IN A REPORT adopted earlier this month, the US government's National Transportation Safety Board confirmed that the cause of the pipeline rupture in Carlsbad, New Mexico, in 2000 was "the significant reduction in pipe wall thickness and severe internal corrosion due to El Paso Natural Gas Company's (EPNG) failure to prevent, detect, or control internal corrosion within the company's pipeline." The NTSB goes on to say that: "contributing to the accident were ineffective Federal inspections of the company's internal corrosion control programme that did not identify deficiencies." On Saturday, 19 August, 2000, the 30-in gas transmission pipeline operated by El Paso Natural Gas Co ruptured adjacent to the Pecos River near Carlsbad, New Mexico. The released gas ignited and burned for 55 minutes. Twelve people camping under a concrete-decked steel bridge that supported the pipeline across the river were killed, and their three vehicles destroyed. Two nearby steel suspension bridges for gas pipelines crossing the river were also extensively damaged.
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