Monday’s pipeline explosion in Deer Park radiated a glaring light on pipeline security, or in some cases, the lack of it.
The above-ground valve that police said an SUV collided with appeared to have been protected only by a chain-link fence that the vehicle breached.
SEE MORE: Deer Park pipeline blast witnesses describe airborne SUV
“That’s not saving no one. (It’s) just a fence,” Lakeisha Reece, who lives nearby, said.
Some have questioned why only a fence stood between the valve and vehicles.
“We’re looking at something in hindsight,” Michael Felt, whose company, Energy Specialists Consulting, designs pipelines, said. The company wasn’t involved in the pipeline’s design involved in Monday’s explosion.
Eyewitness News asked Felt what would have stopped someone from intentionally driving a vehicle into the pipeline valve.
“I don’t think there’s anything that can stop an intentional act. The best thing you can do is try to design to prevent anything from happening, whether it’s intentional or unintentional,” Felt said.