BELLE FOURCHE PIPELINE CO

Incident Narrative

ON OCTOBER 26, 2020 AT APPROXIMATELY 12:55 AM MDT THE BELLE FOURCHE CONTROL CENTER OPERATOR DETECTED A LOSS OF PRESSURE ON THE PIPELINE AND IMMEDIATELY BEGAN SHUTTING IT DOWN. FIELD PERSONNEL WERE THEN DISPATCHED TO ABOVE GROUND FACILITIES TO SHUT THE LINE IN AND DETERMINE IF OIL HAD BEEN RELEASED AT THE LOCATIONS. FIELD PERSONNEL CONFIRMED THERE WERE NO LEAKS AT ABOVE GROUND FACILITIES. AERIAL RECONNAISSANCE WAS DISPATCHED AT DAYLIGHT AND LOCATED THE LEAK AT 8:48 AM MDT. THE LOCATION WAS IMMEDIATELY COMMUNICATED TO FIELD PERSONNEL AND THEY QUICKLY RESPONDED TO THE LOCATION AND CONTAINED THE RELEASE. ONCE THE RELEASE WAS CONTAINED, FIELD PERSONNEL THEN EXPOSED THE PIPELINE AND DISCOVERED A WELD FAILURE BETWEEN TWO REPAIR SLEEVES. THE FAILED SECTION WAS REMOVED FROM THE PIPELINE AND THE LINE HAS BEEN CAPPED AND TAKEN OUT OF SERVICE AT THIS TIME. A FIELD EXAMINATION WAS PERFORMED OF THE FAILED PIPE AND IT DETERMINED THE SLEEVE CIRCUMFERENTIAL WELDS WERE TIED INTO THE PIPE GIRTH WELD WHICH DETRIMENTALLY IMPACTED THE HEAT AFFECTED ZONE AND SUBSEQUENTLY LED TO THE GIRTH WELD FAILURE. NO METALLURGICAL ANALYSIS IS PLANNED AT THIS TIME. NO SURFACE WATER, GROUNDWATER OR WILDLIFE WAS IMPACTED BY THE RELEASE; HOWEVER, AN APPROXIMATE 300 BY 60 FOOT AREA OF SOIL WAS CONTAMINATED TO A DEPTH LESS THAN 1 INCH. DUE TO SOIL CONDITIONS, SNOW COVER, TEMPERATURE AND PRODUCT TYPE, BFPL REQUESTED AND RECEIVED APPROVAL FROM WYOMING DEQ TO BURN THE IMPACTED AREA. PRIOR TO COMMENCING WITH THE AUTHORIZED BURN, THE CAMPBELL COUNTY SHERIFFS DEPARTMENT WAS NOTIFIED AND PROVIDED THE LOCATION OF THE BURN. FIELD EMPLOYEES STARTED THE AUTHORIZED BURN AT APPROXIMATELY 1:00 PM MDT AND EXTINGUISHED IT AT APPROXIMATELY 4:00 PM MDT. LOCAL EMERGENCY RESPONSE PERSONNEL DID NOT ASSIST WITH THE BURN AND WERE NOT ON SITE DURING THE BURN. UPON COMPLETION OF BURN ACTIVITIES, THE IMPACTED AREA WAS THEN SCRAPED AND CONTAMINATED SOILS HAVE BEEN REMOVED AND WILL BE HANDLED IN ACCORDANCE WITH WYOMING DEQ REQUIREMENTS. THE INCIDENT DID NOT MEET NRC REPORTING REQUIREMENTS, SO NO NRC NOTIFICATION WAS MADE. THE RELEASE DID MEET WYOMING DEQ REPORTING REQUIREMENTS, AND AS SUCH, THEY WERE NOTIFIED AND A SPILL REPORT WAS ELECTRONICALLY SUBMITTED TO THE WQD SPILL WEBSITE (INCIDENT #4364). ON DECEMBER 08, 2020 THE ROCKPILE TO ADON 8 INCH LINE SEGMENT WAS DISCONNECTED, PURGED WITH NITROGEN, AND TAKEN OUT OF SERVICE.