ARCHAEA ENERGY OPERATING, LLC

Incident Narrative

ON APRIL 14, 2022 AT APPROXIMATELY 14:00 LOCAL TIME, THE SOUTHERN DOME PIPELINE WAS UNDERGOING ROUTINE MAINTENANCE WHEN GAS WAS RELEASED FROM THE PIPELINE AND IGNITED CAUSING A FIRE. THE PIPELINE WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF A PIG RUN WHEN THE INCIDENT OCCURRED. THIS WAS THE LAST PIGGING EVENT THAT WAS TO OCCUR DURING THE MAINTENANCE EVENT. A FINAL CLEANING PIG WAS INSERTED INTO PIPELINE TO COLLECT ANY REMAINING BUILD-UP IN THE LINE. THE PIG WAS BEING FORCED THROUGH THE PIPELINE WITH NATURAL GAS, RATHER THAN AIR OR NITROGEN. THE PIG RECEIVER DOOR WAS IN THE OPEN POSITION DURING THE PIG RUN. DURING THE PIG RUN, IGNITION OF THE NATURAL GAS OCCURRED WITH THE SUBSEQUENT GAS RELEASE AND IGNITION AT THE PIG RECEIVER LOCATION WHERE SEVERAL EMPLOYEES WERE LOCATED TO RECEIVE THE PIG. ONE EMPLOYEE WAS INJURED DURING THE INCIDENT. LOCAL RESPONDERS WERE DISPATCHED IMMEDIATELY TO THE SCENE TO ASSIST THE FIRE. THE FIRE AND GAS IN THE PIPELINE WERE ALLOWED TO EXTINGUISH ITSELF. THE FACILITY THAT PRODUCES NATURAL GAS TO SUPPLY THE PIPELINE WAS IMMEDIATELY SHUTDOWN AT 14:05 AFTER THE GAS RELEASE AND IGNITION TO PREVENT ADDITIONAL NATURAL GAS FROM BEING INTRODUCED INTO THE PIPELINE. THE EQUIPMENT INVOLVED IN THE INCIDENT WAS THOROUGHLY EVALUATED AND INSPECTED. AN N2 PRESSURE TEST AT 1080 PSI WAS COMPLETED ON THE PIPELINE WITH AN EIGHT HOUR HOLD TIME. AFTER SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION, THE FACILITY AND PIPELINE WERE RETURNED TO SERVICE ON 4/29/2022.