HARVEST PIPELINE COMPANY

gas_transmission Incident — — February 3, 2016

Incident Information

Incident DateFebruary 3, 2016
OperatorHARVEST PIPELINE COMPANY
CommodityNATURAL GAS
Pipeline Typegas_transmission

Location

State
Coordinates29.71611, -92.01694

Cause

CauseCORROSION FAILURE
SubcauseINTERNAL CORROSION

Casualties

Fatalities0
Injuries0

Costs

Property Damage$138,000
Emergency Response$0
Other Costs$0

Location Map

Incident Narrative

2/1/2016: THE COAST GUARD CALLED AND REPORTED BUBBLES IN VERMILLION BAY IN LOUISIANA. HARVEST DISPATCHED OPERATORS TO INVESTIGATE THE REPORT. THE OPERATORS VERIFIED BUBBLES IN THE BAY. GPS COORDINATES INDICATED THE BUBBLES TO BE APPROXIMATELY 150 FEET FROM THE HARVEST REDFISH PIPELINE. IN ORDER TO DETERMINE IF THE HARVEST REDFISH PIPELINE WAS THE SOURCE OF THE LEAK, THE VALVES WERE CLOSED TO BLOCKED-IN THE PIPELINE. IF THE PIPELINE WAS THE SOURCE OF THE LEAK, THE BUBBLES WOULD DECREASE AS THE PIPELINE PRESSURE DECREASED. THE PIPELINE PRESSURE WAS APPROXIMATELY 750 PSI BEFORE CLOSING THE VALVES. THE BUBBLES REMAINED STEADY AFTER VALVES WERE CLOSED. 2/2/2016: ROUGH SEAS HAMPERED THE OPERATION. THE SURVEY CREW COULD NOT MARK THE PIPELINE BECAUSE OF THE ROUGH SEAS. OPERATIONS CONTINUED BLEED-DOWN OF PIPELINE. 2/3/2016: 9:00 AM ROUGH SEAS CONTINUE TO HAMPER THE OPERATION. THE SURVEY CREW COULD NOT MARK THE PIPELINE BECAUSE OF THE ROUGH SEAS. THE PIPELINE PRESSURE WAS DOWN TO 250 PSI. 1:00 PM THE SURVEY CREW COULD NOT MARK THE PIPELINE BECAUSE OF THE ROUGH SEAS. THEREFORE, IT WAS NOT SAFE TO BRING THE WORK BARGE OUT TO THE LOCATION AND SPUD DOWN IN ROUGH SEAS WITHOUT THE EXACT LOCATION OF THE PIPELINE. THE BUBBLES SEEMED TO DECREASE SOME. OPERATIONS CONTINUED BLEED-DOWN OF PIPELINE. 2:30 PM THE BUBBLES CONTINUED TO DECREASE. 4:00 PM THE BLEED-DOWN WAS NEARLY COMPLETE, AND THE BUBBLES CONTINUE TO DECREASE. THE DETERMINATION WAS MADE THAT THE LEAK WAS ON THE HARVEST REDFISH PIPELINE. LDNR AND OTHER AGENCIES WERE NOTIFIED THAT THE LEAK WAS ON THE HARVEST PIPELINE. 5:05 PM THE NRC WAS NOTIFIED THAT THE LEAK WAS ON THE HARVEST PIPELINE. 2/4/2016: 9:00 AM THE DIVERS JETTED DOWN TO AND AROUND THE PIPELINE AT THE LEAK LOCATION AND REMOVED THE CONCRETE COATING. 5:00 PM A PINHOLE IN THE PIPELINE WAS FOUND NEAR THE 6 O'CLOCK POSITION. 2/5/2016: 7:00 AM THE CLEANING AND PREPARATION OF THE PIPE WAS PERFORMED FOR THE INSTALLATION OF A 12-INCH PLIDCO HEAVY DUTY SPLIT SLEEVE. 9:10 AM A UT OF THE PIPELINE AROUND THE PINHOLE CONFIRMED GOOD WALL THICKNESS. 10:30 AM THE SPLIT SLEEVE WAS INSTALLED AND THE FASTENERS WERE TORQUED. 11:00 AM THE SEALANT PACKING OF THE SPLIT SLEEVE WAS BEGUN. 2:50 PM OPERATIONS BEGAN TO PRESSURE-UP THE PIPELINE. (NO LEAK VISIBLE) 7:00 PM THE PIPELINE PRESSURE WAS AT 570 PSI. (NO LEAKS) 8:30PM THE PIPELINE PRESSURE EQUALIZED AT 750 PSI. (NO LEAKS) 2/6/2016: 7:00 AM THE PIPELINE PRESSURE WAS APPROXIMATELY 750 PSI. (NO LEAKS) THE PIPELINE AND SPLIT SLEEVE WERE WRAPPED. 8:00 AM THE BARGE AND EQUIPMENT WAS DEMOBILIZED OFF LOCATION.

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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