BLACK HILLS ENERGY
gas_transmission Incident — — December 9, 2020
Incident Information
| Incident Date | December 9, 2020 |
| Operator | BLACK HILLS ENERGY |
| Commodity | NATURAL GAS |
| Pipeline Type | gas_transmission |
Location
| State | |
| Coordinates | 39.48047, -107.20451 |
Cause
| Cause | INCORRECT OPERATION |
| Subcause | "VALVE LEFT OR PLACED IN WRONG POSITION, BUT NOT RESULTING IN AN OVERPRESSURE" |
Casualties
| Fatalities | 0 |
| Injuries | 0 |
Costs
| Property Damage | $0 |
| Emergency Response | $0 |
| Other Costs | $0 |
Location Map
Incident Narrative
"ON NOVEMBER 22 THE SPRING VALLEY COMPRESSOR STATION WAS PURGED, PACKED AND MADE READY TO BE PUT ONLINE. THE STATION WAS ON STANDBY WITH NO COMPRESSION RUNNING. ON NOVEMBER 23, 2020 0036 ' THREE HIGH PRIORITY ALARMS WERE RECEIVED BY CONTROLLER 0059 ' CONTROLLER ACKNOWLEDGED ALL THREE ALARMS DID NOT NOTIFY FIELD OPERATIONS. 11:35AM- FIELD OPERATIONS PERSONNEL VISITED THE SITE TO CLEAN UP FROM WEEKEND WORK AND DISCOVERED BLOWING GAS OUT OF THE BLOW-DOWN SILENCER. SECURED THE SITE AND EVALUATED THE SITUATION ON STATION HMI. 11:39AM- RESET ESD SYSTEM SHUTTING IN THE VENTING GAS. IT WAS FOUND THAT A MALFUNCTION OF A FIRE EYE DETECTION DEVICE CAUSED AN EMERGENCY SHUTDOWN (ESD). THERE WERE STATION PURGE LINES LEFT IN THE OPEN POSITION AFTER CHARGING THE STATION WHICH CAUSED A BYPASS OF ESD BLOCK VALVES RESULTING IN THE BLOWING GAS."
About This Pipeline Incident
Pipeline incident data is reported to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA). All significant incidents involving fatalities, injuries, or property damage over $50,000 must be reported.