CONSUMERS ENERGY CO

Incident Narrative

ON TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2022, AT APPROXIMATELY 14:27 HOURS CONSUMERS ENERGY WAS NOTIFIED BY OUR LEAK SURVEY CONTRACTOR (PERFORMING A DISCRETIONARY LEAK SURVEY) OF A POSSIBLE LEAK AT/NEAR 1004 PORTAGE ROAD, (KALAMAZOO COUNTY) KALAMAZOO, MI. A GAS SERVICE WORKER (GSW) WAS DISPATCHED AND ARRIVED ON-SITE AT APPROXIMATELY 14:44 HOURS AND CONFIRMED READS WHICH REQUIRED AN IMMEDIATE RESPONSE. A DISTRIBUTION CREW (CREW) WAS DISPATCHED AND ARRIVED ONSITE AT APPROXIMATELY 16:39 HOURS. THE CREW HAD RECENTLY COMPLETED A LEAK REPAIR ON A 6"" CAST IRON PIPELINE AND BASED ON A PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION AT THE SITE THOUGHT THE SOURCE COULD POTENTIALLY BE RESIDUAL GAS FROM THE INITIAL REPAIR. EXTRACTION EQUIPMENT WAS MOBILIZED TO REMOVE RESIDUAL GAS BUILD UP WHILE GSW'S AND THE CREW CONTINUED PINPOINTING TO DETERMINE IF THE SOURCE COULD BE ADDITIONAL LEAKS ON THE PIPELINE. OVER SEVERAL WEEKS, MULTIPLE LEAKS WERE DISCOVERED ON THE CAST IRON PIPELINE. THE FAILURE INVESTIGATION DETERMINED, THE RECENT (2021) WATER AND ROAD CONSTRUCTION LED TO REDUCED COMPACTION AND SUPPORT OF THE CAST IRON PIPELINE CAUSING MULTIPLE LEAKS OVER TIME. ALL IDENTIFIED LEAKS WERE REPAIRED, AND EXTRACTION EQUIPMENT WAS SIMULTANEOUSLY USED TO REMOVE RESIDUAL GAS FROM THE SOIL. CONSUMERS ENERGY PERSONNEL MONITORED THE SITE UNTIL ALL GAS READS WERE ZERO. A PIPELINE REPLACEMENT PROJECT, WHICH WOULD HAVE INCLUDED RETIRING THE 6-INCH CAST IRON PIPELINE WAS SCHEDULED FOR 2023. HOWEVER DUE TO THE AGE AND CONDITION OF THE PIPELINE A PORTION OF THE REPLACEMENT PROJECT WAS EXPEDITED, AND CONSTRUCTION STARTED IN APRIL. FEBRUARY 25, 2022 CE RETIRED APPROXIMATELY 1100' OF THE CAST IRON PIPELINE THAT WAS COMPROMISED BECAUSE OF THE WATER AND ROAD CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITIES THAT OCCURRED IN 2021.