BUTTE PIPELINE CO

Incident Narrative

ON MARCH 11, 2020 AT APPROXIMATELY 1:30 PM MDT, A CONTRACTOR EMPLOYEE WAS EXCAVATING A TRENCH FOR A NEW PIPELINE PARALLEL TO THE BUTTE 16 INCH PIPELINE WHEN THE TRACK HOE HE WAS OPERATING BEGAN SLIDING INTO THE TRENCH HE WAS EXCAVATING. TO PREVENT THE TRACK HOE SLIDING INTO THE OPEN EXCAVATION, THE OPERATOR QUICKLY ROTATED THE CAB OF THE TRACK HOE AND REACHED OVER AN EXISTING SPOIL PILE AND PLACED THE BUCKET INTO THE GROUND ABOVE THE BUTTE 16 INCH PIPELINE. DUE TO SOFT SOIL CONDITIONS, THE TRACK HOE BUCKET SANK INTO THE GROUND AS THE OPERATOR WAS TRYING TO RE-POSITION AND SUBSEQUENTLY PUNCTURED THE BUTTE 16 INCH PIPELINE WHICH RESULTED IN APPROXIMATELY 500 BARRELS OF CRUDE OIL BEING UNINTENTIONALLY RELEASED. COMPANY PERSONNEL WERE IMMEDIATELY NOTIFIED OF THE INCIDENT AND SUBSEQUENTLY NOTIFIED THE CONTROL CENTER OPERATOR. THE CONTROL CENTER OPERATOR HAD ALREADY IDENTIFIED THE ABNORMAL OPERATING CONDITION AND WAS IN THE PROCESS OF SHUTTING DOWN THE BUTTE PIPELINE WHEN THEY RECEIVED NOTIFICATION FROM COMPANY FIELD PERSONNEL. THE IMPACTED SEGMENT OF PIPELINE WAS ISOLATED AND ONSITE PERSONNEL TOOK IMMEDIATE ACTIONS TO CONTAIN THE RELEASE BY DIVERTING THE RELEASED PRODUCT TO THE EXISTING OPEN EXCAVATION. AS SOON AS IT WAS DETERMINED THE RELEASE MET ACCIDENT REPORTING CRITERIA IT WAS PROMPTLY REPORTED TO THE NRC (REPORT #1273278) AND WYOMING DEQ (INCIDENT # 200311-154712). A SUBSEQUENT 48 HR. FOLLOW UP REPORT WAS MADE TO THE NRC (REPORT #1273415). ALL RELEASED PRODUCT WAS CONTAINED WITHIN THE PIPELINE RIGHT-OF-WAY AND THERE WERE NO INJURIES, NO FIRE/EXPLOSIONS, NO IMPACTS TO WATER, AND NO IMPACTS TO WILDLIFE. FREE LIQUIDS WERE RECOVERED VIA VAC TRUCKS AND RE-INJECTED BACK INTO THE PIPELINE SYSTEM. MECHANICAL EQUIPMENT WAS USED TO REMOVE PETROLEUM CONTAMINATED SOILS. ALL EXCAVATED SOIL WAS STOCKPILED ON LOCATION AND THE CONTRACTOR RESPONSIBLE FOR THE RELEASE IS CONSULTING WITH WYOMING DEQ TO DETERMINE THE BEST DISPOSAL OPTION.