ENTERPRISE PRODUCTS OPERATING LLC

Incident Narrative

IN JUNE 2020, ENTERPRISE BECAME AWARE THAT ORION MARINE GROUP (ORION) WAS CONTRACTED BY EPIC MIDSTREAM TO CONSTRUCT A BULKHEAD AND BARGE DOCK IN THE TULE LAKE CHANNEL. THE BULKHEAD CONSTRUCTION WOULD INVOLVE ADDING 5' OF COVER OVER ENTERPRISE'S LINE 219. THROUGH COMMUNICATIONS AND CONVERSATIONS WITH ORION PERSONNEL IN JUNE AND JULY 2020, ENTERPRISE WAS TOLD THE DREDGING ACTIVITIES IN THE CHANNEL WOULD BE APPROXIMATELY 60' OFF THE SHORELINE. ON 7/16/20, ENTERPRISE AND ORION PERSONNEL MET AT THE WORKSITE. WHEN THE GROUP ARRIVED, CANE POLES INSTALLED IN 2019 TO MARK LINE 219 WERE STILL PRESENT IN THE WATER. ALTHOUGH THE CURRENT SCOPE OF WORK DIDN'T INVOLVE DREDGING WITHIN 50' OF LINE 219, ENTERPRISE MARKED LINE 219 AS A COURTESY BECAUSE ORION MAY NEED TO PLACE AN ANCHOR IN THE VICINITY OF LINE 219. ENTERPRISE LOCATED AND MARKED LINE 219 ON THE SHORELINE AND, FOR THE PORTIONS OF LINE 219 IN THE WATER, ENTERPRISE SUPPLEMENTED THE EXISTING CANE POLES WITH CANE POLES PROVIDED BY ORION. THE CANE POLES WERE PLACED ~5' TO ~10' AWAY FROM LINE 219 (CLOSER TO THE WORK AREA) TO PROVIDE A ""BUFFER"" BETWEEN THE WORK AREA AND LINE 219. DURING THIS MEETING, ORION CONFIRMED THAT NO WORK WOULD BE PERFORMED NEAR LINE 219, AND ENTERPRISE INSTRUCTED ORION TO CONTACT THEM IF THERE WERE ANY CHANGES IN THE PLANS. ON 8/21/20 AT 8:02 AM, ENTERPRISE'S CONTROLLER RECEIVED AN ALARM INDICATING LOW PRESSURE AT VIOLA STATION. AT 8:05 AM, THE CONTROL VALVE AT VIOLA STATION, LOCATED DOWNSTREAM OF METER 1004, AUTOMATICALLY CLOSED. AT ~8:07 AM, THE VIOLA METER REGISTERED NO FLOW ON THE PIPELINE. AT 8:09 AM, ENTERPRISE CONTROLLER CALLED LOCAL OPERATIONS TECHNICIANS TO INVESTIGATE THE CAUSE OF THE LOSS OF PRESSURE. BETWEEN ~8:30 AM AND ~8:45 AM, OPERATIONS TECHNICIANS ARRIVED AT VIOLA STATION (UPSTREAM OF THE INCIDENT SITE) AND ORIGIN STATION (DOWNSTREAM OF THE INCIDENT SITE) TO MANUALLY CLOSE VALVES AT BOTH LOCATIONS TO ISOLATE THE PIPELINE. AT 9:05 AM, VALVES AT CANTWELL STATION (UPSTREAM OF ORIGIN STATION) WERE CLOSED TO FURTHER ISOLATE THE PIPELINE. AT 9:47 AM, PIPELINE CONTROL RECEIVED A CALL FROM THE PORT OF CORPUS CHRISTI NOTIFYING THEM THAT A DREDGING OPERATION HAD STRUCK A PIPELINE AND THERE WAS A FIRE. AT ~9:53 AM, LOCAL ENTERPRISE OPERATIONS CONFIRMED, BASED ON AVAILABLE INFORMATION, THAT LINE 219 WAS STRUCK BY A 3RD PARTY. NRC WAS CALLED AT 10:12 AM AND REPORT TAKEN AT 10:52 AM. NRC UPDATES: #1285319 (48-HR UPDATE) AND #1285505. TRRC WAS NOTIFIED AT 10:18 AM (INCIDENT #2251). ON 8/24/20, AN UNDERWATER INSPECTION FOUND EVIDENCE OF MECHANICAL DAMAGE AND TWO PUNCTURES IN THE PIPELINE. THE DAMAGED PIPELINE WAS CUT OUT AND REPLACED AND THE PIPELINE RETURNED TO SERVICE ON 10/22/20. ENTERPRISE AND OTHER PARTIES PARTICIPATED IN THE NTSB'S INVESTIGATION OF THE ACCIDENT. THE NTSB CONCLUDED THE CAUSE OF THE ACCIDENT WAS DUE TO ORION'S INADEQUATE PLANNING AND RISK MANAGEMENT PROCESSES FAILED TO IDENTIFY THE PROXIMITY OF THEIR DREDGING OPERATION TO ENTERPRISE'S PIPELINE AND RESULTED IN THE ABSENCE OF EFFECTIVE CONTROLS TO PREVENT THE DREDGE'S CUTTERHEAD FROM STRIKING THE PIPELINE. THE REPORT IS AVAILABLE AT HTTPS://WWW.NTSB.GOV/INVESTIGATIONS/PAGES/DCA20FM026.ASPX NOTES: A5: SURVEYED ON 9/24/20. A18B: THIS WAS THE ESTIMATED TIME OF ARRIVAL OF THE OPERATIONS TECHNICIAN AT VIOLA STATION BASED ON PHONE LOG. B11A: THE DEPTH OF WATER OVER THE PIPELINE VARIES BASED ON TIDE LEVELS. C6: THERE WERE TWO PUNCTURES AT THE 6 O'CLOCK POSITION OF VARYING SIZES (7"" X 5"" AND 5"" X 2.5""). G3.9: ORION WAS NOT WORKING FOR ENTERPRISE. G3.10-11: THE WORK BEING PERFORMED AT THE TIME WAS DREDGING. G3.12-15: THE ONE-CALL TICKET WAS CLEARED BY ENTERPRISE BASED ON INFORMATION PROVIDED BY ORION STATING THE WORK WOULD BE ~60' FROM THE SHORELINE. AFTER THE TICKET WAS CLEARED, ENTERPRISE AGREED TO COURTESY MARK THE PIPELINE IN RESPONSE TO ORION'S CONCERN ABOUT THE PLACEMENT OF ANCHORS.