ATMOS ENERGY CORPORATION - MID-TEX

Incident Narrative

ADDITIONAL NRC REPORT NO. 1200977 AT 7:55 PM ON 12-31-2017, ATMOS ENERGY RECEIVED A CALL FROM THE IRVING FIRE DEPARTMENT REPORTING THE SMELL OF NATURAL GAS ALONG O'CONNOR ROAD IN IRVING, TEXAS. A SERVICE TECHNICIAN WAS DISPATCHED AT 8:23 PM TO INVESTIGATE, AND PROCEEDED TO LOCATE AN UNDERGROUND GAS LEAK NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF COLGATE LANE AND O'CONNOR ROAD AT APPROXIMATELY 9:20 PM. A CONSTRUCTION CREW ARRIVED ONSITE AT APPROXIMATELY 10:00 PM. AFTER COMPLETING LINE LOCATES, THE CONSTRUCTION CREW BEGAN EXCAVATING ALONG A 6"" POLY MAIN IN O'CONNOR ROAD TO PINPOINT AND REPAIR THE LEAK. THE CREW REQUESTED ASSISTANCE FROM THE IRVING FIRE DEPARTMENT, WHICH ARRIVED ONSITE AT APPROXIMATELY 3:15 AM ON 1-1-2018. THE CONSTRUCTION CREW CONTINUED WORKING TO ISOLATE AND REPAIR THE LEAK UNTIL APPROXIMATELY 5:00 AM WHEN THE RESIDENCE AT 3567 COLGATE LANE IGNITED. ALL OCCUPANTS WERE EVACUATED FROM THE RESIDENCE WITHOUT INJURY. ONCE THE FIRE WAS EXTINGUISHED, THE CONSTRUCTION CREW RESUMED WORK AND ELIMINATED THE LEAK AT APPROXIMATELY 6:30 AM BY ""SQUEEZING OFF"" APPROXIMATELY 80' OF THE POLY MAIN. WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE RESIDENCE WHERE THE FIRE OCCURRED, GAS SERVICE IN THE AREA WAS NOT DISRUPTED. AT 7:06 AM, AN ATMOS ENERGY REPRESENTATIVE DETERMINED THAT THE CRITERIA FOR A REPORTABLE INCIDENT MAY HAVE BEEN REACHED AND A TELEPHONIC REPORT WAS MADE TO PHMSA (NRC 1200886) AT 7:25 AM AND THE TEXAS RAILROAD COMMISSION (TRRC 1693) AT 7:35 AM. AT APPROXIMATELY 11:25 AM THE LOCATION OF THE LEAK WAS EXPOSED AND IT WAS DETERMINED THAT THE 6"" POLY MAIN HAD SEPARATED FROM ONE END OF A MECHANICAL, BOLTED FITTING THAT WAS USED TO JOIN THE MAIN. THE CREW COMPLETED REPAIRS BY FUSING A 5' SECTION OF 6"" POLY TO REPLACE THE MECHANICAL BOLTED COUPLING AND PLACED THE 80' SECTION OF THE 6"" POLY MAIN BACK IN SERVICE AT 4:00 PM.