COLORADO INTERSTATE GAS CO

gas_transmission Incident —

Incident Information

Report Date
OperatorCOLORADO INTERSTATE GAS CO
Commodity—
Pipeline Typegas_transmission

Location

State
Coordinates37.11503, -102.18354

Cause

CauseNATURAL FORCE DAMAGE
Subcause—

Casualties

Fatalities0
Injuries0

Costs

Property Damage
Lost Commodity
Public/Private Damage
Emergency Response
Environmental Remediation
Other Costs

Location Map

Incident Narrative

12/18/2016, 08:35 HOURS MOUNTAIN, EMPLOYEE ARRIVED ON SITE AND BEGAN MAKING INSPECTIONS AND FOUND A RELIEF VALVE VENTING TO ATMOSPHERE. APPROPRIATE VALVES WERE IMMEDIATELY CLOSED AND COMPRESSOR UNIT WAS SHUT DOWN. VENTING WAS TERMINATED. INVESTIGATION FOUND THE GAS COOLER FOR UNIT CG5, WHICH IS COMPRESSING UNPROCESSED WET GAS, HAD FROZEN DURING THE EXTREME WEATHER TEMPERATURES OF -15 DEGREES CAUSING THE RELIEF VALVE TO OPEN. MAOP WAS NOT EXCEEDED. 12/18/2016, 09:15 HOURS MOUNTAIN, IT WAS DETERMINED THE GAS RELEASE VOLUME WAS A REPORTABLE VOLUME. WITH THE UNIT OFF LINE, A BYPASS LINE WAS OPENED TO ALLOW THE GAS COOLER TO THAW. PIPING AND EQUIPMENT WAS COVERED TO PROVIDE WINTER WEATHER PROTECTION TO ASSIST THAWING. THE UNIT CG5 WAS RETURNED TO SERVICE 12/19/2016 AT 12:00 HOURS MOUNTAIN. FURTHER ANALYSIS OF DATA INDICATES VENTING BEGAN 12/17/2016, 17:31 HOURS MOUNTAIN. AT THE TIME OF THIS EVENT AND PRIOR TO THE EVENT, THIS PORTION OF THE FACILITY WAS NOT CONTROL ROOM MONITORED. FOLLOWING THIS EVENT, CIG HAS INSTALLED MONITORING ON THE VENT OF THE RELIEF VALVE AND RELATED CONTROL ROOM ALARMS HAVE BEEN INSTALLED; ALL TO ALERT OPERATIONS PERSONNEL OF ANY FUTURE VENTING EVENT.

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.

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