WILLIAMS FIELD SERVICES
hazardous_liquid Incident — — October 13, 2016
Incident Information
| Incident Date | October 13, 2016 |
| Operator | WILLIAMS FIELD SERVICES |
| Commodity | HVL OR OTHER FLAMMABLE OR TOXIC FLUID WHICH IS A GAS AT AMBI |
| Pipeline Type | hazardous_liquid |
Location
| State | |
| Coordinates | 40.85855, -104.42874 |
Cause
| Cause | EQUIPMENT FAILURE |
| Subcause | NON-THREADED CONNECTION FAILURE |
Casualties
| Fatalities | 0 |
| Injuries | 0 |
Costs
| Property Damage | $200 |
| Emergency Response | $0 |
| Other Costs | $0 |
Location Map
Incident Narrative
OP TECH OBSERVED A LEAK ON FLANGE WHILE CONDUCTING ROUTINE SITE ROUNDS. FOLLOWING OBSERVATION THE OP. TECH CONTACTED PIPELINE CONTROL AND THEY PROCEEDED TO REDUCE PIPELINE FLOW TO 0 FLOW WAS ESTABLISHED. AFTER ZERO FLOW WAS ESTABLISHED. LEAK WAS ISOLATED BY CLOSING UPSTREAM AND DOWNSTREAM VALVES. LOTO WAS PERFORMED, SECTION OF PIPE WAS DEPRESSURIZED TO ZERO PSI, AND INSULATING FLANGE GASKET WAS REPLACED. EQUIPMENT FAILURE FOUND TO BE CAUSED BY INCORRECT INSTALLATION AND EXCESSIVE VIBRATION. THE SKID VIBRATION SURVEY COMPLETED FOUND NO HIGH LEVEL VIBRATION THAT WOULD PRESENT INTEGRITY ISSUES. THEREFORE THE MAJOR CAUSE OF FAILURE IS BELIEVED TO BE IMPROPER INSTALLATION, SPECIFICALLY THERE WAS EVIDENCE OF IMPROPER TORQUE DURING INSTALLATION. THE GASKET HAD BEEN IN SERVICE FOR FIVE YEARS. GASKET FAILURE WAS ULTIMATELY THE RESULT OF FRACTURING IN THE SURROUNDING COMPOSITE DISK DUE TO THE APPLICATION OF A COMPRESSIVE FORCE BEYOND THE STRENGTH OF THE DISK. THE OPPL TEAM WAS TRAINED ON PROCEDURE ""40 05 41C BOLT TENSIONING FOR STANDARD FLANGED CONNECTIONS
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.