NATURAL GAS PIPELINE CO OF AMERICA (KMI)

Incident Narrative

THE STATION EMERGENCY SHUT-DOWN (ESD) WAS DETERMINED TO BE CAUSED BY LIGHTNING STORMS IN THE AREA. THE ELECTROMAGNET (EM) DISTURBANCES IN THE UV AND IR RANGE TRIPPED THE HEAT AND LIGHT FLASH SENSORS AT THE STATION RESULTING IN THE ESD. THE MANUFACTURE OF THE UV/IR SENSOR WAS CONTACTED TO DETERMINE IF THE SENSORS CAN BE ADJUSTED TO AVOID EM DISTURBANCES FROM LIGHTNING EVENTS AS DISCUSSED BELOW. NGPL OPERATIONS INSPECTED AND INVESTIGATED OPTIONS TO REDUCE THE SENSITIVITY OF THE STATION UV/IR SENSORS THAT CAUSED THE STATION 388 EMERGENCY SHUTDOWN (ESD) BACK ON OCTOBER 12, 2014. AFTER SUBMITTAL OF THE INITIAL REPORT, NGPL DETERMINED THE DIP SWITCH SETTINGS HAVE A FACTORY DEFAULT 4 SECOND DELAY BETWEEN THE WARNING AND ALARM. IN ADDITION, NGPL DETERMINED THAT NO OTHER EQUIPMENT INSTALLED ON THIS SYSTEM WOULD IMPACT THE FACTORY-DEFAULT DELAY SETTINGS AND, UPON VERIFYING THE UV/IR SYSTEM DID NOT EXPERIENCE ANY TYPE OF POWER OUTAGE OR SURGE, THE SENSOR SIGNAL DELAY SETTINGS WERE INCREASED FROM FOUR (4) SECONDS TO EIGHT (8) SECONDS. NGPL BELIEVES THAT INCREASING THE TIME DELAY SETTING WILL REDUCE FALSE ALARMS AND SHUTDOWNS CAUSED BY SEVERE LIGHTNING STORMS GOING FORWARD. NGPL'S NORTH LANSING STORAGE FIELD HAS A MAXIMUM PEAK-DAY WITHDRAWAL RATE OF 1,240 MMCF PER DAY AND THE COMPRESSOR STATION NO. 388 NEAR LONGVIEW, TEXAS IS COMPRISED OF SEVEN COMPRESSOR UNITS TOTALING 36,000 HP, TWO CO2 EXTRACTION PLANTS AND FOUR DEHYDRATOR SKIDS. THE NORMAL ESD RESTORATION PROCESS CAN TAKE UP TO THREE (3) HOURS OR MORE DEPENDING ON THE CIRCUMSTANCES. FOLLOWING AN ESD EVENT WHERE THE CAUSE REMAINS UNKNOWN, CONSIDERABLY MORE TIME IS REQUIRED TO VERIFY THE ROOT CAUSE OF THE EVENT, TO CONFIRM THAT SAFETY DEVICES FUNCTIONED AS DESIGNED, AND THAT NO DAMAGE TO THE FACILITIES RESULTED BEFORE RESTARTING THE FACILITIES. ON OCTOBER 12, 2014, IT TOOK NGPL APPROXIMATELY FIVE (5) HOURS TO VERIFY THE CAUSE OF THE ESD AND DETERMINE THAT NO DAMAGE EXISTED TO ANY OF THE FACILITIES BEFORE BRINGING THE ENTIRE STATION BACK INTO SERVICE. PLEASE NOTE THAT THE PIR VALUE PROVIDED IN PART D INCLUDES A PIPE DIAMETER OF 30 INCHES, A MAOP OF 960 PSIG, AND A 40 FOOT BUFFER VALUE.