KINDER MORGAN UTOPIA LLC

Incident Narrative

ON MARCH 28, 2020, A LEAK WAS REPORTED TO THE KINDER MORGAN CONTROL CENTER BY THE LANDOWNER WHO OBSERVED BUBBLING IN A WATER PUDDLE THAT HAD FORMED BY RECENT HEAVY RAIN ON THE ROW. THE LOCATION OF THE SUSPECTED LEAK WAS DETECTED WITHIN 80 FEET OF BV 198 ON THE UTOPIA PIPELINE. A FIELD TECHNICIAN WAS DISPATCHED AND ARRIVED AT THE SITE AND CONFIRMED THE INTERMITTENT PRESENCE OF BUBBLES WITHIN A PUDDLE OF RAINWATER THAT WAS LOCATED ON THE PIPELINE ROW. THE AREA WAS ASSESSED FOR THE PRESENCE OF HYDROCARBONS AND ONLY MINUTE TRACES WERE FOUND IN THE IMMEDIATE AREA WHERE THE BUBBLES WOULD POP BUT THE TRACE OF HYDROCARBON WOULD IMMEDIATELY DISSIPATE AS SOON AS IT WAS DETECTED. THE TECHNICIAN THAT RESPONDED DID NOT HAVE THE SPECIFIC EQUIPMENT TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN BASIC HYDROCARBONS (SWAMP GAS) OR THE ACTUAL PRESENCE OF ETHANE THEREFORE FIELD MANAGEMENT DECIDED TO HAVE SPECIFIC ETHANE DETECTION EQUIPMENT SHIPPED TO THE LOCATION AND HAVE IT AVAILABLE THE FOLLOWING MORNING SO THAT A MORE DETAILED ANALYSIS COULD BE DONE. THE LEAK INVESTIGATION CONTINUED THE FOLLOWING MORNING, MARCH 29, 2020, AND IT CONFIRMED THE PRESENCE OF ETHANE IN THE AREA OF THE INTERMITTENT BUBBLES BUT AS OBSERVED THE PRECEDING DAY IT WOULD IMMEDIATELY DISSIPATE. ONCE THE PRESENCE OF ETHANE WAS CONFIRMED, IT WAS DECIDED TO ISSUE AN ERL CALL AND ISOLATE THE UPSTREAM AND DOWNSTREAM VALVES AT A DISTANCE OF 21,000 FEET. DURING THE ERL CALL, IT WAS ESTIMATED THAT THE COST OF REPAIRS MAY EXCEED THE $50K REPORTING THRESHOLD SO A NOTIFICATION WAS MADE TO THE NRC WITHIN THE HOUR OF CONFIRMED DISCOVERY. ON APRIL 07, 2020, 258 FEET OF PIPE SEGMENT WERE ISOLATED THROUGH THE INSTALLATION OF A NEW STOPPLE FITTING, WHICH RESULTED IN A FLAREDOWN OF 87.2 BARRELS OF PRODUCT. AFTER FLAREDOWN, KINDER MORGAN UTOPIA STARTED EXCAVATING AND FOUND THAT FROZEN SOIL SURROUNDED THE HISTORICAL STOPPLE TEE FITTING. THE HISTORICAL STOPPLE TEE WAS REMOVED AND IT WAS REPLACED WITH 14.2 FEET OF PRETESTED PIPE AND THE LINE WAS RETURNED TO SERVICE. ONCE THE HISTORICAL STOPPLE TEE WAS REMOVED, THE LINE NO LONGER LEAKED. THUS, THE STOPPLE TEE WAS THE SOURCE OF THE LEAK. THEREAFTER, THE HISTORICAL STOPPLE TEE FITTING WAS TRANSPORTED TO A THIRD PARTY LABORATORY FOR FURTHER EXAMINATION TO DETERMINE WHICH PART OF THE FITTING WAS THE SOURCE OF THE LEAK. UPON REVIEWING INITIAL INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THE LAB, KINDER MORGAN UTOPIA BECAME CONCERNED THAT PART OF THE FITTING WAS DAMAGED AT THE LAB DURING DISASSEMBLY AND THAT THE LAB ADJUSTED PORTIONS OF THE TEE FITTING PRIOR TO CONDUCTING PRESSURIZED LEAK TESTS. BECAUSE THE LAB DID NOT TEST THE TEE FITTING ""AS IS"" UPON RECEIPT, THE RESULTS CANNOT BE TRACED BACK TO THE INITIAL STATE OF THE TEE FITTING. ACCORDINGLY, THE LAB ANALYSIS WAS INCONCLUSIVE.