Article in Pioneer Press on July 20, 2002
(Talks about an archived picture.)

The caption below this picture indicated the following information.  "As Ditch Caves In, Walter Carlson, 54, of [address], was injured Friday when a ditch in which he was working caved in.  He was reported in serious condition in St. John's hospital."  It was reported that he was buried up to his neck.  It is not known whether he recovered or died.  This picture was originally printed in November, 1956.

Article in the Stoutonia (UW-Stout campus newspaper) on October 4, 2001
Title - Natural gas leak causes evacuation

"At 11:30am on Oct. 1, gas shot out of the ground at the intersection of Broadway and 13th Avenue West...The gas line was severed when a sub-contractor was drilling a hole to pour cement for the new stoplight at that intersection, said Fire Chief of Menomonie, Chuck Vind."

"...according to Vind the pipe was mis-labeled by Digger's Hotline..."

"I don't think they [students] took it very seriously...[students] were walking through the scene smoking cigarettes."

Article in the Pioneer Press on December 19, 1998.
Title - US West still looking for phone line break

By driving anchors into the ground, a construction crew accidentally cut 256 fiber optic and over 10,000 copper phone lines.

"...cable cuts temporarily knocked out 911 services, took down state lottery ticket machines, cut Wells Fargo bank off from 22 branches and made calls between many points pretty much impossible."

"Workers were shoring up timbers supporting a side of the excavation.  One or more anchors driven into the earth horizontally to support the timbers cut US West's lines..."

"We don't know exactly where the cables have been cut, Hisley said.   Our crews have to go through a number of inches of concrete and dig up the earth to expose the cables.  They will work on that through the night.  When they find the cut, they'll have to fuse 288 fiber optic lines.  They will also be doing some splicing.  Each of the three or four copper cables that were severed contains 3,600 pairs of wires."

Article in the Dunn County News on October 4, 1998.
Title - Ameritech: Call hotline before you dig

"...Although there are still too many cable cuts, we're making tremendous improvement in reducing the number of these incidents."

"...So far this year, 2,581 incidents have been reported in Ameritech's five-state region, including Wisconsin, compared with 2,980 for the same period last year...The 57 companies with the largest number of cable cuts have reduced incidents by 50 percent."

These numbers suggest that the average number of cut communication lines per year in five states is about 3,300.  The people that cut these lines either didn't know they were there or they were careless when digging around them.   One can imagine the extend of the hazards if the number of cut natural gas lines are close to this number.

Pioneer Press, Saturday, December 12, 1998
Title - St. Cloud gas main explosion kills four

An excavating crew accidentally hit a gas line while installing fiber-optic cabling.  Apparently, the crew were excavating near the gas line when a piece of equipment hit a rock and slipped into the exposed gas line rupturing it.   The gas made a loud sssssssssshhhhhhhhh noise.  People began to evacuate the area.  About 20 or 30 minutes after the gas line was ruptured, the gas exploded.   It leveled 3 buildings, killed 4 people and seriously injured many more.

"Ralph Braegelmann heard the bang, felt the air move and was thrown 20 feet before hitting a brick wall....He escaped with only 12 stitches to the back of his head and a baseball-sized bruise on his right thigh.  'I won the lottery, is what I did.'  He said considering his luck."

"...excavation and construction activities are the single largest cause of accidents to pipelines."

"The next thing I (Michael Samuelson) knew, there was a wall of debris coming at me,"  he said.  He said that wall made a 'whooshing sound' as bricks, dirt, broken glass and other debris hurtled at him through his driver's side window and slammed into his face....When the explosion stopped, I was amazed I was alive."

Excavation statistics contained in the article included: 
   July 22, 1993 Three are killed and dozens injured when a Public Works Department crew doing routine sewer work severs an NSP natural gas line.
   October 29, 1972 Six killed and nine hurt when a construction crew, at Lake City Ben Franklin, severs a natural gas line setting off an explosion.

Follow-up on Litigation from St. Cloud Explosion:

Source: Associated Press, 2004, Lawsuits stemming from '98 blast settled, (Pioneer Press article), January 1, 2004, p. 4B

Six lawsuits were filed which included three wrongful death lawsuits.  The lawsuits named NSP, Seren Innovations, Cable Constructors Inc., and Sirti Limited as defendants.  Just before trials were to begin to determine who was liable, all six lawsuits were settled out of court with all the defendants except for one.  Details of the settlement are confidential.

Article in the Dunn County News August 5, 1998.
Title - Gas pipe cut in city; 100 evacuated

So, you don't think accidents happen near home?  A backhoe, here in Menomonie WI, cut a 2-inch gas line forcing the evacuation of about 100 people.

"An estimated 100 people were evacuated from their homes Thursday when a city crew cut a natural gas pipe in East Menomonie.  The Menomonie Fire Department received a call at 5:55pm that a backhoe had (cut) a 2-inch gas line at 2908 Plum Tree Circle."