An opinion piece by Safire, as part of "a series of hardline columns denouncing the financial backing being given Moscow by Germany and Britain for the Trans-Siberian Pipeline, a major natural gas pipeline from Siberia to Europe. That project would give control of European energy supplies to the Communists, as well as generate US$8 billion a year to support Soviet computer and satellite research." - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farewell_Dossier#CIA_response
Now quoting from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/At_the_Abyss#Sabotage_allegati... "it was caused by poor construction rather than sabotage ... Another point of criticism of the sabotage allegations is that, according to Prof. V.D. Zakhmatov, an explosion safety expert who has overseen the safety measures on many of the Soviet oil and gas pipelines built in the Eighties,[4] at the described timeframe Soviet Union simply didn't practice digital control of its pipeline system. Most of the control was manual, and whatever automation was used utilized the analog control systems, most of which worked through pneumatics."
Now quoting from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/At_the_Abyss#Sabotage_allegati... "it was caused by poor construction rather than sabotage ... Another point of criticism of the sabotage allegations is that, according to Prof. V.D. Zakhmatov, an explosion safety expert who has overseen the safety measures on many of the Soviet oil and gas pipelines built in the Eighties,[4] at the described timeframe Soviet Union simply didn't practice digital control of its pipeline system. Most of the control was manual, and whatever automation was used utilized the analog control systems, most of which worked through pneumatics."