"FLINT HILLS RESOURCES, LC"

Incident Narrative

"05/23/2025 - A COMPREHENSIVE METALLURGICAL AND FRACTURE ANALYSIS WAS CONDUCTED TO DETERMINE THE IMMEDIATE CAUSE OF THE OBSERVED FAILURE. RESULTS INDICATE THAT THE FAILURE WAS NOT DRIVEN BY MECHANICAL OVERLOAD OR FATIGUE, BUT RATHER BY LONG-TERM LOCALIZED CORROSION ORIGINATING AT A FABRICATION-INDUCED WELD ANOMALY. THE WELD REGION AT THE 6 O'CLOCK POSITION EXHIBITED INCOMPLETE PENETRATION AND INCOMPLETE FUSION, WHICH CREATED A CREVICE-LIKE GEOMETRY CONDUCIVE TO ELECTROLYTE ENTRAPMENT. OVER EXTENDED SERVICE, THIS GEOMETRY PROMOTED LOCALIZED ANODIC DISSOLUTION. _____________________________________________________________________________ ON JANUARY 20, 2025, AT 11:42 AM FLINT HILLS RESOURCES (FHR) BEGAN PUMPING JET FUEL ON THE P-15 PIPELINE, WHICH RUNS FROM FHR'S EAST REFINERY TO FHR'S WEST REFINERY IN CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS. AT 12:16 PM, THE PIPELINE CONTROL CENTER (PCC) RECEIVED A LEAK ALARM AND INITIATED A PIPELINE SHUTDOWN. THE P-15 PIPELINE WAS DOWN AT 12:25 PM. A PIPELINE OPERATOR BEGAN WALKING THE PIPELINE AND OBSERVED PRODUCT IN THE RIGHT-OF-WAY (ROW) AT 1:58 PM, AND INITIATED ISOLATION OF THE UPSTREAM AND DOWNSTREAM VALVES. EMERGENCY RESPONSE OPERATIONS TO CONTAIN THE RELEASED FREE PRODUCT WERE ESTABLISHED PRIOR TO EXCAVATING THE PIPELINE TO IDENTIFY AND CONFIRM A LEAK SOURCE. THE RESPONSE OPERATIONS INCLUDED DEPLOYING BOOM ALONG THE DRAINAGE DITCH AND AT THE DISCHARGE INTO THE INNER SHIP CHANNEL. PRODUCT WAS RECOVERED VIA SKIMMING OPERATIONS AND MANUAL COLLECTION. VACUUM TRUCKS WERE UTILIZED TO COLLECT FREE LIQUID. ON JANUARY 24 AT 1:00 PM, FHR WAS ABLE TO SAFELY EXCAVATE THE PIPELINE, AND THE LEAK SOURCE WAS CONFIRMED, BUT OBSERVED TO NO LONGER BE LEAKING. A TEMPORARY CLAMP WAS INSTALLED ON THE PIPELINE THE SAME DAY. ON FEBRUARY 1, 2025, THE FAILED SECTION OF PIPELINE WAS CUT OUT AND PRESERVED FOR A ROOT CAUSE INVESTIGATION OF THE FAILED GIRTH WELD. A NEW 6-FOOT SECTION OF PIPE WAS INSTALLED ON THE SAME DAY. FOLLOWING A SUCCESSFUL HYDROTEST OF THE P-15-LINE SEGMENT, THE PIPELINE WAS RETURNED TO SERVICE ON FEBRUARY 7, 2025. THE INVESTIGATION INTO THE CAUSE OF THE FAILURE IS ON-GOING AND PENDING METALLURGICAL ANALYSIS. INITIAL OPERATIONAL AND LEAK DETECTION DATA INDICATED AN ESTIMATED 500 BARRELS OF JET FUEL MAY HAVE BEEN RELEASED. THIS VOLUME WAS UPDATED ON JANUARY 31, 2025, TO 280 BARRELS BASED ON FINAL LEAK DETECTION CALCULATIONS AND FIELD DATA. AS OF FEBRUARY 11, 2025, APPROXIMATELY 258 BARRELS OF FREE PRODUCT HAD BEEN RECOVERED THROUGH VACUUM TRUCKS, SKIMMERS AND ABSORBENT BOOMS. THIS RECOVERED VOLUME DOES NOT INCLUDE SOIL RECOVERED IN VACUUM AND ROLL-OFF BOXES AS CONTAINER CONTENT ANALYSIS REMAINS PENDING."