BKEP PIPELINE, LLC

Incident Narrative

DURING THE NIGHT OF WEDNESDAY MAY 8, 2019, THE CUSHING AREA WAS INUNDATED BY A TORRENTIAL RAINFALL EVENT. THIS EVENT PRODUCED OVER 5 INCHES OF RAINFALL IN A MATTER OF HOURS. THE ROOF DRAIN SYSTEM WAS UNABLE TO RELIEVE THE VOLUME OF WATER DUE TO BUILDUP OF BLAST MEDIA IN THE CHECK VALVE, PREVENTING FULL ACTUATION. THIS CAUSED THE ROOF TO DRAFT TO OIL LEVEL IN TANK, RESULTING IN A MANWAY FAILURE, WHICH RELEASED OIL ONTO THE ROOF EXITING VIA THE DRAIN. AT THE TIME THE RELEASE WAS DISCOVERED, THE WINDS WERE STEADY AT OVER 30 MPH WITH GUSTS EXCEEDING 45 MPH. THE HIGH WINDS PUSHED THE OIL INTO ONE CORNER OF THE CONTAINMENT AND GAVE THE APPEARANCE OF A SMALLER RELEASE. WHEN THE WIND DIRECTION SHIFTED, THE OIL CIRCUMVENTED THE CONTAINMENT BOOMS AND COVERED THE SURFACE OF THE RAINWATER THROUGHOUT THE CONTAINMENT AREA. ON THURSDAY, ONCE THE AMOUNT OF OIL IN THE CONTAINMENT AREA BECAME CLEAR, BKEP ESTIMATED THE COST OF THE RESPONSE TO BE BELOW $50,000. ON FRIDAY, MAY 10, REMEDIATION WAS NEARLY COMPLETE AND THE TOTAL ESTIMATED COST WAS $39,500. IN THE EARLY HOURS OF SATURDAY, MAY 11, ANOTHER LARGE STORM SYSTEM HIT THE CUSHING AREA, CAUSING AN ADDITIONAL 4-5 INCHES OF RAINFALL. THAT RAIN FILLED THE CONTAINMENT BERM AND CAUSED A SHEEN OF OIL ON THE RAINWATER WITHIN THE CONTAINMENT. THE SECOND MAJOR STORM LENGTHENED THE RESPONSE BEYOND THE SCOPE OF THE INITIAL ESTIMATE AND CAUSED THE TOTAL COST OF THE RESPONSE TO EXCEED $50,000. THAT EXCEEDANCE WAS NOT APPARENT UNTIL FINAL INVOICES WERE RECEIVED FROM THE CONTRACTORS THE FOLLOWING WEEK. BKEP DID NOT CALL THE NRC AT THE TIME OF THE SECOND STORM AS IT WAS SEVERAL DAYS AFTER THE INITIAL RELEASE. ALSO, THE PART 195 CRITERIA FOR IMMEDIATE NOTIFICATION IS BASED ON ESTIMATES AND NOT EXACT COST. BKEP'S INTERPRETATION OF THE LANGUAGE OF ADB-02-04 SUPPORTED THE VIEW THAT AN NRC CALL WAS NOT REQUIRED FOR A FINAL COST WHICH IS A SMALL AMOUNT OVER THE ESTIMATED VALUE OF LESS THAN $50K. ADB-02-04 DISCUSSES WHEN AN ADDITIONAL CALL IS REQUIRED TO THE NRC TO PROVIDE AN UPDATE TO INITIAL ESTIMATES (WHICH WOULD BE PROVIDED IF THOSE ESTIMATES ARE OVER 50K). IT STATES THAT A DAMAGE COST ESTIMATE SHOULD BE UPDATED VIA AN ADDITIONAL CALL IF THE COST IS 10 TIMES THE ESTIMATED AMOUNT; FOR EXAMPLE, IF THE ESTIMATE HAD BEEN $100,000, NO UPDATE TO THE INITIAL NRC CALL WOULD BE REQUIRED UNLESS THE END COST EXCEEDED $1 MILLION. BKEP INTERPRETED THE SAME LOGIC TO APPLY IF AN INITIAL COST ESTIMATE WAS LESS THAN $50K AND THEREFORE DID NOT TRIGGER A NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENT AND THE COST AT THE END OF THE CLEANUP TOTALED SLIGHTLY OVER $50K. BKEP'S CONCLUSION WAS THAT, BASED ON THE ADB LANGUAGE, NO NRC NOTIFICATION WAS REQUIRED UNLESS THE END COST WAS SIGNIFICANTLY MORE THAN THE INITIAL ESTIMATES. FOR THIS REPORT, BKEP HAS MARKED QUESTION A6 AS ""REQUIRED BUT NOT MADE"" AT THE DIRECTION OF REGULATORY PERSONNEL.