CONSUMERS ENERGY CO

Incident Narrative

ON WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, 2016 WHILE PERFORMING A MOBILE LEAK SURVEY, CONSUMERS ENERGY'S CONTRACTOR, URG, DISCOVERED NATURAL GAS READINGS NEAR 1701 S. WAVERLY RD., (EATON COUNTY) LANSING, MICHIGAN. THE URG REPRESENTATIVE COMMUNICATED THEIR FINDINGS TO CONSUMERS ENERGY GAS DISPATCH AT APPROXIMATELY 16:47 AND EMERGENCY RESPONSE PERSONNEL ARRIVED ON-SITE AT APPROXIMATELY 17:08. THE DISTRIBUTION CREW ARRIVED AT THE SCENE AT APPROXIMATELY 17:47 AND BEGAN LEAK PINPOINTING; ISOLATING THE LEAK LOCATION APPROXIMATELY 500 FEET NORTH OF THE INTERSECTION OF WAVERLY RD. AND OLD LANSING HWY. NEAR CONSUMERS ENERGY'S LINE 1026. LINE 1026 IS A HIGH PRESSURE TRANSMISSION PIPELINE OPERATING AT 20% SMYS. ON APRIL 19, 2016 THE PRESSURE ON LINE 1026 WAS REDUCED TO 315 PSIG, ALLOWING CREWS TO CONTINUE THE LEAK INVESTIGATION. THE TRANSMISSION PIPELINE WAS DETERMINED TO BE APPROXIMATELY 17 FEET DEEP AND BECAUSE OF SOIL CONDITIONS AND PIPELINE DEPTH, ADDITIONAL RESOURCES AND SHORING EQUIPMENT WERE NECESSARY TO MAINTAIN A SAFE EXCAVATION AND CONTINUE WORKING TO IDENTIFIED THE SOURCE AND PERFORM THE NEEDED REMEDIAL ACTION. ON APRIL 19, 2016 LOOSEN BOLTS ON THE LID OF A MUELLER PRESSURE CONTROL FITTING INSTALLED IN 2010 WERE DETERMINE TO BE THE SOURCE OF THE LEAK. THE FLANGES ON THE CONTROL FITTING WERE CLEANED, A NEW GASKET WAS INSTALLED AND BOLTS WERE TIGHTEN TO THE PROPER SPECIFICATION ON THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2016 ELIMINATING THE LEAK. THE LEAK LOCATION WAS CONTINUOUSLY MONITORED BY CONSUMERS ENERGY PERSONNEL AT DISCOVERY UNTIL THE SOURCE WAS IDENTIFIED AND REPAIRED. THE PIPELINE WAS NOT ISOLATED WHILE REMEDIAL WORK WAS BEING PERFORMED TO MINIMIZE OUTAGE IMPACT TO SEVERAL CRITICAL CUSTOMERS.