SUNOCO PIPELINE L.P.

hazardous_liquid Incident —

Incident Information

Report Date
OperatorSUNOCO PIPELINE L.P.
Commodity—
Pipeline Typehazardous_liquid

Location

State
Coordinates39.84487, -75.41831

Cause

CauseEQUIPMENT FAILURE
Subcause—

Casualties

Fatalities0
Injuries0

Costs

Property Damage
Lost Commodity
Public/Private Damage
Emergency Response
Environmental Remediation
Other Costs

Location Map

Incident Narrative

ON 9/16/22 AT 00:37 AM, THE CONTROL CENTER CONFIRMED DISCOVERY REGARDING A PIPELINE HIGH DIFFERENTIAL PRESSURE AT 00:14 AND ITINERANT LEL ALARM AT 00:37 THE TWIN OAKS METER STATION. THE CONTROL CENTER SHUT DOWN THE PIPELINE AND ISOLATED THE STATION. ON-SITE COMPANY PERSONNEL FURTHER ISOLATED THE FILTER VESSEL USING MANUAL VALVES. STATION PIPING WAS ROUTED TO THE MAINTENANCE FLARE/KNOCKOUT VESSEL TO REDUCE PRESSURE ON THE FILTER AND REDUCE THE LEAK FROM A SLIGHT STREAM TO A DRIP. APPROXIMATELY 7.5 GALLONS OF HVL RELEASED. FILTER VESSEL DOOR WAS IDENTIFIED AS THE POINT-SOURCE OF THE LEAK. THE FILTER ELEMENTS AND CLOSURE O-RING WERE REPLACED. THE SYSTEM IS EQUIPPED WITH DUAL / PARALLEL FILTERS. ONE FILTER IS NORMALLY ON LINE AND THE OTHER CAN BE USED WHEN NEEDED TO ALLOW FOR MAINTENANCE. THE LINE WAS RESTARTED AT 03:29 AM WITH THE ALTERNATE FILTER. SUPPLEMENTAL & FINAL UPDATE: AN INVESTIGATION DETERMINED DUST/DIRT IN THE SEAL AREA WHICH LED TO THE O-RING TO FAIL CAUSING THE ACCIDENT. OPERATIONS IS REPLACING THE DOORS ON THESE FILTER UNITS WITH BLIND STYLE CLOSURES THAT WILL USE A GASKET RATHER THAN O-RINGS, WHICH ARE USED ON THIS STYLE DOOR CLOSURE TO PREVENT 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.

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