Cleburne natural gas explosion kills three, injures others

Three people are dead and others may be injured after a natural gas line exploded in Cleburne earlier this month.  According to the Cleburne City Manager, workers hit the gas line by mistake while working on a communications line.

Three workers died as a result of the explosion, and six other people had to be taken to local hospitals.  Their condition is not known, and others may have been killed or hurt in the eruption.

Natural gas line explosions are something of a problem in Texas.  There are allegations that explosions have been caused by faulty compression couplings (there are three million of these couplings in Texas alone).  Compounding the problem, many gas explosion victims claim that they did not smell a gas leak before they were hurt in a natural gas fire.

This has led some experts to question whether or not enough mercaptan is used in natural gas that flows underground in Texas.  Mercaptan is the chemical that is added to natural gas to give it a sulfurous or “rotten egg” smell, so people can detect a leak by smell before it becomes deadly.  Without mercaptan, natural gas is colorless and odorless, which makes it very dangerous.

The Cleburne deaths and the many other natural gas explosion injuries and fatalities across Texas beg the question: is enough being done to keep workers and residents safe?  It appears that more can be done to ensure the safety of all Texans who use natural gas or work around it.