COLONIAL PIPELINE CO

Incident Narrative

ON JULY 21, 2020, AT APPROXIMATELY 11:50 CST, A COLONIAL EMPLOYEE OBSERVED FUEL OIL (DIESEL) ON STANDING WATER WITHIN A ~3FT. AREA THAT WAS PREVIOUSLY EXCAVATED FOR UNIT VALVE MAINTENANCE. THE CONTROL CENTER WAS NOTIFIED AND LOCAL OPERATIONS ISOLATED AND DE-PRESSURIZED THE STATION. APPROPRIATE NOTIFICATIONS WERE MADE IN ACCORDANCE WITH PROCEDURE. ADDITIONAL PERSONNEL WERE MOBILIZED AND ARRIVED ON-SITE AT APPROXIMATELY 13:00 CST, TO CONDUCT CLEAN-UP ACTIVITIES. AT APPROXIMATELY 16:00 CST, THE REMOVAL OF ALL FREESTANDING PRODUCT AND WATER WAS COMPLETED. ON JULY 22, 2020, AT APPROXIMATELY 10:00 CST, THE LINE 2 UNIT 4 SUCTION (L2-U4) VALVE BONNET FLANGE WAS CONFIRMED AS THE SOURCE OF THE RELEASE WHEN A PRODUCT 'SWEAT' WAS OBSERVED FOLLOWING ABRASIVE BLASTING. THE VALVE IS A 24' WKM SAF-T-SEAL MODEL B, INSTALLED IN 1964. THE STATION WAS DRAINED-UP AND REPAIR OF THE VALVE WAS COMPLETED. NORMAL OPERATIONS RESUMED AT 16:30 CST ON JULY 22, 2020. DURING THE REPAIR OF THE VALVE TWO O-RINGS WERE DISCOVERED IN THE LOWER O-RING GROOVE ON THE BONNET. THE BONNET HAD BEEN REMOVED AND REINSTALLED ON JULY 9, 2020. IMPROPER INSPECTION AND PREPARATION OF THE SEALING SURFACE PRIOR TO REASSEMBLY DURING THAT MAINTENANCE RESULTED IN AN INADEQUATE SEAL AND LEAD TO THE PRODUCT RELEASE. ALL RELEASED PRODUCT WAS CONTAINED ON COLONIAL PIPELINE COMPANY (CPC) PROPERTY AND DID NOT RESULT IN AN EMERGENCY CONDITION. THE ESTIMATED RELEASE OF 23 GALLONS WAS RECOVERED AND ALL REMEDIATION ACTIVITIES WERE COMPLETED ON JULY 22, 2020. BASED ON THE RELEASED VOLUME AND COST OF REPAIRS/RESPONSE, NO EXTERNAL EMERGENCY NOTIFICATIONS WERE REQUIRED. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: ON JULY 9, 2020, PLANNED MAINTENANCE ACTIVITIES WERE CONDUCTED WHICH INCLUDED THE REPLACEMENT OF VALVE STEMS AND SOFT GOODS FOR ALL SIX UNIT VALVES ON LINE 2 AT LAKE CHARLES (LKC) STATION. THE REPAIR WORK WAS COMPLETED BY A COMBINATION OF COLONIAL TECHNICIANS, A GENERAL MAINTENANCE CONTRACTOR, AND A SPECIALTY VALVE CONTRACTOR. THE L2-U4 SUCTION VALVE WAS REASSEMBLED IMPROPERLY BY THE SPECIALTY VALVE CONTRACTOR. SPECIFICALLY, THE TOP HALF OF THE BONNET ASSEMBLY WAS NOT INSPECTED AND CLEANED PRIOR TO REASSEMBLY AND THE ORIGINAL O-RING WAS NEVER REMOVED. CPC OVERSIGHT OF THE CONTRACTORS WAS NOT SUFFICIENT TO CATCH THE ERROR DURING REASSEMBLY OF THE VALVE. AN INCIDENT ANALYSIS (IA) WAS COMPLETED, TO INCLUDE A CORRECTIVE ACTION TO REVISE THE SITE WORK PLAN TO ENSURE ADEQUATE OVERSIGHT OF CONTRACTORS DURING TASKS.