It’s very safe, according to speakers at Friday’s all-day natural gas conference, sponsored by HawaiiGas. 

“The LNG industry has one of the best safety records in the world,” said Arthur Ransome, vice president of a company that provides consulting services to the global liquefied natural gas industry. 

He said the last major incident was in the 1940s when there was an accident in Cleveland. 

An explosion killed 128 people. 

Civil Beat did a little research and it turns out that while the LNG shipping industry might have a good safety record, there have been numerous accidents around the world since that incident, including a fire in New York that killed 37 construction workers.

Here’s a list of LNG accidents from the California Energy Commission: 

Explosions and Fires

• October 1944, Cleveland, Ohio – At the Cleveland peak-shaving plant a tank failed and spilled its contents into the street and storm sewer system. The resulting explosion and fire killed 128 people. The tank was built with a steel alloy that had low-nickel content, which made the alloy brittle when exposed to the extreme cold of LNG.
• 1964 and 1965 Methane Progress.– While loading LNG in Arzew, Algeria, lightning struck the forward vent riser of the Methane Progress and ignited vapor which was being routinely vented through the ship venting system. A similar event happened early in 1965 while the vessel was at sea shortly after leaving Arzew. In both cases, the flame was quickly extinguished by purging with nitrogen through a connection to the riser.
• 1969, Portland, Oregon – An explosion occurred in an LNG tank under construction. No LNG had ever been introduced into the tank. The cause of the accident was attributed to the accidental removal of blinds from natural gas pipelines which were connected to the tank. This led to the flow of natural gas into the tank while it was being constructed.
• January 1972, Montreal East, Quebec, Canada – A back flow of natural gas from the compressor to the nitrogen line occurred during defrosting operations at an LNG liquefaction and peak shaving plant. The valves on the nitrogen were not closed after completing the operation. This caused over-pressurization of the compressor and the natural gas entered the control room (where operators were allowed to smoke) through the nitrogen header. An explosion occurred when an operator tried to light a cigarette.
• February 1973, Staten Island, New York– While repairing the interior of an empty storage tank, a fire started. The resulting increase in pressure inside the tank was so fast that the concrete dome on the tank lifted and then collapsed down inside the tank killing the 37 construction workers inside.
• October 1979, Cove Point, Maryland – A natural gas leak caused an explosion killing one plant employee and seriously injuring another and causing about $3 million in damages.
• April 1983, Bontang, Indonesia – A rupture in an LNG plant occurred as a result of overpressurization of the heat exchanger caused by a closed valve on a blowdown line. The exchanger was designed to operate at 25.5 psig. When the gas pressure reached 500 psig, the exchanger failed and the explosion occurred.
• August 1987, Nevada Test Site, Mercury, Nevada – An accidental ignition of an LNG vapor cloud occurred at the U.S. Department of Energy Test Site during large-scale tests involving spills of LNG. The cloud was accidentally ignited and damaged and propelled polyurethane pipe insulation outside the fence.
• June 2004, Trinidad, Tobago – Workers were evacuated after a gas turbine at Atlantic LNG’s Train 3 facility exploded.
• July 2004, Ghislenghien, Belgium – A pipeline carrying natural gas from the Belgian port of Zeebrugge to northern France exploded, resulting in 23 known fatalities. The cause of the incident is still under investigation but it appears that a contractor accidentally damaged the pipe.
• March 2005, District Heights, Maryland – A Washington Gas company-sponsored study released in July 2005 pointed to subtle molecular differences in the imported liquefied natural gas the utility began using in August 2003 as the cause of a house explosion.