EPIC CONSOLIDATED OPERATIONS, LLC

hazardous_liquid Incident —

Incident Information

Report Date
OperatorEPIC CONSOLIDATED OPERATIONS, LLC
Commodity—
Pipeline Typehazardous_liquid

Location

State
Coordinates31.36180, -101.77730

Cause

CauseMATERIAL FAILURE OF PIPE OR WELD
Subcause—

Casualties

Fatalities0
Injuries0

Costs

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

Location Map

Incident Narrative

AN EPIC PIPELINE TECHNICIAN FOUND A LEAK ON A SEPARATOR AT THE VALVE SITE. THE TECHNICIAN CALLED IT IN TO THE CONTROL ROOM AND THE SEPARATOR WAS ISOLATED FROM THE PIPELINE SYSTEM. AFTER THE SITE WAS MADE SAFE IT WAS DETERMINED THAT THE RELEASE CAME FROM A FAILED FLANGE ON A 2-INCH DRAIN LINE. IT WAS DETERMINED THAT THE DRAIN LINE WAS NOT NEEDED IN THE CONFIGURATION OF THE SEPARATOR AND BLINDS WERE PLACED ON THE SEPARATOR DRAIN OUTLETS TO PREVENT A SIMILAR FAILURE. THERE ARE NO OTHER SEPARATOR'S OPERATED BY EPIC IN ANY OF THEIR OTHER PIPELINE SYSTEMS. THE RECONFIGURATION WILL MITIGATE ANY FUTURE RE-OCCURRENCE OF THIS TYPE OF FAILURE. 10/17/2019 UPDATE: THE FAILED WELD, PIPE, AND FLANGE SAMPLES WERE SENT TO A THIRD PARTY LABORATORY FOR A METALLURGICAL ANALYSIS TO BE PERFORMED ON THE SAMPLES. IT WAS CONFIRMED THE WELD FAILED DUE TO UNDERBEAD CRACKING, OR DELAYED HYDROGEN CRACKING, BY METALLURGICAL ANALYSIS. THE WELD FAILED IN THE HEAT AFFECTED ZONE ON THE FLANGE SIDE OF THE WELD.

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.

Back to All Incidents More Incidents in