FLORIDA GAS TRANSMISSION CO

Incident Narrative

OPERATOR EMPLOYEES WERE CONDUCTING WORK IN THE AREA OF THE LEAK. EMPLOYEES WERE AROUND THIS LOCATION AT 6:00 PM THAT DAY AND DID NOT NOTICE ANY ISSUES. WHEN THEY RETURNED AT 10:30 PM THEY FOUND BUBBLES IN STANDING WATER OVER THE LINE IN THE VICINITY OF A CROSSOVER VALVE. EXCAVATION AND EXAMINATION REVEALED THAT GAS WAS ESCAPING BETWEEN THE PIPE AND THE REINFORCING SLEEVE FOR THE CROSSOVER TAP AT ABOUT THE 2 O'CLOCK POSITION. WHEN THE SECTION WAS REMOVED A CRACK WAS FOUND IN THE MAINLINE PIPE IN THE VICINITY OF THE TAP FILET WELD. LABORATORY FINDINGS ' THE FAILURE INITIATED AT AN IMPERFECTION AT THE TOE OF THE FILLET WELD THAT CONNECTED THE BRANCH TO THE PIPELINE ' UNDERCUT AND OTHER IMPERFECTIONS WERE OBSERVED AT THE TOE OF THE WELD REMOTE FROM THE FAILURE ' THE FRACTURE INITIATED AT A TOE CRACK AND FAILED AS A RESULT OF AN OVERLOAD DUE TO OUTSIDE FORCES ' HARDNESS WAS LOW **THIS REPORT IS BEING SUBMITTED IN RESPONSE TO PHMSA'S REQUEST, (DOCKET ID PHMSA-2013-0028), FOR SUPPLEMENTAL REPORTS FROM OPERATORS WHO SUBMITTED REPORTS FOR INCIDENTS OCCURRING AFTER JANUARY 1, 2010, WITH ANY OF THE FOLLOWING: (1) ``PIPE GIRTH WELD'' WAS SELECTED AS THE ``ITEM INVOLVED IN INCIDENT'' IN PART C3 OF THE REPORT. THE REVISED REPORT COLLECTS DATA ABOUT THE PIPE ADJACENT TO THE GIRTH WELD. (2) ``FUNCTION OF PIPELINE SYSTEM'' IS NULL IN PART E5F OF THE REPORT. THE REVISED REPORT COLLECTS THE FUNCTION OF THE PIPELINE SYSTEM FOR ALL INCIDENTS.** THIS SUPPLEMENTAL REPORT IS TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THE TWO RELEVANT SECTIONS IN PHMSA'S REQUEST HAVE BEEN REVIEWED AND NO FURTHER ACTIONS WERE NEEDED.