KINDER MORGAN TEXAS PIPELINE CO

Incident Narrative

ON JULY 27TH KMTP WAS CURRENTLY CONSTRUCTING A TIE IN ONTO THE PERMIAN HIGHWAY PIPELINE. IN ORDER TO TIE-IN THE NEWLY CONSTRUCTED LINE, KMTP ELECTED TO USE A LINE STOP TO KEEP THE GAS FLOWING IN THE MAINLINE WHILE TYING IN THE NEW LINE. WHILE OPERATORS WERE ALREADY ON SITE, THEY DISCOVERED THAT THE GASKET ON THE LINE STOP HAD FAILED AT 7:20 PM. AN EMERGENCY RESPONSE CALL WAS HELD AT 8:00 PM, AND IT WAS DETERMINED THAT KMTP WOULD REPORT THE INCIDENT OUT OF AN ABUNDANCE OF CAUTION SINCE THE RELEASE VOLUME AND REPAIR COSTS WERE UNKNOWN. IT WAS LATER DETERMINED THAT THE RELEASE VOLUME DID NOT EXCEED THE 3000 MCF THRESHOLD UNTIL 8:37 PM. KMTP ISOLATED AND SHUT DOWN THE LINE AT 9:15 PM AND SUBSEQUENTLY PROCEEDED TO BLOW DOWN 12 MILES OF PIPE. APPLICABLE REPAIRS WERE MADE, AND THE LINE WAS BACK IN SERVICE ON JULY 31ST AT 1:00 PM. KMTP'S INCIDENT INVESTIGATION DETERMINED THAT THE DOUBLE POSITION BYPASS BISEP OPERATION PROCEDURE'S TORQUING SAFETY FACTOR WAS INSUFFICIENT, AND IT LACKED DETAILS REGARDING THE APPLICATION OF MOLY LUBRICANT TO BOLTS AND NUTS PRIOR TO THE TORQUING PROCESS. THESE FINDINGS WERE VALIDATED WHEN ADDITIONAL PROJECTS WERE CONDUCTED WITH THE REVISED PROCEDURES CHANGES LISTED BELOW AND NO REOCCURRENCES WERE FOUND. KMTP'S INVESTIGATION AND THESE PROCEDURE IMPROVEMENTS LED KMTP TO CONCLUDE THAT THIS INCIDENT WAS CAUSED BY AN INADEQUATE PROCEDURE. TO MINIMIZE THE REOCCURRENCE OF THIS INCIDENT, THE FOLLOWING PROCEDURE IMPROVEMENTS WERE IMPLEMENTED. -IMPROVED CONTROLS OVER BOLT TORQUING (PARTICULARLY FITTING TO SLAB VALVE) INCLUDING: O DOCUMENTED PROCEDURE REVIEW O RECORDING PUMP PRESSURES & CALCULATING TORQUE VALUES, INCLUDING ON SITE SIGN OFF. O MOLY LUBRICANT AS REQUIRED AND RECOMMENDED UNDER ASME PCC-1-2022 O FULL DOCUMENTATION AND OVERSIGHT -USE SPIRAL WOUND GASKET WITH INNER RING ON ALL FLANGED CONNECTIONS. -INCREASED TORQUE TO 50% OF YIELD IN ACCORDANCE WITH GASKET PARAMETERS AND PRESSURE REQUIREMENTS.