TRANSCONTINENTAL GAS PIPE LINE COMPANY

Incident Narrative

ON 12-31-13, AT 10:30 AM CST, AN OFFSHORE VESSEL CONTRACTED BY PRODUCER, ERT, STATIONED AT NEARBY SMI 130-A PLATFORM REPORTED TO WILLIAMS SCHRIEVER DISTRICT OFFICE THAT THEY SITED BUBBLES WITH NO SHEEN ON THE SURFACE OF THE WATER. WILLIAMS OPERATIONS DISPATCHED A HELICOPTER TO INVESTIGATE THE REPORT. THE HELICOPTER CONFIRMED BUBBLES AT THE SAME COORDINATES GIVEN BY THE VESSEL. THE COORDINATES WERE PLOTTED ON ALIGNMENTS SHEETS, THE SUPPORTING DATA SOURCE WAS BSEE'S OWL PROGRAM. AS INDICATED, THERE WERE BUBBLES IN THE VICINITY OF THE WILLIAMS PIPELINE AND A PRODUCER LINE. DUE TO ROUGH SEAS AND WEATHER CONDITIONS WILLIAMS COULD NOT SEND A DIVE BOAT TO CONFIRM THAT THE BUBBLES WERE COMING FROM ITS PIPELINE. IN THE MEANTIME, OPERATIONS MADE A DECISION TO ISOLATE THE WILLIAMS PIPELINE, SUSPEND GAS RECEIPTS INTO THE LINE AND LOWER THE PRESSURE ON THE PIPELINE. AT 7:55 AM CST, ON 1-6-14, EVENTUALLY WEATHER CONDITIONS PERMITTED THE FLYOVER OF THE LEAK AREA AND OPERATIONS WAS ABLE TO CONFIRM THAT THE LEAK WAS COMING FROM THE WILLIAMS PIPELINE. AT 9:50 AM CST GAS CONTROL NOTIFIED THE NRC. A DIVE BOAT WAS SENT TO THE LEAK LOCATION AND THE SOURCE OF THE GAS LEAK WAS IDENTIFIED AS A 1/2-INCH THREADED SWIVEL CONNECTOR ON A SUBSEA ASSEMBLY. THE CONNECTOR WAS REPLACED, THE PIPELINE WAS PRESSURED UP AND PUT BACK INTO SERVICE ON 1-30-14 AT 9:22 PM CST.