FLINT HILLS RESOURCES, LC

Incident Narrative

UPDATE FOR FINAL - THE SEGMENT OF PIPELINE THAT THIS RELEASE OCCURRED ON IS NOW ABANDONED. FHR RECEIVED APPROVAL FROM THE TEXAS RAILROAD COMMISSION TO REMOVE THIS SEGMENT FROM THE OPERATING PERMIT ON 10/09/2024. FLINT HILLS RESOURCES (FHR) CONTROL ROOM RECEIVED PHONE CALL AT APPROXIMATELY 13:00 ON JUNE 13, 2021 FROM A LANDOWNER ABOUT CRUDE OIL IN O'NEAL CREEK IN GONZALES COUNTY, TEXAS. FHR'S PIPELINE CONTROL CENTER (PCC) SHUT DOWN THE LINE SEGMENT AT APPROX. 13:05 AND DISPATCHED PERSONNEL TO THE SITE. THE PCC CONTINUED TO MONITOR PRESSURE ON THE SEGMENT AND THERE WERE NO PRESSURE CHANGES. WHEN PERSONNEL ARRIVED ON SITE AT APPROX. 15:10, THEY CONFIRMED PRODUCT AT THE LOCATION AND BEGAN MAKING INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL NOTIFICATIONS. NRC WAS NOTIFIED AT APPROXIMATELY 16:10. TEXAS RAILROAD COMMISSION WAS NOTIFIED AT APPROX. 16:20. FHR'S OSRO ARRIVED ON SITE AT APPROX. 19:15 WITH PERSONNEL AND EQUIPMENT. AIR MONITORING DETECTED NO INITIAL VOC'S. NO IMPACTS TO FISH OR WILDLIFE WERE OBSERVED OR REPORTED. CONTAINMENT BOOM WAS PLACED AT 2 DIFFERENT LOCATIONS (PIPELINE CROSSING AT O'NEAL CREEK AND AT HIGHWAY 97 BRIDGE CROSSING). ADDITIONALLY, PERSONNEL USED ABSORBENT PADS ON ANY VISIBLE PRODUCT FOUND ON THE WATER AND BANKS OF O'NEAL CREEK. PERSONNEL ALSO MONITORED DOWNSTREAM OF THE ROAD CROSSING AT HIGHWAY 97 FOR SIGNS OF PRODUCT. JUNE 14 - FHR STARTED EXCAVATING THE NORTH AND SOUTH BANKS OF O'NEAL CREEK. ABSORBENT BOOM WAS PLACED ALONG O'NEAL CREEK. JUNE 15 - AERIAL DRONE OPERATIONS WERE SET UP TO LOOK FOR VISIBLE PRODUCT DOWNSTREAM ALONG O'NEAL CREEK. HARD BOOM WAS PLACED AT THE PIPELINE CROSSING AND HIGHWAY 97 BRIDGE CROSSING. SKIMMING RECOVERY OPERATIONS WERE STARTED ON AN AREA OF O'NEAL CREEK APPROXIMATELY 200 FEET DOWNSTREAM OF THE PIPELINE CROSSING. FHR MADE A 48 HOUR UPDATE CALL TO THE NRC AT APPROX. 15:10 (# 1307892). JUNE 16 - EXCAVATION CONTINUED ON THE NORTH AND SOUTH BANKS OF THE PIPELINE CROSSING. FHR CONTINUED PRODUCT RECOVERY FROM THE SOIL AND CREEK AND BEGAN ENVIRONMENTAL SAMPLING. JUNE 17 - APPROXIMATELY 10 FOOT OF PIPELINE WAS EXPOSED AT THE O'NEAL CREEK CROSSING. THERE WERE NO INDICATIONS OF A RELEASE POINT. A COFFERDAM WAS INSTALLED TO ALLOW O'NEAL CREEK TO BYPASS THE EXCAVATION SITE. FHR CONTINUED PRODUCT RECOVERY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SAMPLING. JUNE 18 - EXCAVATION CONTINUED ON THE NORTH AND SOUTH BANKS OF THE PIPELINE CROSSING. APPROXIMATELY 25 FEET OF PIPELINE WAS EXPOSED WITH NO INDICATIONS OF A RELEASE POINT. HOWEVER, FHR DID OBSERVE PRODUCT THAT APPEARED TO BE UNDER THE PIPELINE COATING. AT 17:53 FHR UPDATED THE NRC TO IDENTIFY FHR AS THE RESPONSIBLE PARTY AND CHANGE THE QUANTITY OBSERVED TO APPROXIMATELY 10 BBLS, WITH APPROXIMATELY 6 BBLS RECOVERED (# 1308207). JUNE 19 -- 22 FHR CONTINUED CLEANUP OF IDENTIFIED AREAS AND EXCAVATION OF THE PIPELINE CROSSING. THE PIPELINE SEGMENT CONTINUED TO HOLD PRESSURE. JUNE 23 FHR LAUNCHED CLEANING PIGS AND A SMART TOOL TO BEGIN PURGING THE PIPELINE SEGMENT OF PRODUCT AND FILL IT WITH NITROGEN. JUNE 24 THE SMART TOOL PASSED THE O'NEAL CREEK PIPELINE CROSSING THE NIGHT OF JUNE 24. FHR CONTINUED CLEANUP ALONG O'NEAL CREEK, BUT EVENTUALLY RAIN EVENTS PAUSED RECOVERY AND EXCAVATION ACTIVITIES. JUNE 25 FHR FINISHED CLEAN UP OF VISIBLE PRODUCT ON CREEK LOCATIONS AND CREEK BANKS. THE PIPELINE SEGMENT WAS FULLY FILLED WITH NITROGEN. JUNE 26 -- JULY 2 FHR PREPARED THE SITE TO CUT OUT AND REPLACE APPROX. 80 FEET OF PIPELINE AT THE O'NEAL CREEK CROSSING. FHR BACKFILLED THE CREEK CROSSING AND DISCONTINUED THE CREEK BYPASS JULY 6 -- 11 - WEATHER AT THE SITE HAS PREVENTED FHR FROM STAGING THE EQUIPMENT AND RESOURCES TO COMPLETE PRESSURE TEST TO THE SITE. WEEK OF JULY 13 - PIPE WAS CUTOUT AND REPLACED. SITE WAS BACKFILLED ON JULY 31.