FLINT HILLS RESOURCES, LC
hazardous_liquid Incident —
Incident Information
| Report Date | — |
| Operator | FLINT HILLS RESOURCES, LC |
| Commodity | — |
| Pipeline Type | hazardous_liquid |
Location
| State | |
| Coordinates | 28.93726, -97.79883 |
Cause
| Cause | INCORRECT OPERATION |
| Subcause | — |
Casualties
| Fatalities | 0 |
| Injuries | 0 |
Costs
| Property Damage | — |
| Lost Commodity | — |
| Public/Private Damage | — |
| Emergency Response | — |
| Environmental Remediation | — |
| Other Costs | — |
Location Map
Incident Narrative
ROOT CAUSE INVESTIGATION HAS BEEN COMPLETED WITH NO CHANGES TO THE ORIGINAL REPORT. 11-21-2022 AT APPROX. 09:15 FHR PERSONNEL ARRIVED AT HELENA STATION TO PERFORM A ROUTINE OVERPRESSURE SAFETY DEVICE INSPECTION. AT APPROX. 09:24, WHILE PERFORMING THE INSPECTION, ONE OF THE DOWNSTREAM VALVES WAS CLOSED IN ERROR AND CAUSED AN OVERPRESSURE OF STATION PIPING AND EQUIPMENT. ONCE THE ONSITE FHR PERSONNEL SAW THE OVERPRESSURE INCIDENT THEY NOTIFIED THE PIPELINE CONTROL CENTER WHO SHUT DOWN THE INCOMING FLOW AT 09:28 AND ISOLATED THE TRAP VALVES UPSTREAM OF THE AREA AT THE STATION AT 09:28. FHR PERSONNEL CONTINUED TO FURTHER ISOLATED THE AREA DOWNSTREAM WHILE THE PIPELINE CONTROL CENTER CLOSED AN ADDITIONAL DOWNSTREAM VALVE AT 09:48 AND ALLOWED THE ISOLATED AREA TO DRAIN DOWN. FHR OPERATIONS REPLACED THE RELIEF DEVICE AND THE O-RINGS ON THE STRAINER. THE PIPELINE SEGMENT WAS RESTARTED ON 11-22-2022 AT 17:00. FHR PERFORMED A ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS, WHICH DETERMINED THAT (1) THE FLEX FLO REGULATOR VALVE (RELIEF DEVICE) WAS UNDER DESIGNED FOR CURRENT OPERATING CONDITIONS, AND (2) FHR PERSONNEL FAILED TO PLACE CONTROL VALVE IN MANUAL BEFORE PERFORMING THE OVERPRESSURE SAFETY DEVICE INSPECTION. TO PREVENT RECURRENCE, FHR AUTOMATION HAS ADDED PROGRAMMING CHANGES TO THE PLC THAT WILL NOT ALLOW THE CONTROL VALVE TO FULLY CLOSE TO KEEP AN OPEN FLOW PATH.
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.