PLANTATION PIPE LINE CO
hazardous_liquid Incident — — August 18, 2016
Incident Information
| Incident Date | August 18, 2016 |
| Operator | PLANTATION PIPE LINE CO |
| Commodity | REFINED AND/OR PETROLEUM PRODUCT (NON-HVL) WHICH IS A LIQUID |
| Pipeline Type | hazardous_liquid |
Location
| State | |
| Coordinates | 30.54918, -91.16413 |
Cause
| Cause | EQUIPMENT FAILURE |
| Subcause | FAILURE OF EQUIPMENT BODY (EXCEPT PUMP), TANK PLATE, OR OTHER MATERIAL |
Casualties
| Fatalities | 0 |
| Injuries | 0 |
Costs
| Property Damage | $174,000 |
| Emergency Response | $5,000 |
| Other Costs | $0 |
Location Map
Incident Narrative
ON 8/18/16, AN OPERATIONS EMPLOYEE DISCOVERED GASOLINE RELEASING INTO SECONDARY CONTAINMENT FROM TANK 15.THE TANK FARM HAD EXPERIENCED SOME FLOODING DUE TO THE MASSIVE FLOODING IN THE BATON ROUGE AREA. TANK 15 WAS EMPTIED AND PREPARED FOR CLEANING. UPON CLEANING OF THE TANK, THE SOURCE OF THE RELEASE WAS IDENTIFIED AS A CRACK THROUGH THE SKETCH PLATE AT THE TOE OF THE CORNER WELD. THE FLOOR COATING IN THIS AREA WAS BROKEN AND THE CRACK WAS APPARENT. THE CRACK THROUGH THE COATING WAS APPROXIMATELY 2-IN LENGTH. THE INSTALLATION OF A NEW SHELL PLATE IN 2013 INDUCED DEFORMATION AND ADDITIONAL BENDING STRESSES IN THE SKETCH PLATES THAT WERE INSTALLED IN 1995. THESE ADDITIONAL STRESSES CAUSED SOME SURFACE CRACKING ON THE TOP AND BOTTOM SIDES OF THE SKETCH PLATE IN THE HEAT AFFECTED ZONE OF THE INTERIOR CORNER WELD. THE STRESSES ON THE PLATE FLUCTUATED WHILE IN SERVICE AND THIS REPEATED CYCLE COMPROMISED THE INTERNAL COATING IN THE AREA WHERE THE CRACK WAS PRESENT ALLOWING A CORROSIVE ENVIRONMENT IN THE CRACK. THESE STRESSED AREAS WERE SUBJECTED TO INCREASED STRESSES DUE TO THE TANK SERVICE AND LOCATION. THE BATON ROUGE FACILITY HAS A HIGHER EXPOSURE RISK TO SERVICE STRESSES DUE TO FREQUENT RAIN AND FLOODING EVENTS.
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.