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KAPOWW! In Cloud Town!

Page history last edited by Peggy Olson 12 years, 1 month ago

The piece of granite was 8 feet long, 20 inches wide and 5 inches high. 

 

A slab big enough to be responsible for killing four people, injuring eleven others, destroying six buildings and compiling property losses of $400,000.

 

What happened that day...

 

December 11, 1998 was a clear, 36 degree day in St. Cloud, Minnesota.  Workers from Cable Constructors Incorporated (CCI) were subcontracted to drill a hole in the sidewalk to install a utility pole support anchor. The pole would ultimately hold a fiber optic communication system, which would be used for cable television, telephone and high speed internet access. 

 

 

Diagram of the excavation area. 

 

Before installation, the crew foreman determined the distance from the planned anchor site to the marked location of a gas pipeline owned by Northern States Power (NSP).  The measurement of the distance from the gas line to the excavation site was accurate.  After jackhammering a hole in the concrete sidewalk, the CCI crew used a gasoline powered auger to facilitate the placement of the ultility pole anchor.  Once 18" inside the sidewalk hole, the CCI crew hit something hard, which they thought to be rock.  The crew pounded on the pole, believing they had broken up whatever was stopping their progress.   Shortly thereafter, the workers noticed dirt blowing up out of the hole and a natural gas smell accompanying it. 

 

What the CCI crew did not know at the time was that their auger had struck a granite slab, which was not a natural structural component of the street foundation.  The auger tip had deflected off the hard granite, piercing a 1-1/2" plastic high pressure natural gas pipeline. 

 

  

The bent auger.

 

Photo of sidewalk crossection.

 

The crew entered nearby Book 'Em's Bar to use the telephone to call their project manager at CCI.  The CCI project manager told the foreman the current procedure was to:  notify the utility company, extinguish all possible ignition sources, isolate the area and possibly evacuate the vicinity.  At that time, the procedure did not dictate calling 911.

 

The project foreman advised four people in the bar to extinguish smoking materials and to not use the doorway near the ruptured gas line.

 

The CCI project manager then called Sirti, a company hired to provide oversight and engineering services to Seren Innovations, the company that had subcontracted the installation task to CCI.  These calls are reported to have taken place at 10:50-10:52 a.m., according to phone records.  The Sirti project manager then left for the accident site, as did the CCI project manager.  The CCI project manager placed a call to the NSP 800 number to report the leak at 11:21 a.m.

 

Meanwhile, back at the work site, the CCI foreman and his crew blocked off the area.  Traffic cones and orange tape were used to keep vehicular traffic from entering the area.  The CCI crew attempted to keep people away from the busy area very near the Stearns County Administration Building.  

 

Calls began to be placed to the  Stearns County Administration building about a strong gas smell.  The facilities director of the building went outside to investigate.  The CCI crew confirmed they had hit a gas line.  The director then called 911 and by 11:08 St. Cloud fire department was on the scene.   The fire department dispatcher informed NSP of the leak at 11:08, 13 minutes ahead of the CCI project manager's call.  While the fire department assessed gas levels in the area, the NSP trucks arrived.

 

The Explosion...

 

An NSP worker with a gas meter entered Book 'Ems Bar to check gas levels and made his way into the adjacent Bellanti's Pizza and Deli, proceding down to the basement.   At that moment, the escaping natural gas was ignited by an unknown source.  A block-wide explosion occurred at 11:29. 

 

According to the the Minnesota State fire marshal, the explosion occurred in the basement of the building where Bellanti’s Pizza was located. The basement walls were made of stacked stones and crumbling mortar. According to the report, gas collected in the basement of the building and was ignited by an unknown source, though there were several potential sources of ignition, including gas water heaters.

 

In addition to the building containing Bellantti’s Pizza and Deli, the explosion destroyed the buildings containing Book Em’s Bar, Tom’s Bar, and Bartsh Bail Bonds, and the two buildings containing the Hall Law Offices The blast also damaged the Stearns County court facilities building and the buildings housing Taco John’s and Howies Bar.

 

 

An aerial view of the explosion site. 

 

Three firefighters were outside the buildings in their truck at the time of the explosion. They reported there was no fire, but that they could see little because their vehicle was immediately enveloped in a cloud of dust.  Because they were certain there had to be injuries, they requested ambulance service.

 

Two NSP workers, Robert Jacobs and Karl Klang were killed in the explosion.  Additionally, Delbert Rose, a tenant in an apartment above Bellanti's was killed.  Across the street, a postal worker on her lunch hour, Carolyn Sanquist was fatally wounded in the Taco John's parking lot.  One person, an office worker in Hall Law Offices, was seriously injured when debris pinned her to her desk.  Ten others sustained minor injuries as a result of the explosion.

