MARATHON PIPE LINE LLC

hazardous_liquid Incident —

Incident Information

Report Date
OperatorMARATHON PIPE LINE LLC
Commodity—
Pipeline Typehazardous_liquid

Location

State
Coordinates38.99704, -87.71476

Cause

CauseINCORRECT OPERATION
Subcause—

Casualties

Fatalities0
Injuries0

Costs

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

Location Map

Incident Narrative

ON JULY 18, 2018, MARATHON PIPE LINE'S (MPL) OPERATIONS CENTER RECEIVED A HAZARDOUS ATMOSPHERE ALARM AT 16:42, WHILE SWITCHING FROM ROBINSON UNIT 5 TO UNIT 3. MPL FIELD PERSONNEL CONFIRMED AN ACTIVE LEAK AT THE FLANGED CONNECTION FOR THE HEAT EXCHANGER. APPROXIMATELY SEVEN GALLONS OF DIESEL WAS RELEASED. ALL PRODUCT WAS CONTAINED ON-SITE AND CLEANED UP PROMPTLY. THE CAUSE OF THE GASKET FAILURE WAS DUE TO AN OVERPRESSURE OF THE HEAT EXCHANGER WHILE SWITCHING UNITS. PIPING DESIGN AND INADEQUATE PROCEDURES CONTRIBUTED TO THE OVERPRESSURE OF THE HEAT EXCHANGER. PROCEDURE UPDATES HAVE BEEN IMPLEMENTED TO PREVENT STARTING UNIT 3 BEFORE UNIT 5 IS SHUTDOWN AND AN ENGINEERED SOLUTION IS BEING DEVELOPED TO IMPROVE PIPING DESIGN. 10/19/18 UPDATE: UPDATED NARRATIVE WITH INVESTIGATION RESULTS.

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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