One month after an Enbridge pipeline exploded in Lincoln County, KY, killing one person and hospitalizing five others, officials have begun an investigation of the impact to public health. A team from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) along with state and local health officials are interviewing first responders and those who live near the site about health impacts.
The CDC team arrived over the weekend and will be conducting interviews in the area until September 20. One concern is the air quality during and after the explosion.
The chemical composition of smoke varies depending on what is burning, how much oxygen is available, and the burn temperature. The severity of chemical Inhalation Injuries depends on the location and duration of each person’s exposure.
Lincoln County Director of Emergency Management Don Gilliam told WKYT that he and his deputy, who both responded to the call that day, developed upper respiratory issues a couple of days later.
Enbridge Pipeline Explosion
Just after 1:30 a.m. on August 1, 2019 an Enbridge gas pipeline exploded near Moreland, KY, about 40 miles south of Lexington. Lisa Denise Derringer, 58, from Stanford was killed in the blast. Five others were hospitalized with serious injuries.
Flames shooting 300 feet in the air engulfed six buildings. The fireball was so enormous it was picked up on Louisville weather radar.
The pipeline is part of the Texas Eastern Transmission pipeline which is operated by Enbridge Inc. of Calgary, Canada. It’s the supply line for New York City and covers more than 9,000 miles between the Gulf of Mexico and Pennsylvania. It’s also pretty old.
Construction on the pipeline began during World War II and its age has led to other recent failures.
In January, a section of the pipeline in Noble County, Ohio exploded injuring two people. And in 2016, an explosion near Salem Township, Pennsylvania left one person severely injured. Federal investigators determined that corrosion was the cause of that blast.
“These pipelines are not suddenly supposed to blow apart,” Explosion lawyer Fred Pritzker told the Kentucky Herald Leader. He and Eric Hageman represented one of the people injured in a previous explosion on the Texas Eastern pipeline. If you need help after suffering an injury or the wrongful death os a family member, call us at 1 (888) 377-8900 (toll-free), send a text to 612-261-0856, or complete the form below. The consultation is free and there is no obligation.
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