HARVEST MIDSTREAM COMPANY

Incident Narrative

"ON NOVEMBER 6, 2023, AN OPERATOR WAS MAKING ROUNDS AT THE BOA OSTRICA STATION WHEN HE NOTICED THE SAMPLE POT HAD OVERFLOWED OIL ONTO THE GROUND. THE OPERATOR DRAINED THE SAMPLE POT AND SHUT THE STATION DOWN TO MITIGATE LOSS OF CONTAINMENT. THE OPERATOR IMMEDIATELY NOTIFIED SUPERVISION AND HELPED TO CLEAN UP THE SPILL. IT WAS DETERMINED THAT 4 GALLONS HAD BEEN SPILLED. THE SAMPLE POT WAS REMOVED FROM SERVICE, AND IT WAS DETERMINED THAT THE PROBE HAD MALFUNCTIONED, CAUSING THE OIL TO OVERFILL THE SAMPLE POT. AT THE TIME, IT WAS DETERMINED TO NOT BE REPORTABLE TO NRC DUE TO THE VOLUME. ON NOVEMBER 16, THE OPERATOR RETURNED TO OSTRICA STATION AFTER TWO DAYS OF RAIN AND NOTICED MORE OIL SEEPING THROUGH THE ROCKS AFTER THE RAIN EVENT. HE NOTIFIED SUPERVISION AT 5:45 PM, AND IT WAS DETERMINED THAT 1 BARREL OF OIL HAD BEEN SPILLED. AT THE TIME, THE CAUSE OF THE LEAK WAS UNKNOWN. ON NOVEMBER 17, A STAND-UP TEST WAS COMPLETED TO VERIFY IF ANY UNDERGROUND PIPING LEAKING EXISTED. THE STAND-UP TEST WAS SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED ON NOVEMBER 18. BASED ON THE SUCCESSFUL STANDUP TEST, IT WAS DETERMINED THAT THE SAMPLE POT WAS THE CAUSE OF THE ORIGINAL LEAK, AND THE HEAVY RAINS BROUGHT THE EXCESS OIL TO THE SURFACE. TO PREVENT RECURRENCE, HARVEST WILL CONSIDER REDESIGN OF THE SAMPLE POT CONNECTION AT THIS LOCATION. HARVEST WILL ALSO EVALUATE THE SAMPLE POT RELIEF SYSTEM CURRENTLY IN PLACE TO DETERMINE IF IT IS APPROPRIATE FOR THIS SERVICE."