Below is a list of gas mains damage accidents in the USA caused by digging/excavation activities that happened between 2000 and 2014. All involve construction crews accidentally puncturing pipelines and subsequently injuring themselves and causing substantial damages to surrounding properties and the environment.

2000

• For the second time in 24 hours, a state contractor building a noise wall along the I-475 in Toledo, Ohio struck an underground pipeline, and for a second time the contractor blamed faulty pipeline mapping for the accident. In this incident, the pipe was a 6-inch gas pipeline. The crew was digging a hole with an auger for a noise-wall support on September 8, when it hit the underground pipe less than 500 meters from the previous day’s incident.
• A Bulldozer ruptured a 12-inch diameter NGL pipeline on Rt. 36, south of Abilene, Texas, on September 7. An Abilene police detective, with 21 years of service, was severely burned when the vapors ignited, and later died. Nearby, a woman saved herself by going underwater in her swimming pool. Her house was destroyed by the explosion and fire. The owner of the pipeline, ExxonMobil, was later fined by the Texas Railroad Commission for the pipeline not being marked.

2001

• On August 12, a bulldozer hit a 14 inch LP gas pipeline near Weatherford, Texas, causing a massive fire. One person was injured.

2002

• On February 8, a trenching machine with a new rock bit being tested hit a 20-inch gas transmission pipeline in Noble County, Oklahoma, causing an explosion that killed the trencher operator.

2003

• Excavation damage to a natural gas distribution line resulted in an explosion and fire in Wilmington, Delaware on July 2. A contractor hired by the city of Wilmington to replace sidewalk and curbing, dug into an unmarked natural gas service line with a backhoe. Although the service line did not leak where it was struck, the contact resulted in a break in the line inside the basement of a nearby building, where gas began to accumulate. A manager for the contractor said that he did not smell gas and therefore did not believe there was imminent danger and that he called an employee of the gas company and left a voice mail message. At approximately 1:44 p.m., an explosion destroyed two residences and damaged two others to the extent that they had to be demolished. Other nearby residences sustained some damage, and the residents on the block were displaced from their homes for about a week. Three contractor employees sustained serious injuries. Eleven additional people sustained minor injuries.
• On July 16, a 12 3/4-inch pipeline burst in Barnes County, North Dakota, releasing 9,000 barrels of propane, which ignited. There were no casualties. During repairs, mechanical damage was seen on 2 nearby section of this pipeline.

2004

• A vandal started up a trackhoe at a construction site in New Caney, Texas, and dug into a propylene pipeline on September 26. The escaping propylene ignited, causing nearby residents to evacuate. There were no injuries reported.
• A construction crew ruptured a high-pressure gas line in Little Rock, Arkansas on November 1, near one of the state’s busiest intersections Monday, triggering a fire that melted traffic lights that hung overhead. No one was injured.

2005

• On March 16, a crew installing a communications cable nicked a gas distribution pipeline in Moon Township, Pennsylvania. The crew then notified the local One Call for digging center, but, failed to alert first responders. 2 hours after the nick, gas exploded in a home, burning 2 teenagers there.

2006

• On September 29, a crew replacing an old pipeline hit a high pressure gas pipeline in Labette County, Kansas, killing a crewman. Resident with a milre of the incident were evacuated for a time.
• A jet-black, 300-acre (1.2 km2) burn site surrounded the skeletal hulk of a bulldozer that struck a natural-gas pipeline during construction of another pipeline, on November 11, and produced a powerful explosion near Cheyenne, Wyoming. The bulldozer operator was killed. The company building the new pipeline was fined $2.3 million for failing to obtain a locate on the other pipeline.
• On December 19, a lineman for Midwest Energy hit a natural gas transmission pipeline near Mason, Michigan. The lineman was killed in the following explosion & fire.

2007

• On Feb 17, in a rural area of Harris County, Texas, a Tennessee Gas Pipeline transmission pipeline was damaaged, and later exploded and burned. Grass fires spread across a three-square mile rural area. There were no injuries.
• On March 29, 2007, near Yutan, Nebraska, a pipeline was hit by construction equipment. About 1,697 barrels of natural gasoline was lost.
• May 16: 63,000 US gallons (240,000 L) of gasoline spilled into an old stripping pit that covers a three-acre area in Coal Township, Pennsylvania. The Kerris and Helfrick company owns the property where the gas leak occurred, and the excavator, was working for the company when he accidentally ruptured the Sunoco Logistics 14-inch petroleum pipeline. The gasoline was mostly absorbed into areas of soil, fill and coal strippings at the site. Several residents made U.S. Rep. Christopher P. Carney aware of complaints about gasoline odors in residential basements. “Moreover, many residents are legitimately concerned about groundwater contamination as well as a host of future problems associated with the spill,” Carney wrote to Department of Environmental Protection Secrearty Kathleen McGinty.[150] The pipeline was installed in 1964 by the Atlantic Richfield Co.(ARCO) and purchased in 1990 by Sunoco. On Sept. 29, the PADEP Environmental Cleanup program finalized a consent order and agreement with Mallard Contracting, which included a $45,000 civil penalty covering both DEP’s response costs and a fine for violations of the Pa. Solid Waste Management Act.

