"ENBRIDGE ENERGY, LIMITED PARTNERSHIP"
hazardous_liquid Incident — — April 17, 2025
Incident Information
| Incident Date | April 17, 2025 |
| Operator | "ENBRIDGE ENERGY, LIMITED PARTNERSHIP" |
| Commodity | CRUDE OIL |
| Pipeline Type | hazardous_liquid |
Location
| State | |
| Coordinates | 46.68980, -92.06140 |
Cause
| Cause | EQUIPMENT FAILURE |
| Subcause | PUMP OR PUMP-RELATED EQUIPMENT |
Casualties
| Fatalities | 0 |
| Injuries | 0 |
Costs
| Property Damage | $26,850 |
| Emergency Response | $1,080 |
| Other Costs | $0 |
Location Map
Incident Narrative
"ON APRIL 17, 2025, AT APPROXIMATELY 8:24 AM CDT, TECHNICIANS AT THE SUPERIOR TERMINAL WERE COMPLETING MAINTENANCE AND OBSERVING THE STARTUP OF THE LINE 6, UNIT 3 PUMP AFTER A SEAL REPLACEMENT. DURING STARTUP, A RELEASE OF PRODUCT WAS FOUND TO BE COMING FROM THE OUTBOARD SEAL ON UNIT 3, AND AN ENBRIDGE TECHNICIAN INITIATED THE PUMP EMERGENCY SHUTDOWN BUTTON. SUPERVISION WAS NOTIFIED, AND AFTER ISOLATING AND LOCKING OUT THE UNIT, THE SPILL WAS CLEANED UP PROMPTLY. THE VOLUME RELEASED WAS APPROXIMATELY 100 GALLONS, ALL OF WHICH WAS CONTAINED ON THE CONCRETE FLOOR WITHIN THE PUMP BUILDING. CLEANUP WAS COMPLETED WITH APPROXIMATELY 95 GALLONS OF CRUDE OIL RETURNED TO THE SYSTEM, AND CLEAN-UP MATERIALS WERE PROPERLY DISPOSED OF. THE SEAL WAS REPLACED, AND UNIT 3 WAS RETURNED TO SERVICE. FOLLOWING THE RELEASE, THE FAILED SEAL WAS SUBMITTED TO THE MANUFACTURER FOR FURTHER ANALYSIS. THE FINDINGS INDICATED THAT THE SEAL ENCOUNTERED AN UNEXPECTED LOAD FORCE ON THE SEAL FACES DURING STARTUP, WHICH CONTRIBUTED TO ITS FAILURE. THIS LOAD FORCE WAS DETERMINED TO BE A RESULT OF THE SEAL INSTALLATION. BASED ON THESE FINDINGS, ADDITIONAL STEPS FOR THE WORK EXECUTION PLAN WERE IDENTIFIED TO MINIMIZE THE POSSIBILITY OF A RECURRENCE."
About This Pipeline Incident
Pipeline incident data is reported to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA). All significant incidents involving fatalities, injuries, or property damage over $50,000 must be reported.