State finds CenterPoint violated four procedures in Christmas Eve carbon monoxide event

Libby Cunningham, The Evening News and the Tribune, Jeffersonville, Ind.
·4 min read

Feb. 22—SOUTHERN INDIANA — The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission's Pipeline Safety Division has released the findings of its investigation into the carbon monoxide issues in Clark and Floyd counties on Christmas Eve.

The IURC determined CenterPoint Energy committed four violations that led to the issues that day.

Per state law the maximum penalty for these violations is a $125,000 fine.

According to the IURC's investigation, sometime around Dec. 23 and 24 of last year, CenterPoint did not heat the liquid propane it was mixing with natural gas to the proper temperature, and didn't have the proper sensor, or failsafe catch, to alert anyone that the propane wasn't at the right temperature.

The IURC said liquid propane needs to be heated to 140 degrees or higher for proper vaporization, but data showed CenterPoint only heated it to around 120 degrees. Due to this, when CenterPoint began injecting the propane into natural gas on Dec. 23 and 24, they were injecting more than they realized into its system. The propane was likely still a liquid when it entered the system and then re-vaporized.

"Unfortunately, CenterPoint was unable to give the Division specifics on how much liquid propane was in the system on Dec. 23 and 24," the IURC wrote.

According to the Town of Clarksville, its first responders transported four people to the hospital because of carbon monoxide exposure on Dec. 24 and took more than 100 emergency calls for gas-related issues. High emergency call volumes were reported in New Albany as well. People reported malfunctioning appliances at their homes and businesses, some that shot flames into the air.

The IURC said it found the gas company, "Failed to properly operate its propane peak shaving plant located in the Clarksville Operating Service Area, inadequately heating its propane, resulting in too rich of a mixture being injected into their distribution system. As a result, it failed to meet NFPA 59 Section 9.4.2 (2) which requires redundant controls to prevent the introduction of petroleum vapor and liquids into gas distribution lines in quantities that could cause improper combustion in consumer appliances. These controls were not properly in place and resulted in this significant event."

Initially, CenterPoint officials blamed improper ventilation of appliances and customer appliances for the issues.

Earlier this month the gas company told the News and Tribune a third-party company that was hired to investigate the incident determined the issues were due to an incorrect mixture of gas at its Jeffersonville facility.

"We have ceased operations at our Jeffersonville propane air facility and that facility will remain shut down through the end of 2023 as we assess its future," Ashley Babcock, vice president of Indiana and Ohio Gas, told the News and Tribune earlier this month. "We have secured an appropriate gas supply for New Albany, Clarksville and Jeffersonville."

Additionally, the IURC said CenterPoint committed a violation when it "failed to properly train and maintain a liaison" between CenterPoint and first responders in Clark and Floyd counties.

CenterPoint failed to keep records to document compliance, which requires procedures for handling abnormal operations, resulting in another violation from the IURC.

The final violation the IURC found is that CenterPoint didn't report to the Pipeline Safety Division within one hour of the issues on Christmas Eve.

State lawmakers Rep. Rita Fleming, D-Jeffersonville, and Rep. Ed Clere, R-New Albany, both said they think CenterPoint needs to fully refund people who incurred costs due to the situation.

The gas company has asked people to contact them and report issues.

"I have a constituent who was without heat for a month (after the incident)," Clere said. "She was finally able to scrape together the money to replace her boiler. Now CenterPoint is offering to pay half the cost. I don't care how old her boiler was, that fact is it was working until this happened."

Clere said he's not surprised by what he saw in the report and, "I was expecting a lot of what's in the report; it's good to see it in an official report."

"(CenterPoint) needs to step up and do the right thing," Clere said. "They should be thankful they're not dealing with wrongful death claims. I would like to see the IURC require CenterPoint to send an IURC-approved notice to every customer in the affected area, notifying customers of what happened and that they may able to to receive compensation."

Both Clere and Fleming said there are constituents who may be affected by the issue but don't know it.

"I also want to make sure that our first responder departments and emergency medical folks who responded are compensated as well," Fleming said. "It was unfortunate it happened on Christmas Eve. They responded in such an amazingly efficient way."

The lawmakers said they're also interested in seeing CenterPoint's response.

"It will be interesting to see how quickly CenterPoint will address these safety concerns," Fleming said. "There are substantial fines because of their violations."