BRIDGER PIPELINE LLC

Incident Narrative

ON THE MORNING OF NOVEMBER 9TH, AN OPERATOR EMPLOYEE WAS PREPARING THE 12-INCH FOUR BEARS SOUTH RECEIVER FOR AN INCOMING ROUTINE CLEANING PIG. THE EMPLOYEE WAS IN CONTACT WITH THE CASPER CONTROL CENTER AND ASKED THE CONTROLLER TO OPERATE A MOV ON THE RECEIVER BARREL. AS THE EMPLOYEE MONITORED ACTIVITY ON THE FOUR BEARS SOUTH RECEIVER, THE CONTROLLER ASKED IF THE EMPLOYEE WANTED TO PREPARE THE ADJACENT 12-INCH FOUR BEARS NORTH RECEIVER FOR A SEPARATE INCOMING CLEANING PIG. THE ONSITE EMPLOYEE AGREED TO PROCEED WITH THOSE PREPARATIONS, AND COMPLETED CHECKING ON FOUR BEARS SOUTH RECEIVER, WHILE THE CONTROLLER SENT THE COMMAND TO OPERATE THE MOV ON FOUR BEARS NORTH RECEIVER. THE ONSITE EMPLOYEE WALKED 30 FEET TO FOUR BEARS NORTH RECEIVER TO MONITOR ACTIVITY AND FOUND OIL FLOWING FROM THE SUMP CONNECTED TO IT. THIS EMPLOYEE QUICKLY IDENTIFIED THAT A 2-INCH MANUAL DRAIN VALVE HAD BEEN LEFT IN THE OPEN POSITION, WHICH ALLOWED THE SUMP TO OVERFILL AND RELEASE APPROXIMATELY 55 BARRELS OF CRUDE OIL INTO THE CONTAINMENT AREA. THE EMPLOYEE CLOSED THE 2-INCH VALVE AND IMMEDIATELY INITIATED A CLEANUP RESPONSE. THE EMPLOYEE NOTIFIED HIS SUPERVISOR OF THE RELEASE, WHO SUBSEQUENTLY NOTIFIED OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT. HYDROVAC CREWS WERE CALLED TO THE SITE AND WERE ABLE TO REMOVE APPROXIMATELY 45 BARRELS OF FREE PRODUCT, WHICH WAS INJECTED BACK INTO THE SYSTEM. THE CONTAMINATED SOIL WAS REMOVED AND IS BEING MANAGED AS REQUIRED BY ND DEQ. NO WATER OR WILDLIFE WAS IMPACTED BY THIS RELEASE.