GULF SOUTH PIPELINE COMPANY, LP

Incident Narrative

ON 11-2-19 AT APPROXIMATELY 10:35 AM, GULF SOUTH RECEIVED A CALL FROM AN ATMOS TECHNICIAN ABOUT A POTENTIAL LEAK ON A GULF SOUTH PIPELINE. GULF SOUTH INVESTIGATED AND DETERMINED THERE WAS A MECHANICAL COUPLING LEAK ON ITS INDEX 205 (8"" LINE) IN IBERIA PARISH, LOUISIANA. AFTER LOWERING THE PRESSURE BY 20% (270 PSI TO 215 PSI) AND MONITORING THE AREA NEAR THE LEAK WITH LEL EQUIPMENT, IT WAS DETERMINED THAT THE LEAK COULD BE MONITORED UNTIL A REPAIR PLAN WAS FORMULATED. BECAUSE IT WAS A COUPLING, A PRESSURIZED WELD OVER SLEEVE WOULD HAVE TO BE INSTALLED TO CORRECT THE LEAK. FOR BUSINESS REASONS, THE LINE WOULD NEED TO BE ISOLATED WITH STOPPLE FITTINGS AND DE-PRESSURED AND THE CUSTOMERS LOCATED WITHIN THE AFFECTED AREA SERVED BY A TEMPORARY BYPASS INSTALLED ON AN ADJACENT GULF SOUTH PIPELINE. ONCE THE LINE WAS DE-PRESSURED, THE WELD OVER SLEEVE COULD BE SAFELY INSTALLED. ON 11-5-19, WHEN THAT DECISION WAS MADE, THE REPAIR COSTS WERE THEN EXPECTED TO EXCEED THE $50,000 INCIDENT REPORTING CRITERIA AND THE NRC WAS CALLED. THE NRC NOTIFICATION FOR THIS INCIDENT WAS ONLY MADE BECAUSE OF ESTIMATED REPAIR COSTS. THE RESPONSES TO PART E QUESTIONS 5A AND 5B STATE THAT MANUAL VALVES UPSTREAM AND DOWNSTREAM WERE USED TO ISOLATE THE SEGMENT. ALTHOUGH THE NEAREST UPSTREAM AND DOWNSTREAM VALVES ARE MANUAL, STOPPLES WERE USED TO ISOLATE THE SECTION. THAT IS NOT AN OPTION IN THE SELECTIONS FOR THIS REPORT. ON 11-11-19 REPAIRS WERE COMPLETED AND LINE WAS RETURNED TO SERVICE.