CONSUMERS ENERGY CO

Incident Narrative

ON OCTOBER 3, 2022, AT APPROXIMATELY 13:23 HOURS CONSUMERS ENERGY RECEIVED NOTIFICATION OF A NATURAL GAS PIPELINE DAMAGE NEAR INTERSTATE HIGHWAY 94 (I-94) AND PORTAGE STREET, KALAMAZOO (KALAMAZOO COUNTY) MICHIGAN. A GAS SERVICE WORKER (GSW) WAS DISPATCHED AND ARRIVED ONSITE AT APPROXIMATELY 13:42 HOURS. THE GSW CONFIRMED A THIRD-PARTY CONTRACTOR CUTTING IN A NEW ENTRANCE RAMP TO I-94 DAMAGED A NATURAL GAS PIPELINE, WHICH WAS LATER DETERMINED TO BE A 6-INCH STEEL HIGH PRESSURE PIPELINE. THE ROADWAY WAS ALREADY CLOSED TO TRAFFIC WHEN THE DAMAGED OCCURRED DUE TO THE ON-GOING CONSTRUCTION. POLICE AND FIRE DEPARTMENTS WERE ONSITE AND ENSURED NO CONSTRUCTION VEHICLES USED THE CONSTRUCTION ENTRANCES INTO THE AREA. AIR TRAFFIC INTO THE LOCAL AIRPORT WAS ALSO DIVERTED TO PREVENT THE POTENTIAL FOR INJURY. NO FATALITIES OR INJURIES OCCURRED BECAUSE OF THE PIPELINE DAMAGE AND SUBSEQUENT GAS RELEASE. A DISTRIBUTION CREW ARRIVED ONSITE AT APPROXIMATELY 14:02 HOURS AND AN ISOLATION PLAN TO STOP GAS FROM BLOWING WAS DEVELOPED. TO ISOLATE, THE CREW UTILIZED AN EXISTING PRESSURE CONTROL FITTING TO THE NORTH OF THE DAMAGE LOCATION AND MULTIPLE VALVES WERE UTILIZED SOUTH OF THE DAMAGE LOCATION. GAS WAS CONTROLLED AT APPROXIMATELY 18:30 HOURS, THE DAMAGED SEGMENT WAS REMOVED AND REPLACED WITH 28-INCHES OF 6-INCH STEEL PIPELINE. REPAIRS WERE COMPLETED AND NORMAL OPERATIONS RESUMED ON OCTOBER 4, 2022, AT APPROXIMATELY 03:00 HOURS. NO LOSS OF SERVICE TO CUSTOMERS OCCURRED BECAUSE OF THE PIPELINE DAMAGE. FURTHER INVESTIGATION DETERMINED THE STAKING CONTRACTOR FAILED TO STAKE THE REQUESTED LOCATION AND PROVIDED AN INACCURATE POSITIVE RESPONSE CODE, CAUSING THE CONTRACTOR TO DAMAGE THE UNDERGROUND NATURAL GAS PIPELINE.