DCP MIDSTREAM

Incident Narrative

AT 4:52AM, CONTROL CENTER GOT A CALL FROM COUNTY SHERIFF STATING THAT HE SMELLS GAS AND CONTROL CENTER CALLED THE FIELD PERSONNEL TO INVESTIGATE. AT 06:15 AM, OPERATIONS TECH WAS ON SITE AND CONFIRMED LEAK AND CALLED CONTROL ROOM TO SHUT DOWN THE STATION. AT 6:23 AM, CONTROL CENTER SHUT DOWN THE BRACKETTVILLE STATION. IT WAS DETERMINED THAT THE LEAK WAS CAUSED BY CRACKED NIPPLE ON THE STRAINER (PUMP# 310). THE NGL TECHNICIAN PERFORMED CORRECTIVE ACTION BY REMOVING THE CRACKED NIPPLE AND INSTALLING A PLUG. IN ADDITION TO THAT, TO DETERMINE THE ROOT CAUSE OF THE CRACKED NIPPLE, DCP SENT THE NIPPLE TO THE LAB (STRESS ENGINEERING SERVICES INC) FOR FAILURE ANALYSIS. THE LAB ANALYSIS INDICATES THAT FATIGUE CAUSED THE NIPPLE TO CRACK. PRIOR TO THE LEAK, DCP ALSO CONDUCTED VIBRATION ANALYSIS (ENVIBE CONTRACTOR) OF BRACKETTVILLE PUMP STATION. DCP HAS PROGRAM IN PLACE TO PERFORM THE VIBRATION ANALYSIS ON ALL THE PUMPS QUARTERLY. THE SIMILAR LEAK (CRACKED NIPPLE) WAS FOUND IN TWO OTHER DCP PUMP STATIONS AND THE SAME CORRECTIVE ACTIONS WERE CONDUCTED BY REMOVING THE NIPPLE AND INSTALLING THE PLUG. THE CONTRIBUTING FACTOR TO THE LEAK TIME LINE (2:29AM TO 6:23AM) AS THE GAS DETECTOR WAS INHIBITED BECAUSE IT WAS IN FAULT. SINCE THE INCIDENT, PROGRAMMING FOR GAS DETECTORS IN THE PLC HAS BEEN MODIFIED TO OPERATE ON A HIGH SHUTDOWN EVEN IF IT IS IN A FAULTED STATE. THE CHANGE WAS MADE IN THE PROGRAMMING, NOT IN THE INSTRUMENTATION. NGL TECHNICIAN WAS ABLE TO RESOLVE THE EVENT WITHOUT THE NEED TO DEPLOY EMERGENCY RESPONSE PERSONNEL. NO ENVIRONMENTAL CLEANUP WAS NECESSARY BASED ON THE EVAPORATION OF THE NGL.