SPIRE ALABAMA INC.

Incident Narrative

ON JANUARY 6, 2018 AT 3:06 PM CT SPIRE CREWS RESPONDED TO A LEAK ON A 12"" 500 PSIG MAOP TRANSMISSION PIPELINE AND DISCOVERED A 3"" DIAGONAL CRACK IN THE BODY OF THE PIPE. SPIRE CREWS INSTALLED A STOPPER FITTING AND UTILIZED A CRITICAL VALVE TO ISOLATE AND REPLACE THE SECTION OF DAMAGED PIPE. THE REPAIR ON THE PIPELINE WAS COMPLETED ON JANUARY 10, 2018 AT 2:11 AM CT. THE DAMAGED SECTION OF PIPE WAS SENT TO AN INDEPENDENT TESTING LABORATORY AND THE EVALUATION CONFIRMED THAT THE LEAK WAS CAUSED BY PIPE FAILURE DUE TO PREVIOUS EXTERNAL MECHANICAL DAMAGE. IT IS UNKNOWN WHEN THIS DAMAGE OCCURRED .SPIRE DETERMINED THIS WAS A REPORTABLE INCIDENT ON JANUARY 8, 2018 AT APPROXIMATELY 9:40 AM CT BASED ON REPAIR COSTS EXCEEDING THE $50,000 THRESHOLD. NOTE: IN PART E, QUESTION 5, SPIRE WAS REQUIRED TO INPUT AN ANSWER FOR 5A, 5B AND 5C CONCERNING VALVES USED TO INITIALLY ISOLATE THE PIPELINE. WE DID NOT UTILIZE VALVES TO INITIALLY ISOLATE THE LINE UPON DISCOVERY OF THE LEAK. DURING THE REPAIR PROCESS, WE UTILIZED A CRITICAL VALVE AND A STOPPER FITTING TO ISOLATE AND REPAIR THE SECTION OF DAMAGED PIPE ONLY. NOTE: THIS REPORT WAS DUE TO PHMSA ON FEBRUARY 6, 2018 BUT SPIRE WAS UNABLE TO SUBMIT THIS REPORT ON THAT DATE DUE TO THE PHMSA PORTAL BEING DOWN. THE PHMSA PORTAL WAS BACK UP AT 10:46 AM ET ON FEBRUARY 8, 2018.