SUNOCO PIPELINE L.P.

hazardous_liquid Incident — — February 8, 2021

Incident Information

Incident DateFebruary 8, 2021
OperatorSUNOCO PIPELINE L.P.
CommodityHVL OR OTHER FLAMMABLE OR TOXIC FLUID WHICH IS A GAS AT AMBI
Pipeline Typehazardous_liquid

Location

State
Coordinates40.31882, -76.03759

Cause

CauseEQUIPMENT FAILURE
SubcauseNON-THREADED CONNECTION FAILURE

Casualties

Fatalities0
Injuries0

Costs

Property Damage$100
Emergency Response$1,900
Other Costs$0

Location Map

Incident Narrative

"ON 2/08/21 AT APPROXIMATELY 18:38 CST, UPON LINING UP VALVES FOR A DELIVERY INTO A 3RD PARTY TERMINAL FACILITY THE PIPELINE CONTROLLER RECEIVED AN LEL ALARM PRIOR TO INITIATING THE DELIVERY. AT THE TIME THE DELIVERY PIPING WAS IN A STATIC CONDITION AND UPON RECEIVING THE ALARM THE CONTROLLER ABORTED THE DELIVERY. NOTIFICATIONS TO SUPERVISOR AND FIELD PERSONNEL WERE MADE. AT 20:45 EST FIELD PERSONNEL CONFIRMED A LEAK ORIGINATING AT A FILTER VESSEL CLOSURE (O-RING). THE FILTER WAS ISOLATED, DE-INVENTORIED AND THE O-RING WAS REMOVED AND REPLACED. CAUSE OF THE O-RING FAILURE IS UNDER INVESTIGATION BY THE O-RING MANUFACTURER. THE FILTER VESSEL EQUIPMENT IS CURRENTLY BYPASSED UNTIL THE CAUSE OF THE O-RING FAILURE IS DETERMINED. SCHEDULED DELIVERIES TO THE 3RD PARTY CONTINUE TO OCCUR ON SCHEDULE. 4/15/21 THE EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURER DETERMINED THE O-RING FAILED DUE TO THERMAL (REFRIGERATION) EFFECTS ON THE O-RING ASSOCIATED WITH RAPID DECOMPRESSION RELATED TO NORMAL PRESSURE CYCLING ASSOCIATED WITH THE DELIVERY. MANUFACTURER SUGGESTED AN O-RING WITH A GREATER COLD TEMPERATURE RATING MAY RESOLVE THE LEAK PROBLEM. ET ENGINEERING AND OPERATIONS DETERMINED THAT THE SUGGESTED O-RING WILL BE USED AND WILL ALSO IMPLEMENT A SHUTDOWN VALVE SEQUENCE CHANGE TO LIMIT THE RANGE OF PRESSURE CYCLING ON SHUT DOWN."

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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