Company Seeks Cause of West Virginia Pipeline Explosion

The operator of a pipeline that exploded in Brooke County, W.Va., is seeking the cause of the blast.

Monday’s explosion sent flames shooting several hundred feet into the air. No injuries were reported.

Enterprise Products operates the ATEX Express pipeline. Enterprise spokesman Rick Rainey tells The Intelligencer and Wheeling News-Register that the 20-inch diameter pipeline collects ethane from four natural gas processing plants in the area.

Rainey says Enterprise investigators are working with the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration to determine why the pipeline failed.

The federal agency is a division of the U.S. Department of Transportation. Transportation spokesman Damon Hill tells the newspaper that the agency has an inspector on-site.

Rainey says Enterprise is awaiting regulators’ approval to repair the pipeline.