Meet Itziar Irakulis Loitxate, a 27-year-old Ph.D. student who is the closest thing the world has to climate police. A 🧵 on one of the foremost remote sensing scientists tracking #methane emissions who I profiled for @climate (🎁 link): https://t.co/cinS27SQWc

@WilliamsUpdates @climate @PHMSA_DOT @BillCaram @pstrust The climate impact from this leak was significant: by the time Williams isolated the line it had spewed so much methane that the short term climate impact was roughly equal to the annual emissions from 17,000 US cars.

@WilliamsUpdates @climate @PHMSA_DOT @BillCaram @pstrust PHMSA is also examining “the time it took the operator to respond to and isolate the release” as part of an investigation into the incident.

@WilliamsUpdates @climate @PHMSA_DOT “Over an hour is a long time to shut in a pipeline after a failure,” said @BillCaram, executive director of the non-profit @pstrust. “Rupture mitigation valves such as automatic or remote-controlled valves theoretically could have reacted much quicker.”

@WilliamsUpdates @climate @PHMSA_DOT The accident shows why PHMSA recently passed a rule that applies to large, new pipelines and replacements that requires operators to use valves that can automatically shut so leaks do not exceed 30 minutes.

@WilliamsUpdates @climate @PHMSA_DOT An incident report for the leak shows even though Williams immediately dispatched workers to two valves about 10 miles (16 kilometers) apart to isolate the ruptured segment, the upstream valve — which was remotely controlled — shut 29 minutes before the manual downstream one.

@WilliamsUpdates @climate @PHMSA_DOT Those include the use of manual or remotely controlled valves, the distance between valves and location of the release. The line involved in this October rupture runs under agricultural fields where the accident occurred in southern #Idaho.

@WilliamsUpdates @climate @PHMSA_DOT However, US pipeline operators are required to respond to and isolate leaks at the earliest practical moment possible, but because each network is unique, response times can depend on many factors.

@WilliamsUpdates @climate @PHMSA_DOT They're absolutely right about that. As a slightly wonky aside, excavator damage is one of the leading causes of pipeline incidents in the US. So be careful out there.

@WilliamsUpdates @climate First off, both Williams and regulator @PHMSA_DOT said the accident could have been prevented if the farmer had called a program that marks the location of underground pipes with paint or flags for homeowners prior to any excavation or digging work:

When a farmer accidentally ruptured a #naturalgas pipe while using an excavator 🚜 it took operator @WilliamsUpdates 65 minutes to isolate the leak. A 🧵 on tech that can potentially reduce these types of #methane leaks. 🎁 link to my latest for @climate:

NEW: House Democrats are opening an inquiry into Diversified Energy, warning the company's unusual business model poses risks to taxpayers and climate https://t.co/XykBHhOuKs @zachmider

I'll speak at the @climate panel: In the Era of Methane Tracking From Space, Will Accountability Follow? https://t.co/d2SivL5Cdk Please join myself and other speakers from @carbonmapper @MethaneData and @OGCInews on Wednesday at 11pm Tokyo/2pm London/9am New York.

Satellites that detect invisible methane emissions are set to play a significant role in holding polluters accountable for their climate impact. Join us for a live conversation on LinkedIn on December 13 at 9am EST ⬇️

🛰️ @UNEP’s Methane Alert and Response System turns satellite data into #ClimateAction. 🌎 Find out how it helped #CutMethane in Argentina. More from @aaronaclark1➡️ https://t.co/k2zJdSDacO

@Phillips66Co @zachmider @climate @carbonmapper @NASA @Space_Station @TCEQ @exxonmobil The @TCEQ said in February it would investigate why pipeline operator Targa Resources failed to report an unexpected release of tons of gas within 24 hours as required.

@Phillips66Co @zachmider @climate @carbonmapper @NASA @Space_Station @TCEQ .@exxonmobil said earlier this year it didn’t initially report a methane release in New Mexico to state regulators because someone forgot to file a form.

@Phillips66Co @zachmider @climate @carbonmapper @NASA @Space_Station @TCEQ .@Phillips66Co said it's investigating the incident to "prevent recurrences and ensure timely reporting to regulatory agencies." .@Phillips66Co isn’t the only energy company in the US that’s failed to initially disclose its emissions to regulators.

@Phillips66Co @zachmider @climate @carbonmapper @NASA @Space_Station @TCEQ The gas likely contained about 146 metric tons of #methane, an amount that would have had a similar short-term warming impact as the annual emissions from about 2,600 US cars, according to calculations by Bloomberg.

@Phillips66Co @zachmider @climate @carbonmapper @NASA @Space_Station .@climate identified a @Phillips66Co compressor station at the location and asked the company about the event Nov. 22. The company reported the emissions to regulator @TCEQ six days later.

@Phillips66Co @zachmider @climate The leak became public in late November after @carbonmapper published data showing a cloud of #methane spewing from a spot in rural Upton County, Texas. The finding was based on a scan of the region performed in August by @NASA's EMIT instrument attached to the @Space_Station.