Portion of pipe to be sent to lab

Tests will focus on why a repair joint failed, spraying fumes and oil that ignited and killed two welders.

By Larry Oakes, Star Tribune

Last update: December 1, 2007 - 11:58 AM

CLEARBROOK, MINN. - A leaking section of pipeline that caused a deadly fire on Wednesday will be cut out and sent to a laboratory for tests, a state official said Friday.

Two welders were killed when leaking fumes and oil from the Enbridge Energy Inc. pipeline erupted into towering flames.

The incident forced the company to shut down that pipeline and three others nearby as the fire raged for about 12 hours. The three nearby lines have since been restarted, and Enbridge spokesman Larry Springer said Friday that Line 3 may be ready to carry oil again by next week.

The cleanup continued Friday on spilled oil that Minnesota Pollution Control Agency officials said would cause minimal environmental damage.

Clearwater County Sheriff Mike Erickson said fellow employees saw Steve Arnovich, 35, and Dave Mussatti Jr., 27, both Enbridge employees from Superior, Wis., run from the flames and then "go down" as they were overtaken.

The two were part of a 19-person crew involved in repairing a section of pipe where a pinhole leak had been discovered, officials said.

Darren Lemmerman, chief engineer for the Minnesota fire marshal's pipeline safety team, said Friday that the crew had partially replaced a section of the pipe using a repair coupling device known as a PlidcoWeld-Plus. The workers had attached the coupling and were refilling the pipe with oil at reduced pressure when the fire ignited.

The oil was supposed to keep O-rings sealing the repair joints cool and undamaged as Arnovich and Mussatti welded the joints to complete the repair. The Plidco company's website (www.plidco.com) says it is safest to do such welds when the line is operating rather than empty. They had not yet begun to weld when the fire ignited, possibly sparked by the running engine of a nearby pickup, Erickson said.

Minnesota Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Kristine Chapin said it probably will be several weeks before the department completes and releases a full report focusing on the cause of the leak, how the men died and other factors.

Larry Oakes • 1-218-727-7344

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