BEAR CREEK STORAGE CO

Incident Narrative

ON SEPTEMBER 26, 2019 THE BEAR CREEK STORAGE COMPANY (BCSC) LINE 4 LATERAL 12-3 RUPTURED RELEASING NATURAL GAS TO ATMOSPHERE. THE LEAK WAS DETERMINED TO BE ON BCSC LINE 4 FROM AN ABOVEGROUND 3-INCH PIPELINE CONNECTING A METER STATION IN THE AREA TO STORAGE WELL 12-3 (OFTEN REFERRED TO AS A ""WELL LEAD""). FOLLOWING AN INVESTIGATION, PRELIMINARY FINDINGS POINTED TO LOSS OF INTERNAL PIPE WALL THICKNESS IN THE 3-INCH PIPE CAUSED THE PIPE TO RUPTURE AND BREAK APART. SAMPLES OF THE PIPE WERE SUBMITTED FOR METALLURGICAL TESTING AND IT WAS DETERMINED THAT THE RUPTURE WAS DUE TO EROSION (AS INDICATED IN PART G1). DURING THE NATURAL GAS RELEASE BETWEEN 0.7 AND 0.9 BARRELS OF LIQUIDS, CONSISTING OF A MIXTURE OF WATER AND DISTILLATE, WERE ALSO RELEASED UNDER HIGH PRESSURE. DUE TO THE HIGH PRESSURE OF THE RELEASE, THE LIQUIDS WERE RELEASED IN A BROAD AREA ADJACENT TO THE WELL SITE. THE SURFACE OF THIS ENTIRE AREA WAS TREATED WITH BIO-AMENDMENTS. THE FOLLOWING TIMELINE IS BASED ON BEAR CREEK STORAGE COMPANY (BCSC) INVESTIGATION: SEPTEMBER 26, 2019 (ALL TIMES CST) 18:50 (APPROX.) - DURING INJECTION LINE 4 PIPELINE RUPTURES RELEASING NATURAL GAS TO ATMOSPHERE. STORAGE WELL 12-3 SURFACE SAFETY VALVE SHUTS IN AUTOMATICALLY. 19:03 - BCSC PERSONNEL (EMPLOYEE A) NOTIFIED OF NATURAL GAS RELEASE NEAR STORAGE WELL 12-3 BY MOWING CONTRACTORS. 19:09 - EMPLOYEE A NOTIFIED THE BCSC OPERATOR TO SHUT-IN (CLOSE) UPSTREAM VALVE, LINE 4 FIELD HEADER ISOLATION VALVE. 19:31 - EMPLOYEE A ARRIVED ON-SITE, CONFIRMED GAS VENTING WAS AT WELL 12-3 AND ITS ASSOCIATED METER STATION BUT DID NOT HAVE ENOUGH INFORMATION TO QUANTIFY THE EXTENT OF THE RELEASE DUE TO LOW VISIBILITY AT DUSK AND BECAUSE HE STAYED AT A SAFE DISTANCE BASED ON COMPANY'S PROCEDURES. SUBSEQUENTLY, HE CONTINUED WITH HIS EMERGENCY RESPONSE ACTIONS, PROCEEDING TO SHUT-IN THE REMAINING WELLS ON LINE 4. 19:45 - INTERNAL EMERGENCY RESPONSE LINE (ERL) CALL NOTIFICATIONS INITIATED PER COMPANY PROCEDURES TO DISCUSS THE INCIDENT. INITIAL ASSESSMENT OF THE INCIDENT GAVE NO INDICATIONS OF NRC REPORTABLITY. NOTE THAT EMPLOYEE A WAS UNABLE TO ATTEND THE CALL DUE TO EMERGENCY RESPONSE ACTIVITIES. 20:10 - LEAK SITE ISOLATED AND EMPLOYEE A WAS ALLOWING THE PIPE SEGMENT TO BLOWDOWN. 20:40 (APPROX.) - ONCE THE SEGMENT WAS BLOWN DOWN TO A SAFE LEVEL, EMPLOYEE A WAS ABLE TO ACCESS THE LOCATION AND ASSESS THE INCIDENT. 20:43 - DETERMINED THAT THE INCIDENT WOULD LIKELY MEET THE NRC REPORTABLE CRITERIA. 20:57 - CALL TO NRC INITIATED (#1259488). BY 21:00 - THE GAS RELEASE HAD COMPLETELY STOPPED. ADDITIONAL NOTES: 48-HOUR NRC UPDATE = 1259665, REPORT TAKEN AT 14:20C ON SEPTEMBER 28, 2019.