ENERGY TRANSFER COMPANY

Incident Narrative

LEAK WAS DISCOVERED ON THE EVENING OF 07/07/2010 ON AN INACTIVE 2"" BRANCH CONNECTION OFF THE 30"" TEXOMA INTRASTATE PIPELINE. LEAK WAS DUE TO A FAILED FILLET WELD ON THE TAP. THE LEAK WAS BELIEVED TO HAVE RECENTLY OCCURRED BY OBSERVATION OF THE GROUND CONDITIONS AND THAT IT HAD NOT BEEN IDENTIFIED BY RECENT AERIAL PATROLS. DUE TO THE LOCATION AND AMOUNT OF LEAKAGE, THE INCIDENT WAS NOT DEEMED ""REPORTABLE"" UNTIL THE NEXT DAY (07/08/2010), DUE TO THE CALCULATION OF CONTROLLED BLOW DOWN VOLUME. THE 2"" BRANCH CONNECTION WAS A SIDE TAP THAT WAS PERFORMED IN 1996 FOR A WELL TIE-IN AND HAS SUBSEQUENTLY BEEN OUT OF SERVICE FOR APPROXIMATELY THE LAST FIVE YEARS. VISUAL INSPECTION OF THE BRANCH REVEALED A CRACK IN THE TOE OF THE FILLET WELD OF THE SADDLE PAD FROM THE 10 TO 2 O'CLOCK POSITION. DURING THE EXCAVATION THE BLOCK VALVE WAS FOUND TO BE UNSUPPORTED AND THE PIPING TO BE IN A BIND DUE TO SETTLEMENT OF THE AREA WHICH IS INDICATIVE WITH THE TYPE OF FAILURE THAT OCCURRED. CURRENT OPERATING PROCEDURES HAVE BEEN REVISED, FROM THE PREVIOUS OPERATOR, PREVENTING FUTURE SIMILAR OCCURRENCES. A 40' SECTION OF 30"" LINE PIPE WAS CUT OUT AND REPLACED, REMOVING THE LEAKING TAP. THE ONLY COST ASSOCIATED WITH THIS REPORT WAS GAS LOSS, PIPE REPLACEMENT AND LABOR COSTS.