PSE Lineman
07-29-2006, 11:30 AM
Pipeline Workers Burned In Electrical Accident
July 27, 2006
By Kevin Reece
KOMO News , Seattle Wa.
ARLINGTON ,Wa.- Six pipeline workers were nearly electrocuted Thursday when their construction equipment either touched or got too close to high-voltage power lines.
The accident happened east of Arlington underneath the Bonneville Power Administration's 230,000-volt Snohomish-to-Murray line.
Arlington Fire Department Chief Jim Renkin said the workers were unloading sections of gas pipeline when the accident happened.
The two most seriously injured were airlifted immediately to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. Two more were taken to the same hospital a few hours later. Two others who suffered less serious injuries were taken to an Everett hospital.
"When you have high voltage such as this you don't have to touch the line to go to ground," said Rankin. "It can jump sometimes, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10 feet."
The workers are part of a massive gas pipeline replacement project by the Williams Pipeline Company.
The workers are subcontractors replacing 268 miles of 26-inch diameter pipe between Sumas and Washougal.
According to the company's web site, it is part of a "capacity replacement project" in response to orders issued by the Office of Pipeline Safety after two failures in the line in 2003.
The names and conditions of the six injured were not immediately available. Rankin says he was told that, remarkably, none of the injuries were considered life threatening.
I know this isn't linemen in trouble , but these guys have to be aware of the hazards of working in the right of way. In a different area , same company , same day, a track hoe got into a single phase and blew a 15 T on a 7.2 kv line in Whatcom county to the north about 50 miles away and no one got hurt that we know of. You can just imagine , steel crane , steel line , steel pipe...
July 27, 2006
By Kevin Reece
KOMO News , Seattle Wa.
ARLINGTON ,Wa.- Six pipeline workers were nearly electrocuted Thursday when their construction equipment either touched or got too close to high-voltage power lines.
The accident happened east of Arlington underneath the Bonneville Power Administration's 230,000-volt Snohomish-to-Murray line.
Arlington Fire Department Chief Jim Renkin said the workers were unloading sections of gas pipeline when the accident happened.
The two most seriously injured were airlifted immediately to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. Two more were taken to the same hospital a few hours later. Two others who suffered less serious injuries were taken to an Everett hospital.
"When you have high voltage such as this you don't have to touch the line to go to ground," said Rankin. "It can jump sometimes, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10 feet."
The workers are part of a massive gas pipeline replacement project by the Williams Pipeline Company.
The workers are subcontractors replacing 268 miles of 26-inch diameter pipe between Sumas and Washougal.
According to the company's web site, it is part of a "capacity replacement project" in response to orders issued by the Office of Pipeline Safety after two failures in the line in 2003.
The names and conditions of the six injured were not immediately available. Rankin says he was told that, remarkably, none of the injuries were considered life threatening.
I know this isn't linemen in trouble , but these guys have to be aware of the hazards of working in the right of way. In a different area , same company , same day, a track hoe got into a single phase and blew a 15 T on a 7.2 kv line in Whatcom county to the north about 50 miles away and no one got hurt that we know of. You can just imagine , steel crane , steel line , steel pipe...