PTE PIPELINE LLC

Incident Narrative

A CONDENSATE OIL LEAK FROM THE POINT THOMSON EXPORT PIPELINE (PTEP) OCCURRED DURING THE LATE EVENING OF 13 JANUARY 2024. THE PIPELINE WAS SHUT DOWN AND DEPRESSURIZED BASED ON LEAK ALARM DATA AND DATA CONFIRMATION. THE LOCATION OF THE LEAK WAS CONFIRMED ON 14 JANUARY 2024, AND IT WAS CONFIRMED THAT FLOW FROM THE LEAK HAD CEASED. THE EXACT LOCATION WAS DETERMINED TO BE JUST NORTH OF VERTICAL SUPPORT MEMBER (VSM) VSM7012, BETWEEN VSM7012 AND VSM7013. THE WIND AT THE TIME OF THE RELEASE WAS FROM THE EAST AND THE RELEASED CONDENSATE WAS BLOWN AND DEPOSITED TO THE SNOW ON THE WEST SIDE OF THE PIPELINE IN AN ELONGATED AREA. THE MAJORITY OF THE CONDENSATE THAT WAS RELEASED WAS DEPOSITED ONTO THE SURFACE OF THE SNOW. THE DEPOSITED CONDENSATE WAS PRIMARILY ABSORBED INTO THE SURFACE SNOW. THE YELLOW COLOR OF THE CONDENSATE WAS CLEARLY VISIBLE IN THE SNOW. EMERGENCY RESPONSE OPERATIONS WERE INITIATED BY THE PTEP OPERATOR, HARVEST ALASKA, LLC. HARVEST'S OIL SPILL RESPONSE ORGANIZATION (OSRO), ALASKA CLEAN SEAS (ACS), WAS ACTIVATED AND MOBILIZED. AN INCIDENT COMMAND TEAM (IMT) INCLUDING A UNIFIED COMMAND (UC) WAS ASSEMBLED TO MANAGE THE SPILL EMERGENCY. CONTAMINATED SNOW WAS COLLECTED AND REMOVED FROM THE SURFACE OF THE TUNDRA WHILE MINIMIZING PHYSICAL DAMAGE TO THE TUNDRA. CONTAMINATED SNOW WAS STORED TEMPORARILY IN LARGE STEEL ROLL-OFF BINS. THE FULL ROLL-OFF BINS WERE TRANSPORTED BACK TO PRUDHOE BAY. A REPAIR CLAMP WAS INSTALLED ON THE LEAK LOCATION. A FULL PIPELINE CUTOUT AND INVESTIGATION WAS CONDUCTED ALONG WITH A ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS. THE PIPELINE WAS RESTARTED ON MAY 12, 2024, AT 4:48PM. THE SPILL SITE WILL BE MONITORED INTO THE FUTURE FOR WILDLIFE DETERRENCE AND ANY ADDITIONAL CLEANUP REQUIREMENTS.