EXPLORER PIPELINE CO

hazardous_liquid Incident —

Incident Information

Report Date
OperatorEXPLORER PIPELINE CO
Commodity—
Pipeline Typehazardous_liquid

Location

State
Coordinates41.60767, -87.43875

Cause

CauseEQUIPMENT FAILURE
Subcause—

Casualties

Fatalities0
Injuries0

Costs

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

Location Map

Incident Narrative

ON APRIL 2, 2017 AN OPERATION TECHNICIAN DISCOVERED A RELEASE OF JET FUEL FROM AN OIL WATER SEPARATION SYSTEM AT THE HAMMOND TANK FARM. THE PRODUCT THAT WAS RELEASED WAS TOTALLY CONTAINED ON THE PROPERTY AND ANY IMPACTED SOIL WAS IMMEDIATELY ADDRESSED. THE DIRECT CAUSE OF THE RELEASE WAS FROM A FAILED GASKET ASSOCIATED WITH THE NEMO PROGRESSIVE PUMP. THE PUMP FEEDS A GRAVITY FED PRODUCT AND WATER MIXTURE IN A SUMP FROM WATER DRAWS TO AN OIL WATER SEPARATOR. NO OBSTRUCTIONS WERE IDENTIFIED WITH THE PUMP OR DRAIN LINES. THE ESTIMATED PRESSURE DIRECTLY DOWNSTREAM OF THE PUMP AND UPSTREAM OF THE RELIEF FROM POST INCIDENT FIELD TESTING INDICATED TO BE APPROXIMATELY 50 PSI. HOWEVER, IT'S BELIEVE AN OVERPRESSURE ON THE NEMO PUMP GASKET ON THE OIL WATER SEPARATOR WAS THE DIRECT CAUSE. A NEWLY DESIGN SYSTEM HAS BEEN INSTALLED TO MITIGATE ANY POTENTIAL FUTURE OCCURRENCES WITH THE OIL WATER SEPARATOR.

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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