COLONIAL PIPELINE CO

hazardous_liquid Incident —

Incident Information

Report Date
OperatorCOLONIAL PIPELINE CO
Commodity—
Pipeline Typehazardous_liquid

Location

State
Coordinates34.55308, -82.48787

Cause

CauseINCORRECT OPERATION
Subcause—

Casualties

Fatalities0
Injuries0

Costs

Property Damage
Lost Commodity
Public/Private Damage
Emergency Response
Environmental Remediation
Other Costs

Location Map

Incident Narrative

AT APPROXIMATELY 16:40 PLT ON SEPTEMBER 27, 2019, THE BELTON OPERATOR WAS STINGING TANK 553 AND INADVERTENTLY LEFT THE STINGER VALVE OPEN. THE NEXT OPERATOR ON SHIFT DETECTED KEROSENE ON THE CONCRETE WASH-DOWN SLAB AT 22:45 PLT. THE LEAD OPERATOR WAS CALLED IMMEDIATELY AND THE OPERATIONS MANAGER WAS NOTIFIED AT 23:59 PLT. A VAC TRUCK AND COLONIAL/CONTRACT PERSONNEL WERE MOBILIZED. CREWS REMOVED THE PRODUCT FROM THE WASH-DOWN SLAB AND PIPING, EXCAVATED THE WASH-DOWN SLAB PIPING TO CONFIRM IT WAS CONSTRUCTED WITH SOLID PIPE, AND TESTED THE OIL WATER SEPARATOR (OWS) ALARMS AND CONFIRMED THEM TO BE WORKING PROPERLY. CREWS DISCOVERED THAT THE PIPING BETWEEN THE STINGER SYSTEM AND THE OWS WAS PARTIALLY OBSTRUCTED WHICH CAUSED PRODUCT TO BACK UP ONTO THE WASH-DOWN SLAB THROUGH THE WASH-DOWN SLAB DRAIN LINE. THE OBSTRUCTION WAS CLEARED AND THE STINGER SYSTEM RETURNED TO NORMAL OPERATION. THERE WERE NO ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS AS ALL PRODUCT WAS CONTAINED WITHIN THE OWS, SUMP, AND ON THE BERMED, CONCRETE WASH-DOWN SLAB. 92 GALLONS OF PRODUCT WAS RELEASED FROM THE PIPELINE SYSTEM TO THE WASH-DOWN SLAB.

About This Pipeline Incident

Pipeline incident data is reported to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA). All significant incidents involving fatalities, injuries, or property damage over $50,000 must be reported.

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