A single event that took place in East Texas in 1937 would forever change the way natural gas is distributed across the United States.
On March 18, 1937, the recently-built New London School exploded in what is considered one of the worst school tragedies to ever take place. Since so much time has passed since this incident—84 years—it has, unfortunately, been widely forgotten (except within the natural gas industry).
However, more than 300 people died because of that explosion—most of them children. A slow natural gas leak built up and no one knew the gas was present because in its native state, natural gas is odorless. This was before utilities were required to add an odorant to the gas so people would be able to detect its presence.
Near the end of the school day, a shop teacher turned on a sander and a spark ignited the gas, destroying most of the school. The roof was said to be lifted off the building and the main wing of the school collapsed.
While this event is certainly tragic for the hundreds of families who lost loved ones in the blast, it served as a pinnacle moment in history. Politicians and natural gas distribution companies knew something had to be done to prevent an accident like this from ever happening again.
In 1968, Congress created the Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS) to oversee and implement pipeline safety regulations. The Federal Pipeline Safety Regulations require combustible gases in some pipelines be odorized or contain a natural odorant.
Because of this legislation, the odorant mercaptan is now regularly added to our natural gas distribution system. If you’ve never smelled mercaptan before, you can easily recognize it because it smells like rotten eggs 🤢.
We receive the liquid mercaptan twice a year—once in the fall and once in the spring—from our supplier, Chevron Phillips. Our Gas Distribution Operations team is charged with receiving the mercaptan and adding it to our holding tanks at our five gate stations, located primarily in the eastern part of the city.
Thank you to all our natural gas workers—from our planner analysts to our engineers to the construction crews and emergency responders—for the huge role you play in keeping our community safe daily.