Regular Maintenance Could Have Prevented Pipe Blast

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YOURSAY | 'Placing blame on soil movement unacceptable.'
Putra Heights inferno: Ex-minister says Petronas should still be held liable
Phoenix: I have dealt with Petronas for the last 20 years, and what I’ve seen, especially in the last 10 years, is that there is a huge push to save costs, at the expense of reliability and maintenance activities.
In developed countries, there are soil movement detectors fitted to monitor these pipelines.
Remember the Sabah gas pipeline? Billions were spent and are now abandoned.
Maybe it’s the powers that be that cause Petronas to take this mindset because of politicking.
Properly run and accountable oil and gas companies invest in the latest and safest technologies to prevent such incidents.
It’s a sorry state of what Petronas has become. As usual, they say, luckily there are no lives lost, or else there is culpability for the deaths. We deserve better.
OCT: Petronas may not be the culprit, but another party is. The underlying soil shouldn't be the cause if the surrounding area is not disturbed.
Petronas has been laying pipes across the country and no such incident has happened before.
The pressure and weight of these big pipes exert a very heavy load directly beneath and sideways.
In this incident, there were digging activities nearby by the contractor(s) that weakened the soil.
When this happened, it affected the stability and support of this big pipe. The result caused the underlying and side soil to weaken. The joint is affected.
A leak sprang out. The rest is history.
The report is a whitewash on the root cause of the disaster. Soil movement cannot happen if there is no disturbance to the status quo.
This is also not an act of God. It is the disturbance by a third party. It looks like the government doesn't want to find out the root cause of the fire. It is basic physics 101.
The question is, was the report prepared by professional consultants of engineers and geologists?
Fellow Malaysian: The entire 2,623km peninsular gas utilisation pipeline is constructed under a reserved corridor, which is strictly regulated to be free of human activity or encroachment.
This means that Petronas, as the proprietor and operator of the gas pipeline, assumes complete responsibility for the safe operations of the pipeline.
This includes being accountable for liabilities where negligence is found to be a causing factor in cases of disasters like the Putra Heights inferno.
Sampehpagi: I have some questions.
1. Is there any encroachment on the gas pipelines? Where’s the approval for access to carry out work in the gas pipelines reserves? What’s the excavator doing there?
2. Why the excessive groundwater? Who’s monitoring the groundwater? And who’s to take preventative action?
3. Cyclical loadings, ductile fatigue, welded joint breakage and soil movements. This creates more anxieties, panics and fears for those living near gas pipelines. What’s the Occupational Safety and Health Department’s (Dosh) advice or recommendation? Who are Dosh’s petroleum experts?
Knucklehead: Well said, former environment minister Yeo Bee Yin, Petronas is liable! They run the pipelines there and across many parts of Malaysia.
They can’t just wash their hands of this incident like it was an act of God. It wasn’t!
It was due to poor maintenance and a lack of proper checks to ensure everything was safe.
And why did it take so long to shut off the gas after the explosion?
The standard operating procedures and Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition System Scope have failed miserably!
Petronas has been quiet from the beginning. Why?
LG: Well done Puchong MP Yeo. Petronas should take full responsibility. Shame on them for the poor monitoring and maintenance.
Since Petronas comes under the Finance Ministry, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim should be liable for all the compensation.
The residents of Putra Heights should take Petronas to court.
Longjaafar: Agreed. Placing blame on soil movement is unacceptable. If so, why were there no preventive measures taken before?
Soil movement cannot happen overnight. Lack of maintenance by the gas pipeline owner.
World Citizen: If soil movement is the cause, we are all living on the cusp of potential disasters.
The keyword is maintenance.
Whether it is Petronas or the contractors, they should be held accountable for the regular inspection and maintenance of these pipelines. - Mkini

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