The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) opened the public docket Thursday as part of its ongoing investigation of the fatal, August 1, 2019, natural gas transmission pipeline rupture and fire near Danville, Kentucky.
The docket for this investigation includes more than 3,600 pages of factual information, including reports on pipeline operations, integrity management, metallurgical testing, and emergency response efforts. The docket also includes interview transcripts, photographs, employee training records, and other investigative materials.
The docket contains only factual information collected by NTSB investigators; it does not provide the final report, nor does it contain analysis, findings, recommendations, or probable cause determinations. As such, no conclusions about how or why the rupture occurred should be drawn from the information within the docket. Analysis, findings, recommendations, and probable cause determinations related to the rupture will be issued by the NTSB in a final report at a later date.
A 30-inch pipeline owned and operated by Enbridge Inc., ruptured and released natural gas that ignited. One person was fatally injured in the accident that destroyed five residences, damaged 14 other residences, and burned about 30 acres of land, including railroad tracks.
According to a report from the Associated Press, the victim, Lisa Denise Derringer, 58, may have seen or heard the blast and tried to flee. High heat initially prevented the police from recovering the victims’ body, and firefighters spent hours battling the fire.
