COLONIAL PIPELINE CO

Incident Narrative

AT APPROXIMATELY 10:38, CST, COLONIAL RECEIVED NOTIFICATION FROM A SHIPPER REGARDING A POTENTIAL DENSITOMETER PUMP RELEASE AT OPELOUSAS DELIVERY STATION. UPON NOTIFICATION, THE PUMP WAS SHUTDOWN AND ISOLATED. THE RELEASE WAS STOPPED AT APPROXIMATELY 10:38 CST. APPROPRIATE NOTIFICATIONS WERE MADE AND ADDITIONAL SPILL RESPONSE PERSONNEL WERE MOBILIZED TO SUPPORT RESPONSE EFFORTS AND COMMENCE SPILL RESPONSE ACTIVITIES. ADDITIONAL INVESTIGATION FOUND SOME OF THE RELEASED PRODUCT DID MIGRATE BEYOND COLONIAL'S PROPERTY. UPON ASSURANCE OF RELEASE ISOLATION, THE PIPELINE WAS RESTARTED AT 14:27 CST. ALL SPILL RESPONSE RECOVERY EFFORTS HAVE BEEN COMPLETED. AT 13:39 CST, IT WAS DISCOVERED THE RELEASED VOLUME AND COST OF REPAIRS/RESPONSE WOULD MEET OR EXCEED $50,000. THEREFORE, REGULATORY AND EMERGENCY RESPONSE NOTIFICATIONS WERE MADE TO INCLUDE NOTIFICATION TO THE NATIONAL RESPONSE CENTER (NRC). FURTHER INVESTIGATION FOUND THAT AN INTERNAL COMPONENT OF THE PUMP FAILED. INVESTIGATION OBSERVATION NOTED A MECHANICAL FAILURE THAT CAUSED A .25 X .25 HOLE ON THE SIDE OF THE PUMPING CASE. THE HOLE IS INDICATIVE OF THE PUMP SHAFT ""WALKING OUT"". WHEN WALKING OUT OCCURS IT WEARS AGAINST THE CASE, EVENTUALLY CAUSING A HOLE. WHILE THE MANUFACTURER IMPLEMENTED A PREVENTATIVE MODIFICATION; AN ANTI-ROTATION PIN, IT DID NOT RESOLVE THE FAILURE PROBABILITY. A NEWER AND MORE ADVANCED PUMP MODEL WAS INSTALLED TO MITIGATE REOCCURRENCE OF THIS RELEASE.