the utility company can not provide you with gas.

Isn't that a function of the building inspector, who issues a certificate of hability if everything passes?  From then after, unless you do something that requires a permit, the inspector's certificate remains in force.

DOT has jurisdiction over pipelines.  Onceit passes through a meter the gas is no longer in a pipeline.  Show me the warrant, copper!

stay safe.

[charby]

Isn't that a function of the building inspector, who issues a certificate of hability if everything passes?  From then after, unless you do something that requires a permit, the inspector's certificate remains in force.

DOT has jurisdiction over pipelines.  Onceit passes through a meter the gas is no longer in a pipeline.  Show me the warrant, copper!

stay safe.

Violations are usually found when a home is sold, or inspected after a furnace/water heater replacement.

[RoadKingLarry]

 
There's been an uptick in unexplained NG explosons in homes around the country in the last year or so...
 

[vaskidmark]

Violations are usually found when a home is sold, or inspected after a furnace/water heater replacement.

So you are saying that the building inspectors are not doing their jobs properly?  (not sure if that's typed with sarcastic fingers or not)

stay safe.

[lupinus]

Isn't that a function of the building inspector, who issues a certificate of hability if everything passes?  From then after, unless you do something that requires a permit, the inspector's certificate remains in force.

DOT has jurisdiction over pipelines.  Onceit passes through a meter the gas is no longer in a pipeline.  Show me the warrant, copper!

stay safe.

I'll go with this for 1000 Alex

[Scout26]

There's been an uptick in unexplained NG explosons in homes around the country in the last year or so...
 

Actually, quite a few of them have been because the owners are underwater on their mortgage(s) and getting the insurers to pay off the note(s) is seen as a cheap and easy option.  My parents live about 1.5 miles from where this happened in Indy.  There was insulation from the explosion in their yard.  (Along with them hearing the earth-shattering KA-BOOM.)

The pictures tell the story.  Two people (in a neighboring house were killed).

http://www.newser.com/story/159729/indy-couple-allegedly-blew-up-their-own-house.html


BTW, Picture two is not the blast house but the house two houses down.  I've driven through about a month after it happened.  Lots of blast damage all over the neighborhood. Insurance Co's wrote lots of checks.

[230RN]

They tampered with the gas fireplace and the microwave?

How did they get the microwave --if that was involved in the timing -- to set it off?

Or is that a question I shouldn't ask.

[Gewehr98]

They did the same thing Steven Seagal did with the microwave in Under Siege.   

[230RN]

^ So tell me... what was done with the microwave in Under Siege?

[K Frame]

About 10, 15 years ago a family in McLean, Virginia, went to Europe for a month long vacation. No one in the community really knew them well, and had no way to get in touch with them.

Late week 1, early week 2, their house, due to a gas leak (origin never truly determined, I don't think), blew up in a very spectacular fashion. Did a lot of damage to various houses in the community, etc.

Family came back to an empty lot and a lot of confusion.

[Gewehr98]

Steven Seagal's character put a glass of vodka/alcohol in there with a brillo pad.

The alcohol vapors came out of solution with the heating, and the brillo pad arced. 

(Of course, that's totally Hollywood...)

[never_retreat]

Steven Seagal's character put a glass of vodka/alcohol in there with a brillo pad.

The alcohol vapors came out of solution with the heating, and the brillo pad arced. 

(Of course, that's totally Hollywood...)

Got an old microwave that can die for the cause? (science of course)

[fifth_column]

Got an old microwave that can die for the cause? (science of course)

Yes, yes I do . . . . .


Looks like I've got plans for the weekend after all!!!   

[AJ Dual]

Got an old microwave that can die for the cause? (science of course)

Probably plenty of Yewtoobs out there of people trying it if you search.

123a Lithium batteries are my favorite. 

[Hawkmoon]

There's been an uptick in unexplained NG explosons in homes around the country in the last year or so...
 

So you are saying that the building inspectors are not doing their jobs properly?  (not sure if that's typed with sarcastic fingers or not)

Generally, building inspectors do their jobs, but manufacturers may not help. I just attended a seminar on gas (natural and propane) last week. Mention was made of the rather pronounced "uptick" in gas fires in houses in recent years. One big culprit is the (relatively) new thinwall, corrugated stainless steel gas tubing (CSST) that's being used. The walls are VERY thin, and if the stuff is run near anything else that's metallic and not well bonded, if there's a lightning strike anywhere nearby there may be an arc between the metallic something and the gas pipe. The arc burns a hole right through it, releasing gas and starting a fire.

I investigated one such maybe five years ago. In the course of the investigation, my boss had a hunch and spent an entire day on the Internet, and visiting the biggest electrical supply houses in the area. What he found out: the manufacturer's instructions said to bond the gas pipe to the building ground system, BUT ... there are NO U.L. approved devices to connect said bond wire to the pipe. Plus -- it's a violation of the electrical code for anyone but an electrician (or the homeowner him/herself) to be tinkering inside the breaker panel box, so IF this stuff is bonded at all, it's done by whatever the installer happened to have on hand.

We are now in the second generation of the stuff, and the type that I investigated is no longer being sold. The new stuff is only marginally better.

What I find curious is how so many houses that are located under water still seem to catch fire or explode ...