 

The Aftermath

 

The National Guard sent troops to provide security for the area after the explosion.  The city of St. Cloud was in a hurry to raze the entire block because of hazardous waste concerns, primarily asbestos and mercury vapor from lights.   The business owners were pressured to make the decision to give up their business sites in order to facilitate the demolition.

 

The affected businesses were forced to relocate.  Dan Wedin, of Book 'Ems Bar relocated a few blocks away. 

 

 

Current site of Book 'Ems Bar

 

The city of St. Cloud bought out Tom's Bar so it would no longer be in business on the site.  Bellanti's Pizza was not yet open for business.   Bartosh Bail Bonds owner Robyn Bartosh had to re-locate away from the prime spot of being near the courthouse.  She eventually closed her business, because of her lack of proximity to the court house.  Howie's Bar stayed in its location, but was forced by the city to ensure the building had adequate structual support at his own expense.   Eventually, the Housing and Redevelopment Authority bought the four parcels of land affected by the explosion.

 

 

The explosion site today

 The Conclusion...

 

The explosion investigation was conducted by the National Trasportation Safety Board, because pipelines are considered forms of transport.  NTSB officials respond to pipeline explosions if there is a safety conern, deaths or high monetary damage estimates.

 

The NTSB report concluded the following:

 

  • Cable Constructors, Inc.’s anchor installation procedures were inadequate in that they did not address steps to take under unusual circumstances (such as striking a significant underground obstacle) to ensure that buried utilities were protected during

          the entire installation process.

 

  • Had the crew foreman or his supervisor called 911 or the utility owner immediately after the rupture, emergency responders and Northern States Power personnel may have had time to fully assess the risk and to take actions that could have helped either to prevent the explosion or to avoid the resulting loss of life.

 

  • The St. Cloud Fire Department responded quickly to the scene of the leak; however, once on the scene, the firefighters’ actions did not fully address the risk to people and property posed by the leak or reduce the consequences of a possible fire or explosion.

 

  • Had the gas line in this accident been equipped with an excess flow valve, the valve may have closed after the pipeline ruptured and the explosion may not have occurred.

 

As a result of the explosion, OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) changed their workplace recommendations to rquire that 911, or other local emergency response number be called immediately if the damage results in the release of natural gas or other hazardous substance or potaneially endangers life, health or property.

 

What else was happening in December 1998?

 

On December 11 and 12, 1998, the United States House Judiciary Committee approved four articles of impeachment against President Bill Clinton. The articles alleged Clinton of committing perjury and obstruction of justice, dating back to the Paula Jones lawsuit involving the incident with Monica Lewinsky. In the days prior, attempts were made by Clinton’s lawyers and multiple panels of witnesses testifying on the President’s behalf to dismiss the issue. On December 18, 1998 the House of Representatives put the four articles to vote; two articles of impeachment were passed.

 

On January 7, 1999 the impeachment trial of President Clinton began. The trial lasted over a month until a decision was made. By a close vote, President Clinton was found not guilty and acquitted of the perjury and obstruction of justice charges on February 12, 1999.

 

 

Also on December 11, 1998:  A Thai Airways Airbus A310-200 crashes near Surat Thani Airport, killing 101. 
  

The number one song on the charts?

 

R. Kelly and Celine Dion - I'm Your Angel  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Awe2MQkL45c

 

 

Popular Televsion Shows?                                                                                  

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also killed on December 11, 1998?

 

Lead singer Lynn Strait, 30, of the hardcore music group Snot was killed in a car crash on Friday, December 11, 1998. Though some details are still unknown, according to Sean Henning, the band's co-manager, Strait was exiting the 101 freeway between his hometown of Santa Barbara and Carpinteria when his Ford Tempo collided with a truck at approximately 1 p.m. The ensuing three-vehicle crash resulted in the death of Strait. Also killed was Strait's dogDobbs, who fans know from his appearance on the cover of Snot's Geffen debut album Get Some (May 1997) and who became the band's mascot and symbol.  

 

 

Sources:

Aeikens, Dave. "Survivors Gather to Mourn." St. Cloud Times [St. Cloud, MN] 11 Dec 1999, 1A. Print.

 

Aeikens, Dave. St. Cloud Times [St. Cloud, MN] 14 Dec 1998, 1A. Print.

 

Aeikens, Dave. St. Cloud Times [St. Cloud, MN] 13 Dec 1998, 1A. Print.

 

Polatnik, Gordon. "Lynn Strait Page." Fuller Up, The Dead Musician's Directory. N.p., 2011. Web. 18 Feb 2012. http://elvispelvis.com/lynnstrait.htm.

 

United States Government. NTSB. Pipeline Accident Report. Washington, D.C.: NTSB, 2000. Print. http://www.ntsb.gov/doclib/reports/2000/PAR0001.pdf.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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