SUNOCO PIPELINE L.P.

Incident Narrative

ON APRIL 1, 2017 AT 15:57, A CALL WAS RECEIVED BY THE SUNOCO PIPELINE LP (SPLP) CONTROL CENTER VIA THE COMPANY EMERGENCY NUMBER FROM A LANDOWNER REPORTING A POSSIBLE LEAK ALONG THE PIPELINE ROW AT 5530 MORGANTOWN RD, MORGANTOWN, PA. INTERNAL NOTIFICATIONS WERE MADE AND SPLP FIELD PERSONNEL WERE IMMEDIATELY DISPATCHED TO THE FIELD TO INVESTIGATE. FIELD PERSONNEL ARRIVED ONSITE AT APPROXIMATELY 17:00 AND CONFIRMATION OF THE RELEASE WAS MADE AT APPROXIMATELY 17:04. NRC NOTIFICATION WAS MADE AT 17:59 (REPORT 1174615) THAT SAME DAY. REQUIRED FOLLOW UP REPORT TO NRC WAS MADE ON APRIL 3, 2017 AT 15:46 (REPORT 1174748) UPDATING THE VOLUME RELEASED TO 20BBLS AND ALSO PROVIDING UPDATED COORDINATES OF THE RELEASE LOCATION. THE PIPELINE WAS SHUT DOWN AND THE AFFECTED AREA WAS ISOLATED VIA UPSTREAM AND DOWNSTREAM MAINLINE VALVES. PRODUCT WAS DISPLACED AND THE ISOLATED SEGMENT WAS NITROGEN PURGED. SUBSEQUENT EXCAVATION REVEALED THE SOURCE OF THE LEAK AS AN EXTERNAL CORROSION PINHOLE. THE AFFECTED SECTION OF PIPING WAS CUT OUT AND REPLACED AND THE FAILED SECTION WAS SENT TO A 3RD PARTY LABORATORY FOR FAILURE ANALYSIS. FAILURE ANALYSIS INDICATED THAT THE LEAK OCCURRED AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PIPE AT AN AREA OF EXTERNAL CORROSION COINCIDENT WITH THE HEAT AFFECTED ZONE OF A GIRTH WELD. THE FAILURE ANALYSIS CONFIRMED THE CAUSE AS EXTERNAL CORROSION AND INDICATED THAT MICROBIOLOGICALLY INDUCED CORROSION (MIC) MAY HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO THE OBSERVED EXTERNAL CORROSION.