COLONIAL PIPELINE CO

Incident Narrative

[NOTE: DUE TO CHARACTER LIMITATIONS OF PHMSA'S PORTAL, PORTIONS OF THE NARRATIVE PROVIDED UNDER PART H. OF THE ORIGINAL REPORT SUBMITTED 5/27/2020 HAVE BEEN DELETED, BUT ARE INCORPORATED HEREIN AS IF FULLY RESTATED.] ON 4/28/20 AT 11:50 LOCAL TIME, A COLONIAL TECHNICIAN ARRIVED AT SOUTH NORFOLK DELIVERY FACILITY TO PERFORM ANNUAL MAINTENANCE ON THERMAL RELIEF VALVES. AFTER UNLOADING TOOLS AND EQUIPMENT FROM HIS TRUCK, HE PROCEEDED TO WALK INTO THE MANIFOLD AREA TO START WORK WHEN HE NOTICED A STEADY DRIP FROM THE TOP OF THE DELIVERY CONTROL VALVE. THE TECHNICIAN ALSO OBSERVED STAINED GRAVEL DIRECTLY BENEATH AND IN THE GENERAL AREA NEAR THE CONTROL VALVE, WITH THE AFFECTED AREA MEASURING APPROXIMATELY 10 FEET BY 11 FEET. THIS FACILITY WAS NOT RECEIVING PRODUCT AT THE TIME THE LEAK WAS DISCOVERED. THE TECHNICIAN MADE NOTIFICATION TO THE LINE 27 ALPHARETTA CONTROLLER AT 12:11 AND REQUESTED SHUTDOWN OF THE LINE EVEN THOUGH THE LINE WAS BYPASSING THE FACILITY. HE THEN CONTACTED THE OPERATION MANAGER (OM) AT 12:12 AND CALLED HEPACO (EMERGENCY RESPONSE CONTRACTOR/OSRO FOR THE AREA) AT 12:30 TO MOBILIZE AN EMERGENCY RESPONSE CREW TO BEGIN CLEANUP. COLONIAL'S OPERATION MANAGER (OM) FOR THE SOUTH NORFOLK DELIVERY FACILITY ARRIVED ON SCENE AT 12:20. OM CONTACTED COLONIAL DISTRICT LEADER AND ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGER AT 12:30. RESPONSE CREW FROM HEPACO ARRIVED AT 13:15 AND REPAIR CREW FROM ITS (COLONIAL MAINTENANCE CONTRACTOR) WAS SCHEDULED TO ARRIVE LATER THAT EVENING. CLEAN UP BEGAN BY HEPACO WITH ABSORBENT RECOVERY OF FREE PRODUCT AND EXCAVATION OF IMPACTED SOIL AT 14:30 AND CONTINUED UNTIL 20:00. THE MECHANICAL REPAIR CREW ARRIVED AT 18:00 AND WORKED TO REMOVE THE CONTROL VALVE UNTIL 21:20. THE CONTROL VALVE WAS REMOVED AND BLIND FLANGES WERE PLACED AT THE CONTROL VALVE LOCATION TO ISOLATE THE FACILITY FROM THE DELIVERY LINE. OM CALLED THE ALPHARETTA CONTROL CENTER AT 21:20 TO INFORM THAT THE MAINTENANCE WORK WAS COMPLETE AND CONDITIONS WERE SAFE TO START UP LINE 27. THE LINE WAS SAFELY RESTARTED AT 22:09 WITHOUT ANY ISSUES. AFTER OBSERVING THE REPAIR FLANGES POST-STARTUP TO ENSURE INTEGRITY OF THE REPAIR, THE ITS MAINTENANCE CREW DEMOBILIZED FROM THE FACILITY AND THE HEPACO RESPONSE CREW SHUT DOWN FOR THE EVENING AND ADDITIONAL SOIL EXCAVATION WAS SCHEDULED FOR THE NEXT DAY. ALL PRODUCT WAS CONTAINED TO THE FACILITY AND THE INITIAL ESTIMATED RELEASE WAS LESS THAN 25 GALLONS. THE EVENING OF 4/28/2020, COURTESY NOTIFICATIONS WERE MADE TO VA SCC, VDEM, AND VDEQ. BASED ON THE VOLUME ESTIMATE (<25 GALLONS) AND THE RESULTS OF THE SOIL SAMPLES, THE AGENCIES HAVE NOT REQUESTED ANY FURTHER ACTION OF COLONIAL AT THIS TIME. UPDATE 7/10/2020 COLONIAL CONDUCTED AN INCIDENT ANALYSIS OF THIS EVENT AND CAME TO THE FOLLOWING CONCLUSIONS: 1. THE PRIMARY CAUSE OF THE LEAK WAS A PACKING SEAL FAILURE ALONG THE STEM OF THE CONTROL VALVE. THE EVIDENCE SUGGEST THE STEM SEAL FAILURE WAS DUE TO EQUIPMENT WEAR AND TEAR ALONG WITH STEM CORROSION AND DRY ROTTED PACKING 2. A REPAIR ATTEMPT OF THE VALVE WILL BE COMPLETED ONCE NECESSARY PARTS HAVE ARRIVED 3. THE FACILITY WILL REMAIN ISOLATED FROM LINE 27 UNTIL THE VALVE IS REPAIRED OR REPLACED 4. A NEW TAKEOFF VALVE IS REQUESTED TO REPLACE THE CURRENT TAKEOFF VALVE IN PLACE 5. THE STATION WILL BE STAFFED DURING INITIAL DELIVERY TO ENSURE PROPER OPERATION OF THE FACILITY.