ONEOK NGL PIPELINE, LLC

Incident Narrative

ON 4/28/2020 AN INCIPIENT FIRE OCCURRED WHILE A CONTRACTOR WAS COMPLETING THE FINAL TIE-IN WELD AT ONEOK'S EASTLAND II PUMP STATION. THE INCIPIENT FIRE OCCURRED AS THE WELDER WAS APPROXIMATELY HALF-WAY THROUGH HIS ROOT PASS AND SELF-EXTINGUISHED. THE PIPELINE WAS ISOLATED BY MAINLINE BLOCK-VALVES UPSTREAM AND DOWNSTREAM OF THE LOCATION AND STOPPLES HAD BEEN SET ON EITHER SIDE OF THE WORK SITE. A MUD PLUG VAPOR BARRIER WAS INSTALLED BEFORE PERFORMING THE FINAL TIE-IN WELD. TO MAKE THE FINAL TIE-IN WELD THE MAINLINE PIPE WAS CUT TO ENSURE PROPER FIT. ONCE THE FINAL CUT WAS MADE A WORKER MOVED THE MUD PLUG FARTHER INTO THE PIPE TO ENABLE THE WELDER TO MAKE HIS WELD. THE MUD PLUG WAS VISUALLY INSPECTED AND ATMOSPHERIC TESTING DOWNSTREAM OF THE MUD PLUG WAS CONDUCTED WITH NO HYDROCARBONS DETECTED. AS THE WELDER WAS IN THE PROCESS OF MAKING HIS WELD THE INCIPIENT FIRE DEVELOPED AND SELF-EXTINGUISHED. ONEOK'S INVESTIGATION IDENTIFIED THAT PREVIOUS TO ONEOK BECOMING THE OPERATOR OF THIS ASSET IN 2015, THE PREVIOUS OPERATOR/EMPLOYER DID EMPLOY MUD PLUGS AS VAPOR BARRIERS WHICH WAS CARRIED FORWARD BY THE EMPLOYEES INVOLVED. AT THE TIME OF THE INCIDENT, ONEOK DID NOT HAVE A QUALIFICATION OR PROCEDURE FOR THE UTILIZATION/INSTALLATION OF MUD PLUGS AS VAPOR BARRIERS. ONEOK IS WORKING TO DEVELOP A MUD PLUG VAPOR BARRIER PROCEDURE AND QUALIFICATIONS SHOULD THE USE OF A MUD PLUG BE REQUIRED IN THE FUTURE. ONEOK IS ALSO CONDUCTING REFRESHER TRAINING ON REPORTING REQUIREMENTS TO THE FIELD EMPLOYEES TO MAKE SURE THEY ARE AWARE OF THE PHMSA AND NRC REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. ONEOK'S ANTI-DRUG AND ALCOHOL MISUSE PREVENTION PLAN INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING STATEMENTS REGARDING POST-ACCIDENT TESTING. ANTI-DRUG PROGRAM: AS SOON AS POSSIBLE BUT NO LATER THAN 32 HOURS AFTER AN ACCIDENT, THE COMPANY WILL DRUG TEST EACH SURVIVING COVERED EMPLOYEE WHOSE PERFORMANCE OF A COVERED FUNCTION EITHER CONTRIBUTED TO THE ACCIDENT OR CANNOT BE COMPLETELY DISCOUNTED AS A CONTRIBUTING FACTOR TO THE ACCIDENT. ALCOHOL MISUSE PREVENTION PLAN: AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, THE COMPANY WILL ALCOHOL TEST EACH SURVIVING COVERED EMPLOYEE WHOSE PERFORMANCE OF A COVERED FUNCTION EITHER CONTRIBUTED TO THE ACCIDENT OR CANNOT BE COMPLETELY DISCOUNTED AS A CONTRIBUTING FACTOR TO THE ACCIDENT. THE COMPANY MAY DECIDE NOT TO TEST UNDER THIS PARAGRAPH BUT SUCH A DECISION WILL BE BASED ON SPECIFIC INFORMATION THAT THE COVERED EMPLOYEE'S PERFORMANCE HAD NO ROLE IN THE CAUSE(S) OR SEVERITY OF THE ACCIDENT. THE REPORTABILITY OF THIS INCIDENT WAS NOT IDENTIFIED WITHIN THAT TIMEFRAME, THUS ANY TESTING THAT WOULD HAVE NORMALLY OCCURRED DID NOT TAKE PLACE. NRC REPORT 1276472 WAS MADE ON 5/01/20 AND THE FOLLOW UP NRC REPORT 1276608 WAS MADE ON 5/04/20. REPORT UPDATED 6/08/20 PER PHMSA REQUEST.-N JONES REPORT UPDATED 2/18/2022-N JONES CORRECTED PART A, QUESTION 5-ACCIDENT LOCATION, PART B, QUESTION 1-PIPELINE NAME, PART D, QUESTION 6-HCA INFORMATION PART E, QUESTION 2-MOP OF PIPELINE AND PART E, QUESTION 9-SCADA & QUESTION-10 LEAK DETECTION. PART A, QUESTION 5 - ORIGINAL GPS COORDINATES USED FOR THE ACCIDENT WERE INCORRECT. ORIGINALLY REPORTED GPS: (32.4883300, -98.88111000) ARE FOR THE EASTLAND I PUMP STATION ACCIDENT OCCURRED AT GPS LOCATION: 32.489106, -98.873557 WHICH IS ON THE ONEOK 10"" PIPELINE (INDEX #21365) PART B, QUESTION 1- CHANGED PIPELINE/FACILITY NAME FROM EASTLAND I PUMP STATION TO ONEOK #1-10"" PIPELINE. PART D, QUESTION 6- CHANGED HCA INFORMATION TO ""NO"" LOCATION ON ORIGINAL REPORT WAS EASTLAND 1 PUMP STATION WHICH IS HCA LOCATION. ACCIDENT OCCURRED OUTSIDE OF HCA AT ONEOK #1-10"" PIPELINE. PART E, QUESTION 2- CHANGED MOP TO 890 WHICH IS THE MOP OF THE EXISTING 10"" PIPELINE. PART E, QUESTIONS 9 & 10- PIPELINE DOES HAVE SCADA AND CPM LEAK DETECTION. BOTH WERE IN OPERATION AT TIME OF ACCIDENT BUT ISOLATED FROM THE SECTION WHERE THE ACCIDENT OCCURRED.