COLUMBIA GAS TRANSMISSION, LLC

Incident Narrative

OPERATIONS TEAM LEADER RECEIVED A CALL FROM COLUMBIA GAS OF OHIO (COH), THE LOCAL DISTRIBUTION COMPANY REGARDING LOW PRESSURE ALARMS AT WELLINGTON MEASURING STATION 706948 . COLUMBIA OPERATIONS PERSONNEL WERE ON THE SITE AT 09:00 EST AND CONFIRMED THAT THE LOW-PRESSURE ALARM WAS DUE TO A PLASTIC COUPLING SEPARATION ON LINE L-722. LINE L-722, IS CLASSIFIED AS TRANSMISSION THAT IS OPERATED AND MAINTAINED BY COLUMBIA. AT 09:36 EST, THE LEAK WAS ISOLATED, AND THE PIPELINE WAS REMOVED FROM SERVICE. PIPELINE L-722 IS A 4-INCH IN DIAMETER PLASTIC PIPELINE AT THE SITE OF THE INCIDENT WITH A MAXIMUM ALLOWABLE OPERATING PRESSURE OF XXX PSIG, LOCATED IN LORAIN COUNTY, VILLAGE OF WELLINGTON, OHIO. THE REPAIR WAS COMPLETED BY REPLACING THE FAILED COUPLING AND LINE L-722 WAS RETURNED INTO SERVICE ON NOVEMBER 17, 2019 AT 15:15 EST. APPROXIMATELY 2,000 COH CUSTOMERS LOST NATURAL GAS SERVICE IN LIEU OF THIS INCIDENT AND DURING THE REPAIR INTERVAL OF THE AFFECTED SEGMENT OF LINE L-722. THE FAILED COUPLING WAS PRESERVED AND PROTECTED AS EVIDENCE, THEN SENT TO A LOCAL COLUMBIA OFFICE FOR FURTHER INVESTIGATION. THE INITIAL NATIONAL RESPONSE CENTER (NRC) REPORT NO. 1264138 AND THE NRC 48-HOUR REPORT NO. 1264285 HAVE BEEN CALLED-IN ON NOVEMBER 17TH AND NOVEMBER 19TH RESPECTIVELY. AFTER COMPLETION OF ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS, IT WAS DETERMINED THAT THE CAUSAL AND ROOT CAUSE FACTORS OF PIPELINE SEPARATION INDICATE FIRST A LACK OF AWARENESS BY PROJECT TEAM AND FIELD OPERATIONS PERSONNEL TO THE PUBLISHED GUIDELINES FOR THE USE OF MECHANICAL COUPLINGS AS ESTABLISHED BY AND SECOND PRIOR TO THE EXCAVATION, POTENTIAL HAZARDS, HAZARDOUS WORK, OR WORK HAZARDOUS TO THE ENVIRONMENT OR FACILITIES WERE NOT ADEQUATELY IDENTIFIED FOR THE PLANNED PIPELINE REPLACEMENT. IN ORDER TO PREVENT SIMILAR FUTURE EVENTS, MECHANICAL PIPELINE REPAIR TAPPING AND JOINING PROCEDURE SHOULD BE DISTRIBUTED TO PROJECT TEAM AND TO ADEQUATELY IDENTIFY ALL POTENTIAL HAZARDS IN EACH PROJECT TO THE ENVIRONMENT OR FACILITIES , INCORPORATE PRE-JOB PLANNING PROCEDURE AND CHECKLIST PER PROJECT BY PROJECT TEAM.