to be increased from 3psi to 11psi. The action resulted in a surge through the knock out drum at the base of the stack, causing residual oil and naphtha to be blown up the stack, covering the top catwalk and approximately the top 60 feet of the stack in burning petroleum. The safety professional was severely burned and fell through the stack main access ladder components and iron work 115 feet to the ground. The occurrence did not result in a fatality, however, fire damaged the stack and petroleum contaminated the surrounding base area. On March 4, a natural gas pipeline exploded and burned, near West Chester, Iowa, ejecting a 40 foot long section of pipe. There were no injuries. An 18-inch natural gas transmission pipeline failed underneath the Florida Turnpike in West Palm Beach, Florida, resulting in a 2-hour road closure. On April 4, a dredge struck and ruptured a gas transmission pipeline, under Lake Pontchartrain, Louisiana. The gas ignited, seriously burning 3 of the crew of the dredge. On April 18, a 24-inch natural gas transmission pipeline pulled out of a compression coupling, during a line-lowering project under Iowa State Highway 181, in a rural area, near Dallas, Iowa. Within seconds, the natural gas ignited and burned a by area. Two cars, a pickup truck, and a trailer housing construction equipment were destroyed. A backhoe was damaged and windows were broken in a nearby farmhouse. Five of the eight injured workers were hospitalized. The gas company's accident records indicated that this 24-inch pipeline had experienced 12 previous failures since it was constructed. On April 20, a series of explosions, and a fire, struck a Sunoco pipeline terminal in Toledo, Ohio. Some nearby residents fled their homes, and telephone service was disrupted. On May 11, 2 explosions and a following fire killed 7 people, injured 19 others, and destroyed 3 buildings in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Soil erosion under an 8-inch cast iron gas main caused the main to break and release gas. On May 13, a 36-inch Colonial Pipeline ruptured, releasing of fuel oil that damaged vegetation, and killed fish, near Spartanburg, South Carolina. Cracks made in the railroad shipping of the pipe before installation were the cause. On May 19, tank truck drivers waiting at an Amoco terminal heard a bang, then saw a 3-foot side stream of gasoline pour down a nearby hillside in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Train traffic