ANR PIPELINE CO

Incident Narrative

ON JUNE 7 AT 04:14 CT, ANR PIPELINE GAS CONTROL RECEIVED AN EMERGENCY SHUTDOWN SYSTEM (ESD) ALARM AT DELHI COMPRESSOR STATION LOCATED AT 1984 HWY 80 W, DELHI, LA 71232 (32.46620, -91.59704). WHEN THE ALARM WAS DETECTED, A TECHNICIAN WAS DISPATCHED TO THE COMPRESSOR STATION TO INVESTIGATE. UPON ARRIVAL AT THE SITE AT 05:30 CT, THE TECHNICIAN DISCOVERED NATURAL GAS BEING RELEASED THROUGH THE STATION BLOWDOWN STACKS. IMMEDIATE ACTION WAS TAKEN BY CLOSING THE VALVES OPEN TO ATMOSPHERE, WHICH ENDED THE RELEASE AT 05:38 CT. UNINTENTIONAL GAS LOSS WAS CALCULATED TO 28.4 MILLION CUBIC FEET (MMCF). NO PROPERTY DAMAGE OR INJURIES WERE DOCUMENTED AND NO EVACUATIONS WERE REQUIRED. INVESTIGATION INTO THE CAUSE OF THE UNINTENTIONAL RELEASE WAS ATTRIBUTED TO A FIRE DETECTION EQUIPMENT (FIRE EYE) FAULT THAT INITIATED THE ACTIVATION OF THE ESD SYSTEM. WHEN THE SYSTEM ACTIVATED, A STATION ISOLATION VALVE FAILED TO FULLY CLOSE RESULTING IN THE RELEASE GAS ABOVE 3 MILLION CUBIC FEET THROUGH THE STATION'S BLOWDOWN PIPING. NO EVIDENCE OF FIRE WAS DISCOVERED WITHIN THE COMPRESSOR STATION BUILDING. THUNDERSTORMS WITH LIGHTNING MAY HAVE ALSO CONTRIBUTED TO THE ACTIVATION OF THE FIRE DETECTION EQUIPMENT. PRIOR TO PLACING THE STATION BACK INTO SERVICE, THE FIRE DETECTOR WAS TESTED AND FOUND TO OPERATE CORRECTLY. ADDITIONALLY, THE ISOLATION VALVE WAS INSPECTED AND MAINTENANCE PERFORMED, WHICH INCLUDED GREASING, TESTING, CHECKING HYDRAULIC FLUIDS, A SIMULATED ACTIVATION, FOLLOWING PROCEDURES FOR INSPECTION, AND ENSURING COMPLETE OPERATION OF VALVE. ON JUNE 7, 2019 AT 11:45 CT, DELHI COMPRESSOR STATION WAS RETURNED TO SERVICE.