WASHINGTON — A gas explosion leveled a Southeast, D.C. convenience store Thursday morning, leaving neighbors and nearby business owners shaken.
While federal data shows gas pipelines explosions and incidents cause more than a billion dollars’ worth of damage a year in the U.S., the cause behind Thursday's explosion in Anacostia is still rare.
The Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration within the Department of Transporation tracks gas pipeline explosions closely. Their most recent data is from 2022, when there were 629 total pipeline incidents across the country. Of those, 265 were deemed "significant" due to deaths or damage caused.
Of those significant pipeline incidents:
- 40% were attributed to a material, welding, or equipment failure.
- 23% were due to corrosion.
- 4% were blamed on damage caused by a vehicle
DC Fire Chief John Donnelly said initial investigation found that Thursday's explosion was caused by a car hitting a gas meter.
The number of gas leak explosions tied to vehicles may be small, but it still costs big bucks. The damage in 2022 cost $13 million, out of $1.1 billion worth of damage done by all pipeline explosions that year.
The federal data shows there were only three significant pipeline explosions or incidents in D.C., Maryland and Virginia in 2022, meaning what happened Thursday is still very rare.
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