SOUTH CAROLINA ELECTRIC & GAS CO

Incident Narrative

THE ""DEVRO TAKE OFF @ HWY 176 VALVE STATION"" IS A TRANSMISSION VALVE STATION IN CALHOUN COUNTY IN SOUTH CAROLINA, LOCATED APPROXIMATELY 13.5 MILES FROM THE TOWN OF ST. MATTHEWS. THE STATION PROVIDES SERVICE TO A TRANSMISSION LATERAL SERVING THE DEVRO INDUSTRIAL PLANT AS WELL AS THE DOWNSTREAM PORTION OF THE ST. MATTHEWS TRANSMISSION PIPELINE. THE STATION ITSELF RESIDES IN A PRIVATE EASEMENT WHILE THE PIPELINE THAT FEEDS IT RESIDES IN ROAD RIGHT-OF-WAY. THE STATION FOOTPRINT IS LOCATED APPROXIMATELY 30' FROM THE HWY 176 TRAVEL LANE. THE STATION HAD A GUARDRAIL IN PLACE TO PROTECT THE PIPELINE FACILITIES FROM VEHICLE DAMAGE. ON AUGUST 28, 2014 AT APPROXIMATELY 4:33 AM (AS DETERMINED BY POST-INCIDENT REVIEW OF SCADA LOGS), A DUMP TRUCK LEFT THE ROADWAY AND STRUCK THE VALVE STATION CAUSING A MAJOR LEAK ON THE ST. MATTHEWS TRANSMISSION PIPELINE. SCE&G'S SCADA SYSTEM REACHED ALARM CONDITIONS AT APPROXIMATELY 4:54 AM, AND SCE&G RECEIVED A CONFIRMING CALL FROM THE LOCAL FIRE DEPARTMENT REPORTING THE INCIDENT AT APPROXIMATELY 4:58 AM. COMPANY FIRST RESPONDERS WERE NOTIFIED AND DISPATCHED AT APPROXIMATELY 5:02 AM AND ARRIVED ON SITE AT APPROXIMATELY 5:57 AM. THE FIRE DEPARTMENT AIDED IN CLOSING THE ROAD TO TRAFFIC, EVACUATING NEARBY RESIDENTS WITHIN 500 FT OF THE INCIDENT, AND INFORMING THE SCHOOL DISTRICT OF THE INCIDENT. ONE SCHOOL, LOCATED APPROXIMATELY 3 MILES AWAY, ELECTED TO CLOSE FOR THE DAY DUE TO THE DISRUPTION OF TRAFFIC THAT WOULD RESULT FROM THE ROAD CLOSURE. WITHIN THE 500 FT RADIUS OF EVACUATION, CONDUCTED BY THE LOCAL EMERGENCY TEAMS, THERE ARE APPROXIMATELY 8 HOMES. IN REFERENCE TO PART A QUESTION 18 OF THE INCIDENT REPORT, THE NUMBER OF PERSONS EVACUATED WAS PROVIDED BY THE LOCAL FIRE DEPARTMENT WHO CONDUCTED THE EVACUATIONS; HOWEVER, FIRE SERVICES PERSONNEL DID NOT HAVE AN EXACT COUNT OF EVACUEES BUT CONSERVATIVELY ESTIMATED THE NUMBER TO BE 100. AT APPROXIMATELY 8:15 AM, SCE&G VALVED THE PIPELINE OUT OF SERVICE TO SHUT OFF THE ESCAPING GAS. ALSO, AS A RESULT OF THE INCIDENT AND VALVING THE LINE OUT OF SERVICE, TWO INDUSTRIAL CUSTOMERS LOST SERVICE. SCE&G WAS ABLE TO UTILIZE DOWNSTREAM LINEPACK AND A COMPRESSED NATURAL GAS (CNG) TRAILER TO MAINTAIN SERVICE TO TWO SMALL DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS FEEDING THE TOWNS OF ST. MATTHEWS AND CAMERON. SCE&G COMPLETED REPAIRS TO THE MAINLINE PORTION OF THE VALVE STATION BY 7:30 PM, REESTABLISHING THE FEED TO THE TOWNS OF ST. MATTHEWS AND CAMERON. SCE&G COMPLETED THE REMAINING REPAIRS TO THE DEVRO LATERAL TAKE-OFF PORTION OF THE STATION BY 11:30 PM, RESTORING SERVICE TO THE DEVRO PLANT. THE REPAIRS MADE AT THE TIME OF THE INCIDENT WERE TEMPORARY WITH PLANS TO REBUILD THE STATION AT A LATER DATE. NOTE: PART C QUESTION 3.G (YEAR OF MANUFACTURE) FOR THE PIPE INVOLVED IN THE INCIDENT IS UNKNOWN. - AN ESTIMATE DATE OF 1992 WAS USED - ESTIMATED BY A MATERIAL RECORD FOR ELBOWS USED IN THE STATION.