EXXONMOBIL PIPELINE CO

Incident Narrative

ON JUNE 22, 2020, VALVE-1699 HAD A FAILURE OF A TEMPORARY ENGINEERED ENCLOSURE INSTALLED TO CONTAIN PRODUCT FROM A DETERIORATING O-RING ON THE VALVE BONNET. AN ESTIMATED 33 BARRELS WERE RELEASED INTO THE ATMOSPHERE AND THE VAPOR CLOUD WAS CONTAINED IN THE VICINITY OF THE VALVE. A FIRE MONITOR WAS SET UP BY EXXONMOBIL BATON ROUGE REFINERY AND A WATER SPRAY TURNED ON TO SUPPRESS THE VAPORS. AIR MONITORING BEGAN IMMEDIATELY AND PERIMETER AIR MONITORING WAS SET UP NEAR THE ROADWAY TO ENSURE NO VOCS OR LELS WERE LEAVING THE SITE. FLARES WERE SET UP ON EACH END OF THE PIPELINE AT THE ISOLATION VALVES TO EMPTY THE PIPELINE IN ORDER TO SAFELY REPLACE THE VALVE. PRODUCT CONTINUED TO BE RELEASED FROM THE FAILED TEMPORARY VALVE UNTIL FLARE DOWN WAS COMPLETE ON JUNE 26, 2020. THE VALVE WAS REPLACED IN LIKE-KIND. THIS TEMPORARY ENGINEERED ENCLOSURE WAS THE ONLY ONE IN EMPCO'S SYSTEM. HOWEVER, AS A FOLLOW UP FROM THE INVESTIGATION, EMPCO'S REPAIR AND MODIFICATION MANUAL WILL BE UPDATED TO INCLUDE FUGITIVE EMISSIONS MONITORING IF THIS TEMPORARY ENGINEERED ENCLOSURE IS UTILIZED IN THE FUTURE TO MAINTAIN A VALVE UNTIL SYSTEM CAN BE SAFELY DEPRESSURIZED/GAS FREED AND PERMANENTLY REPAIRED.