COLONIAL PIPELINE CO

Incident Narrative

ON MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2017, AT 07:38 CST, OPERATORS WORKING IN THE STATION YARD AT BATON ROUGE JUNCTION DISCOVERED DIESEL FUEL IN TWO ACCESS WELLS NEAR THE LINE 2 SHIPPER VALVE MANIFOLD. INTERNAL NOTIFICATIONS WERE MADE AND A CREW WAS IMMEDIATELY DEPLOYED TO START EXPLORATORY EXCAVATIONS. LINE 2 OUTGOING AT BATON ROUGE JUNCTION WAS NOT RUNNING AT THE TIME. A VACUUM TRUCK AND HYDRO-EXCAVATION TRUCK WERE REASSIGNED TO THE LEAK AREA AND BEGAN COLLECTING ALL FREE PRODUCT IN THE ACCESS WELLS AND AS IT SURFACED IN THE EXCAVATION. THE NRC WAS NOTIFIED AT 11:05 ONCE THE DETERMINATION WAS MADE THAT COSTS WOULD LIKELY EXCEED $50,000. THE LA SPOC AND EAST FELICIANA PARISH LEPC WERE ALSO NOTIFIED. PHMSA'S ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION DIVISION MADE CONTACT WITH THE OPERATIONS MANAGER FOLLOWING THE RELEASE OF THE NRC REPORT. ALL BURIED PIPE AND EQUIPMENT IN THE AREA WHERE PRODUCT WAS DISCOVERED IN ACCESS WELLS WAS EXCAVATED AND CONTINUOUSLY MONITORED. THROUGHOUT THE COURSE OF EXCAVATION, SECTIONS OF PIPE AND DRAIN LINES WERE INDIVIDUALLY PRESSURIZED TO ASSIST IN SOURCE IDENTIFICATION. IN ORDER TO FULLY EXAMINE ALL POTENTIAL LEAK SOURCES, ON SEPTEMBER 19TH, ONCE THE AREA WAS FULLY EXCAVATED, THE ENTIRE STATION 2 INJECTION SEGMENT WAS PRESSURIZED TO THE STATION INJECTION VALVE. A 25,000 BBL BATCH OF KEROSENE WAS PUMPED TO MONITOR UNDER NORMAL OPERATION TO INCLUDE MONITORING OF CONNECTIONS DURING SHUT-DOWN. NO ADDITIONAL INDICATION OF LEAKS WERE DISCOVERED. DESPITE ALL THESE EFFORTS, NO SOURCE OF THE RELEASE COULD BE POSITIVELY IDENTIFIED. AT 15:21 ON 9/19/2017, THE DETERMINATION WAS MADE TO RESUME STEADY-STATE OPERATIONS WHILE CONTINUING TO MONITOR. IN ADDITION TO CONTINUOUS VISUAL MONITORING, MONITORING WELLS WERE ALSO INSTALLED IN THE AREA. OVER THE SUBSEQUENT THREE DAYS, ALL NORMAL SCENARIOS WERE PERFORMED AS PART OF ONGOING OPERATIONS WITH NO ADDITIONAL EVIDENCE OF LEAKS. ALL SPILLED PRODUCT WAS CONTAINED IN THE IMMEDIATE AREA. CONTAMINATED SOIL IS BEING REMOVED AS PART OF REMEDIATION ACTIVITIES THAT ARE STILL IN-PROGRESS. FINAL SPILL VOLUME CALCULATIONS ARE ALSO IN PROGRESS. AS OF 10/12/17 AREA REMAINS EXCAVATED AND IS BEING MONITORED ROUTINELY BY OPERATIONS PERSONNEL ON SITE. FINAL REPORT UPDATE: THE INCIDENT ANALYSIS REPORT WAS APPROVED ON 2/15/2018 WITH NO ADDITIONAL FINDINGS RELATED TO THE SOURCE OF THE RELEASE. NO ADDITIONAL PRODUCT HAS BEEN OBSERVED IN THE AREA WHERE THE RELEASE OCCURRED WHICH REMAINS OPEN (EXCAVATED) AND WILL CONTINUE TO BE MONITORED WEEKLY AS PART OF NORMAL STATION CHECKS.