CENTURION PIPELINE L.P.

Incident Narrative

ON AUGUST 13, 2018, AT APPROXIMATELY 12:55 PM, A CENTURION PIPELINE L.P. (CPL) EMPLOYEE IDENTIFIED A SEAL LEAK WITHIN THE TANK 2344 MIXER HOUSING. TANK 2344 IS LOCATED AT CPL'S MIDLAND STATION NEAR MIDLAND, TEXAS, IN MIDLAND COUNTY, TEXAS. CPL PERSONNEL IMMEDIATELY REMOVED AND REPLACED THE FAILED SEAL. HOWEVER, APPROXIMATELY 0.8 BARRELS OF CRUDE OIL WAS RELEASED WITHIN THE TANK CONTAINMENT BERM. AFTER REPAIRING THE MIXER SEAL, CPL REMEDIATED THE CONTAMINATED SOIL ON-SITE. THERE WERE NO INJURIES, FATALITIES OR FIRES ASSOCIATED WITH THIS EVENT. CPL DETERMINED THE CAUSE OF THE FAILURE TO BE NORMAL WEAR AND TEAR OVER THE LIFE OF THE SEAL. IN RESPONSE TO SIMILAR FAILURES IN THE PAST, CPL BEGAN THE PROCESS OF REPLACING OR UPGRADING ALL TANK MIXERS AS THE RESPECTIVE TANK IS TAKEN OUT OF SERVICE FOR SCHEDULED API 653 INSPECTIONS. IF A REPLACEMENT IS MADE, A SEAL POT LEVEL SWITCH AND VIBRATION TRANSMITTER IS INSTALLED. AFTER THE REPLACEMENT OR UPGRADE, IF THE MIXER IS LEAKING AT A FUTURE TIME, THE SEAL POT WILL BE FILLED CAUSING THE LEVEL SWITCH TO BE TRIGGERED RESULTING IN THE MIXER BEING SHUT OFF. THIS WILL PREVENT CATASTROPHIC FAILURE TO THE SEAL. IN ADDITION, THE VIBRATION TRANSMITTER WILL SHUT DOWN THE MIXER IF EXCESSIVE VIBRATION FORCES ARE DETECTED. REGARDING TANK 2344, THE NEXT OUT OF SERVICE API 653 INSPECTION IS SCHEDULED FOR 2021, AND IN THIS CASE, THE MIXER SEAL FAILED BEFORE THE SEAL POT LEVEL SWITCH WAS SCHEDULED TO BE INSTALLED. PURSUANT TO CURRENT PROCEDURES, THE MIXERS ARE AND WILL BE INSPECTED FOR VISIBLE LEAKS DURING CPL'S MONTHLY BREAKOUT TANK INSPECTIONS.