Colorado Revising Pipeline Regulations After Fatal Gas Explosion

DENVER (AP) — Colorado regulators are starting work on new rules for thousands of pipelines that crisscross oil and gas fields in the aftermath of a fatal home explosion blamed on a gas leak.

The state Oil and Gas Conservation Commission will hold the first of two meetings with industry representatives and the public to discuss the rules Thursday.

The rules will include standards for designing, testing and permanently shutting down flow lines, which carry oil or gas from wells to tanks and other gathering equipment.

A public hearing is scheduled for Dec. 11 and 12, and the commission could vote on the rules after that.

The rules are in response to an April explosion in Firestone that killed two people. Investigators blamed the explosion on natural gas leaking from a flow line.