SUNOCO PIPELINE L.P.

Incident Narrative

SEVERE RAIN STORM EVENT CAUSED ACUTE FLOODING OVER A LOCALIZED AREA OF LYCOMING COUNTY, PA IN THE VICINITY OF MONTOURSVILLE, PA. THIS STORM PRODUCED POWERFUL FLOODING WHICH DESTROYED AREA ROADS AND BRIDGES. THE BRIDGE DECK AND NORTH SIDE CONCRETE PEDIMENT AT WALLIS RUN CONFLUENCE WITH LOYALSOCK CREEK WAS SWEPT INTO THE CREEK BY FLOOD WATERS. THE CONCRETE AND STEEL BRIDGE COMPONENTS AND PEDIMENT WING WALL IMPACTED THE 8"" BALD EAGLE TO BUFFALO LINE SEGMENT, CAUSING THE PIPELINE FAILURE AT THE WALLIS RUN CROSSING. THE SUNOCO PIPELINE (SPLP) CONTROL CENTER OBSERVED A RAPID PRESSURE LOSS AT A PUMP STATION FOLLOWED BY A LEAK DETECTION SYSTEM ALARM AND IMMEDIATELY BEGAN SHUTDOWN OF THE PIPELINE. FIVE PUMP STATIONS WERE SHUT DOWN. AUTOMATED VALVES CONFIGURED WITH THE PUMP STATION SHUTDOWNS ISOLATED PIPELINE SEGMENTS ALONG THE SYSTEM WITHIN 2 TO 6 MINUTES OF THE PRESSURE LOSS AND LEAK DETECTION ALARM. SHORTLY THEREAFTER THE CONTROL CENTER RECEIVED PHONE NOTIFICATION FROM THE LYCOMING COUNTY 911 DISPATCHER OF GASOLINE ODORS IN THE AREA OF THE LOYALSOCK CREEK. SPLP CONTROL CENTER CONTACTED SPLP FIELD PERSONNEL AND THEY WERE DISPATCHED TO INVESTIGATE IN THE AREA OF THE REPORTED ODORS. AT 04:40, FIELD PERSONNEL CONFIRMED THE RELEASE. ADDITIONAL MANUAL VALVES WERE CLOSED TO FURTHER ISOLATE THE AFFECTED SEGMENT IN ADDITION TO THE AUTOMATIC AND REMOTELY OPERATED VALVES CLOSED EARLIER BY THE CONTROL CENTER. NRC REPORT # 1162129 WAS FILED ON 10/21/2016 AT 06:09. EMERGENCY RESPONSE WAS INITIATED AND SPLP ORGANIZED INCIDENT COMMAND CENTER (IC). IC WAS EXPANDED TO UNIFIED COMMAND (UC) INCLUDING LOCAL, COUNTY, STATE AND FEDERAL AGENCIES. THE EMERGENCY CONDITIONS AND UC WERE TERMINATED AT 17:00 ON 10/24/2016. PERMANENT REPAIRS WERE COMPLETED AND THE PIPELINE WAS RETURNED TO SERVICE ON NOVEMBER 12, 2016.