2008

• A crew boring to install a new gas main hit an existing 4-inch gas line in McKinney, Texas on May 16. Escaping gas caused 2 homes to explode, and 1 other home to catch fire. 3 people were burned from this incident.
• Workers constructing a new pipeline hit an existing natural gas pipeline in Wheeler County, Texas, on September 9. 2 workers were burned by this accident.

2010

• On June 7, a 36-inch gas pipeline explosion and fire in Johnson County, Texas, was caused by workers installing poles for electrical lines. One worker killed, and six were injured. Confusion over the location and status of the construction work lead to the pipeline not being marked beforehand.
• On June 8, construction workers hit an unmarked 14-inch gas gathering pipeline near Darrouzett, Texas. Two workers were killed.
• A construction crew installing a gas pipeline in Roberts County, Texas hits an unmarked pipeline on August 25, seriously burning one man.

2011

• A crew working on a waterline hit a gas distribution pipeline in Fairborn, Ohio on November 12, leading to a gas explosion that killed one man, and injured 5 others, including children.

2012

• A contractor excavating for a communications company caused a massive gas explosion and fire at a condominium complex on January 16 in West Haverstraw, New York, injuring 2 firefighters & 2 utility workers. Afterwards, it was found that the excavator’s insurance will be insufficient to cover all of the property damage of the incident.
• Workers in Topeka, Kansas were installing a yard sprinkler system on January 30, hit a gas line. Gas from the leak later on exploded in a nearby home, burning a 73-year-old woman, who died several weeks later.
• On August 28, a Atmos Energy repair crew struck an 8-inch gas main in McKinney, Texas, causing a fire. 4 Atmos workers were treated for injuries. 1,000 Atmos gas customers lost gas service for a time.
• On September 24, an excavator struck a 4 inch natural gas line on Route 416 in Montgomery, New York. Escaping gas ignited, and it was 1 1/2 hours until the gas was shut off. There were no injuries.
• The operator of an excavator machine narrowly escaped serious injury in Lewiston, Idaho on November 19, when his machine hit a gas pipeline during road work. The resulting fire destroyed a railroad signal, along with several telephone poles, and road construction equipment. The depth of the pipeline has been misjudged at that location.
• On November 30, a heavy equipment operator punctured a 12-inch gas transmission pipeline, near the city of Madera, California. The adjacent highway, along with several rural roads, was shut down for hours, while homes and businesses in the area were evacuated.

2013

• On January 15, a utility crew struck & ruptured a 4 inch gas pipeline in Lewisville, Texas, causing a nearby home to explode later on. The explosion killed a man.
• An independent contractor installing fiber-optic cable for a cable company in Kansas City, Missouri inadvertently struck an underground gas line on February 19. Gas later caught fire, and created an explosion that destroyed a popular local restaurant, killing one of the workers there, and injuring about 15 others near the scene.
• Atmos Energy crews dug into a 4 inch gas pipeline in Overland Park, Kansas on September 2, causing an explosion and fire. There was no major damage or injuries.
• On September 24, a Denton TX city water utility worker ruptured a 1/2 inch gas pipeline in Denton, Texas, which immediately caused a fire that gave the worker minor burns. There was no other significant damage.
• A Chevron operated 10 inch LPG pipeline was ruptured by contractors for the company installing a Cathodic protection system, near Milford, Texas, on November 14, causing a large fire, and forcing the evacuation of Milford and 200 students of a nearby school. A nearby 14 inch pipeline was threatened by the failure, but, did not fail. There were no injuries reported.

2014

• On March 6, contractors working for Shell Oil Company hit Shell’s Houston-to-Houma (Ho-Ho) crude oil pipeline near Port Neches, Texas, spilling 364 barrels of crude oil.
• On April 17, a private excavator accidentally cut a gas line while doing some work in Union Township, Ohio on April 17. The man suffered second degree burns to the upper portion of his body. There was no damage to any buildings.