TRANSMONTAIGNE OPERATING COMPANY L.P.

Incident Narrative

DURING A GRAVITY-FED TRANSFER OF DIESEL FUEL, TRANSMONTAIGNE PERSONNEL WERE WALKING DOWN THE 14"" LINE INVOLVED AND OBSERVED PRODUCT SPRAYING FROM A FLANGED JOINT. THE TRANSFER OPERATION WAS IMMEDIATELY SHUT DOWN AND THE AFFECTED SECTION OF PIPING WAS ISOLATED. FACILITY EQUIPMENT WAS USED TO RECOVER FREE LIQUIDS, AND ON-SITE CONTRACTOR EQUIPMENT WAS USED TO CONSTRUCT A LINED CONTAINMENT AREA FOR AFFECTED SOIL AND GRAVEL. AFFECTED RETENTION POND WATER (IMMEDIATELY BELOW DRAIN PIPE) WAS COLLECTED VIA VAC TRUCK AND SORBENT BOOMS WERE DEPLOYED/LEFT IN PLACE AS A CONTINGENCY. AFTER VERIFYING ISOLATION OF THE AFFECTED SECTION OF PIPING, DRAIN-UP ACTIVITIES WERE INITIATED. ONCE THE AFFECTED SECTION OF PIPING WAS PROPERLY DRAINED, THE FLANGED JOINT WHERE PRODUCT HAD SPRAYED FROM WAS UNBOLTED AND OPENED FOR VISUAL INSPECTION OF THE GASKET. UPON VISUAL INSPECTION, IT WAS DETERMINED THAT THE FAILURE WAS A RESULT OF A TEAR IN THE GASKET ACROSS THE RAISED-FACE FLANGE. VISUAL INSPECTIONS ON ALL FLANGED GASKET JOINTS IN THE IMMEDIATE AREA WERE PERFORMED TO DETERMINE IF THE EVENT WAS ISOLATED OR POSSIBLY DUE TO A DEFECT IN THE GASKET. VISUAL INSPECTIONS OF THE OTHER GASKETS INDICATED THAT THIS WAS AN ISOLATED EVENT. ALL OTHER GASKETS WERE FOUND TO BE IN GOOD CONDITION WITH NO OBSERVED DEFECTS. UPON COMPLETION OF THE INSTALLATION OF THE NEW GASKET, THE AFFECTED SECTION OF PIPING WAS REFILLED AND MONITORED. UPON MANAGEMENT'S APPROVAL, THE LINE RESUMED NORMAL OPERATIONS.