A 16-year-old drilled a hole into Tampa Bay Pipeline Corp.’s anhydrous ammonia pipeline around 5:30 p.m. Nov. 12, causing an ammonia leak that prompted the evacuation of hundreds of residents. Local reports were that reverse 911 calls went out to some 3,700 people seeking their evacuation.
According to the Hillsborough Sheriff’s Department, the youth, along with two male friends (ages 14 and 16), went to the area of Highway 301 and the Alafia River looking for money that the 16-year-old juvenile had heard was hidden in a pipe under the bridge. The 16-year-old had gone to the location on Sunday by himself and had attempted to drill into the pipe, but was unsuccessful. He returned on Monday with his friends to continue searching. The juvenile was drilling on the pipe when it began leaking, which resulted in him getting burned.
The youth went home and told a parent what had happened; he was then transported to Tampa General Hospital suffering from chemical burns.
The Sheriff said that it does not appear that the other two juveniles were involved in the drilling of the pipe. They went home and told their parents what had occurred, and their parents called the Sheriff’s Office.
The pipeline was sealed on the afternoon of Nov. 14, after officials waited until the pressure had fallen to safer levels and mixed propane to burn off the remaining ammonia. Earlier that day officials said the pressure had dropped to 20 pounds per square inch, but the figure was revised upward to 100 pp square inch and the repair work was postponed until the level dropped. The pipeline was capped by a specialized welder flown in from Houston, and work to repair the damage and reconnect the line was underway Nov. 15.
The 30-mile-long pipeline runs from Port Sutton in Tampa through Hillsborough County to Mosaic Co.’s New Wales phosphate processing plant, according to Mosaic spokesman David Townsend. Townsend said the plant was served by two pipelines, one from the north and the other from the south, and only the southern pipeline was affected. He said that line was shut off when the alarm sounded, and the company was able to continue production at normal rates, first using ammonia from storage tanks on site and then from the northern line.
“It was ridiculous for a kid to be able to do it,” Townsend said. He added that the money the youth was searching for was an “urban legend.”
The 16-year-old drilled on an exposed, eight-foot-length of pipe that crosses the Alafia River at Riverview in Hillsborough County. Officials said the other youths were just leaving the scene when the 16-year-old pierced the pipeline. All of the young men had heard the legend that a robber had used the pipe to store cash from a series of robberies before being arrested. However, one of the teens said he thought that the pipeline being drilled was the wrong pipe, because it was not capped at the end.
The 16-year-old received burns over 18 percent of his body and remained in a local hospital Nov. 15. Neither of the other two youths were injured.
Environmental officials said no damage to the river had been detected, but the ammonia could lead to growth of algae, which could cause problems at a later date.
The evacuation ended around 2 p.m. on Nov. 14, and residents were allowed to return home. However, some complained that they were not informed of the situation by the reverse 911 system and were not told of the problem even when they called complaining of the smell from the leak. In addition, they said they were not told a shelter had been set up for them and they had to spend the night in a parking lot.
In addition to the evacuation of about 3,700 residents, two schools, as well as a civic center and a recreation center, were closed for two days.
Security for the pipeline, and others in the county, was questioned by several local officials. State Sen. Rhonda Storms, a Republican representing the Riverview area, chastised the company after the second leak in four years. She and other officials called for additional security for all pipelines in the state. Previously, a man seeking to tap into the pipeline to obtain ammonia for making methamphetamine caused an explosion, releasing 90 tons of ammonia (GM March 22, 2003). It was discovered that he operated the largest meth plant ever discovered in the state. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Storms and other officials questioned whether increased security should be required, especially if pipelines could be attacked by terrorists, considering this one had been damaged by an unwitting juvenile.
The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Administration, a branch of the National Transportation Security Board, regulates the pipeline, and the Transportation Security Administration was apparently responsible for security, along with the company. Actual national security requirements for the pipeline are either vague or nonexistent.
Law enforcement officials had not decided whether to charge the 16-year-old, but he could face felony criminal mischief charges. Tampa Pipeline Corp. officials told the local media they would not seek financial reimbursement from the boy’s family. In addition, the company said it would pay expenses of residents who were forced to evacuate.
The pipeline was installed in 1981; 1,800 tons of ammonia flow through the 0.28 inch-thick pipe daily.
Tampa Pipeline officials could not be reached for comment, because the telephone went unanswered and no message could be left.