COLONIAL PIPELINE CO

Incident Narrative

A COMMERCIAL REQUIREMENT NECESSITATED A LINE UP AND FLOW PATH CHANGE TO ELIMINATE PRODUCT CONTAMINATION, CONFLICTS, DOWNGRADES, AND ANY POTENTIAL QA ISSUE. AN ESTABLISHED PROCEDURE WAS DEVELOPED TO ACCOMMODATE THE FLOW PATH AND THE FIRST MOVEMENT WAS COMPLETED IN DECEMBER 2022. ON FEBRUARY 6, 2023 AT 10:35, CST, A CONTRACTOR REPORTED A PRODUCT ODOR NEAR THE NUMBER 1 MANIFOLD TO THE COLONIAL OPERATOR WHO NOTIFIED THE OPERATIONS SUPERVISOR. FURTHER INVESTIGATIVE ACTIONS REVEALED AN OBSERVED SHEEN, STAINED SOIL AND CONCRETE, AND PRODUCT ON THE GROUND NEAR THE MANIFOLD. APPROPRIATE INTERNAL NOTIFICATIONS WERE MADE AND SPILL RESPONSE MEASURES WERE ACTIVATED. ADDITIONAL INVESTIGATION EFFORTS FOUND THE LEAK SOURCE TO BE ORIGINATING FROM THE BOTTOM SIDE OF A BLIND FLANGE ON A TEE CONNECTION AT THE END OF THE TANK LINE ASSOCIATED WITH TANK 1422. THE INCIDENT ANALYSIS NOTED A LIKELY OVERPRESSURE OCCURRED AS A RESULT OF THE SYSTEM DESIGN LACKING A THERMAL RELIEF DEVICE FOR THE PRODUCT FLOW PATH CONTRIBUTING TO THE LEAK. HOWEVER, OTHER CONTRIBUTING FACTORS ARE ALSO NOTED TO INCLUDE: RAPID CHANGES IN WEATHER TEMPERATURES, EXCESSIVE WEAR AND TEAR OF THE GASKET (AGE). THE TANK LINE WAS DRAINED-UP AND THE FAILED GASKET WAS REPLACED. ADDITIONAL ENGINEERING ANALYSIS WAS PERFORMED TO ENSURE INTEGRITY OF THE LINE. ADDITIONALLY, A THERMAL RELIEF DEVICE WAS INSTALLED. THE RELEASE START TIME WAS ESTIMATED FROM EVALUATING AMBIENT TEMPERATURE CHANGES OF THE ISOLATED LINE SEGMENT FROM THE TIME OF ISOLATION TO CONFIRMED DISCOVERY OF THE RELEASE. NO EXTERNAL NOTIFICATIONS WERE REQUIRED OUTSIDE OF COLONIAL.