BUCKEYE PARTNERS, LP

Incident Narrative

ON 10/1/2016 AT 05:05 LOCAL OPERATING PERSONNEL NOTICED GASOLINE LEAKING FROM THE VFD PUMP FOR LINE 602. LINE 602 LINE WAS RUNNING AT THE TIME OF DISCOVERY BUT THE VFD WAS NOT BEING USED FOR THE OPERATION. LINE 602 WAS IMMEDIATELY SHUT DOWN. AN ESTIMATED 1.19 BARRELS OF PRODUCT WAS RELEASED AND 1.19 BARRELS HAS BEEN RECOVERED. ALL GASOLINE WAS CONTAINED WITHIN THE CONCRETE PUMP CONTAINMENT AND IMMEDIATE AREA. ALL FREE PRODUCT HAS BEEN RECOVERED AND ALL EFFECTED SOIL HAS BEEN REMOVED. NO FURTHER REMEDIATION IS NECESSARY. THERE WERE NO INJURIES. AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE ROOT CAUSE IS ONGOING. UPDATE 1/15/2018 AN INVESTIGATION BY THE PUMP VENDOR AND LOCAL OPERATIONS PERSONNEL REVEALED THAT PUMP SEAL FAILURE WAS THE DIRECT CAUSE OF THE INCIDENT. ABNORMAL MOVEMENT OF THE PUMP SEAL COLLAR ON THE PUMP SHAFT ALLOWED FOR PREMATURE WEARING OF THE PUMP SEAL AND PROVIDED A PATH FOR PRODUCT TO ESCAPE THE PUMP SEAL CHAMBER. ALTHOUGH THE PUMP SEAL CHAMBER IS DESIGNED WITH A DRAIN LINE AND PRESSURE SWITCH, WHICH IS INTENDED TO DETECT ANY PRODUCT ESCAPING A FAILED PUMP SEAL, THE PUMP SEAL FAILED IN A MANNER THAT ALLOWED PRODUCT TO ESCAPE VIA AN UNINTENDED ROUTE. THE PRODUCT ENTERED THE BEARING BRACKET HOUSING AND EVENTUALLY ESCAPED THE PUMP.