LACLEDE GAS CO

Incident Narrative

LEAK ON HVL LINE CALLED IN BY AN OUTSIDE PARTY AT APPROXIMATELY 6:30AM ON SATURDAY, MAY 6, 2017. LACLEDE PIPELINE PERSONNEL ON SITE AT APPROXIMATELY 7:30 AM; IMMEDIATELY STARTED NOTIFICATION AND SHUTDOWN PROCEDURES. THE LEAK WAS ISOLATED AS SOON AS POSSIBLE BY CLOSING THE NEAREST UPSTREAM AND DOWNSTREAM BLOCK VALVES. DISCUSSIONS BETWEEN PIPELINE PERSONNEL ON SITE AND MANAGEMENT DETERMINED THAT THIS COULD BE A FEDERAL REPORTABLE ACCIDENT BECAUSE POTENTIAL REPAIR COSTS COULD EXCEED $50,000 AT APPROXIMATELY 11:08 AM CDT. THE NRC WAS CALLED AT 11:39AM CDT, NRC INCIDENT REPORT #1177602. THE NRC WAS NOTIFIED THAT THE LINE HAD BEEN SHUT IN AND THE RELEASE SECURED. ALSO, THAT THE LEAK SITE HAD BEEN CORDONED OFF AND WOULD BE MONITORED BY PIPELINE PERSONNEL UNTIL THE LINE COULD BE ISOLATED AND REPAIRED. THE 48 HOUR RENOTIFICATION WAS MADE ON MONDAY, MAY 8, 2017 AT 11:24 CDT; NRC INCIDENT REPORT #1177752. A NO CHANGE IN STATUS WAS REPORTED. A LINE PURGE AND REPAIR PLAN WAS DEVELOPED AND SET INTO MOTION ON TUESDAY, MAY 9, 2017. THE LEAK SITE WAS EXCAVATED ON WEDNESDAY, MAY 10 AND THE SOURCE OF THE LEAK WAS FOUND TO BE A LEAKING INSULATED FLANGE. THE LEAKING FLANGE WAS CUT OUT ON THURSDAY, MAY 11 AND A NEW SPOOL PIECE WELDED IN ITS PLACE. A LINE REFILL PLAN WAS FORMALIZED OVER THE WEEKEND AND THE LINE WAS REFILLED AND RETURNED TO SERVICE TUESDAY, MAY 16. THE OTHER ELEVEN (11) BURIED FLANGES ALONG THE LINE WILL BE LOCATED AND A COMPLETE EVALUATION MADE OF THEIR INTEGRITY. MITIGATIVE ACTIONS WILL BE TAKEN IF NECESSARY.