EQUISTAR CHEMICALS, L.P.

Incident Narrative

ON OCTOBER 31ST, 2020 NINE PIPELINE ANOMALIES REPORTED AS IMMEDIATE CONDITIONS WERE EXCAVATED FOR PURPOSES OF EXAMINATION AND REPAIR ON EQUISTAR'S 6 INCH CROSS COUNTRY PROPYLENE PIPELINE IN REFUGIO COUNTY, TEXAS IN THE O'CONNOR RANCH. THE INVESTIGATIONS REVEALED LOCALIZED CORROSION PITTING CO-INCIDENT WITH THE ERW SEAM. ALL ANOMALIES WERE CONFINED TO A 5 FOOT SEGMENT OF THE PIPELINE. ON NOVEMBER 1ST, 2020 PIPELINE TECHNICIANS SPRAYED A SOAPY SOLUTION ON AN ANOMALY AND FOUND THAT THERE WERE SMALL BUBBLES FORMING AT ONE OF THE ANOMALY LOCATIONS AND A SLIGHT HISSING COULD BE HEARD. THE APPROXIMATE GPS COORDINATES OF THE LEAK SITE ARE: 28.28081765, -97.15374630 2021-03-16- THE METALLURGICAL ANALYSIS WAS COMPLETED IN MID-FEBRUARY 2021. THE RESULTS FROM THE REPORT INDICATE THAT THE PIPE JOINT TYPE IS LOW FREQUENCY ERW. THERE WAS NO THROUGH WALL CORROSION AT THE LOCATION OF THE LEAK. INVESTIGATION IS CONTINUING AND IS DUE FOR COMPLETION BY MARCH 31. 2021-04-12 - FOLLOWING ARE THE CORRECTIVE ACTIONS FROM OUR INVESTIGATION. 1-DEVELOP AN INTEGRITY PLAN TO MANAGE LF-ERW THREATS TO INCLUDE INSPECTION OF THE PIPE, CLASSIFICATION OF THE ANOMALIES, REMEDIATION PLAN. 2-REPLACE THE FOUR EXISTING, FAILED GROUNDBEDS ON THE PIPELINE SYSTEM. 3-REVIEW PREVIOUS ILI REPAIRS IN RELATION TO THE SEAM TO DETERMINE IF THE APPROPRIATE REPAIR METHOD WAS USED. REMEDIATE IDENTIFIED REPAIRS AS NEEDED. 4-CONDUCT A COATING SURVEY KNOWN AS DIRECT CURRENT VOLTAGE GRADIENT SURVEY TO DETERMINE AREAS OF DEGRADED COATING. REPAIR COATING AS NEEDED. 2021-03-29 - INVESTIGATION COMPLETE. CORRECTIVE ACTIONS ARE ABOVE. IMMEDIATE CAUSE OF INCIDENT WAS AGGRESSIVE EXTERNAL CORROSION AND LOW FREQUENCY-ERW SEAM FAILURE.