COLONIAL PIPELINE CO

Incident Narrative

ON FEBRUARY 29, 2016 AT APPROXIMATELY 11:00 LOCAL TIME, A COLONIAL PIPELINE PROJECT INSPECTOR WAS NOTIFIED BY A CONTRACTOR OF STAINED SOIL ON THE ROW UPSTREAM OF HARBINS ROAD AND DOWNSTREAM OF DACULA AND IMMEDIATELY NOTIFIED THE CONTROL CENTER. AT APPROXIMATELY 11:03, THE CONTROL CENTER BEGAN SHUTTING DOWN AND BLOCKING IN LINES 01 AND 02 DOWNSTREAM OF ATLANTA JUNCTION. AT APPROXIMATELY 11:30 LOCAL OM, DEM, AND DO WERE NOTIFIED OF A SUSPECTED LEAK AND COLONIAL PERSONNEL ARRIVED ON SITE AND BEGAN INVESTIGATING. AT 11:35 GWINNET EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY WAS INFORMED OF A SUSPECTED LEAK. AT 12:53 A DISTRICT LEVEL EMERGENCY RESPONSE WAS INITIATED. AT APPROXIMATELY 14:00 PRODUCT IN THE SOIL WAS CONFIRMED BY RESPONDING PERSONNEL, AND PHMSA AND NTSB WERE PROVIDED A COURTESY NOTIFICATION. AT 14:14 NRC WAS NOTIFIED AND PROVIDED CASE # 1141647 DUE TO THE EXPECTED COST OF THE RESPONSE EXCEEDING THE FINANCIAL THRESHOLD FOR REPORTING. AT 15:40 GEORGIA EPD WAS NOTIFIED AND PROVIDED CASE #CTS 79187 DUE TO POTENTIAL IMPACTS TO GROUND WATER. LINE 01 WAS REPAIRED WITH A TYPE B WEDDING BAND SLEEVE OVER AN A SLEEVE AND RESTARTED AT 14:38 ON 3/1/16. CAUSE OF RELEASE IS UNDER INVESTIGATION AS THE SOURCE WAS UNDER AN A SLEEVE. THE SITE IS BEING REMEDIATED BY REMOVING ALL CONTAMINATED SOIL. ESTIMATED RELEASE TOTAL IS 350 GALLONS, ALL FROM THE SOIL VOLUME CALCULATION. THERE WAS NO MEASURABLE PRODUCT CONTAINED IN WATER REMOVED FROM THE SITE, BUT THERE WAS SOME PRODUCT OBSERVED ON THE GROUNDWATER. APPROXIMATELY 2,700 TONS OF SOIL WILL BE EXCAVATED AND TO DATE 130,000 GALLONS OF WATER HAS BEEN HAULED OFF FOR TREATMENT. SOIL AND WATER ARE BEING TREATED AT LOCAL, APPROVED FACILITIES. GROUNDWATER WAS IMPACTED AND MONITORING WELLS WILL BE INSTALLED TO FACILITATE SITE CLOSURE. THERE WERE NO IMPACTS TO WILDLIFE. 6/20/16 SUPPLEMENT IS TO UPDATE ESTIMATED VOLUME RELEASED AND VOLUME RECOVERED BASED ON ACTUAL REMEDIATION RESULTS. INCIDENT ANALYSIS HAS NOT BEEN COMPLETED AND PLANS ARE UNDERWAY TO REMOVE THE SECTION OF PIPE THAT WILL UNDERGO METALLURGICAL ANALYSIS LATER IN THE YEAR. A TOTAL OF 7,026 TONS OF SOIL WAS EXCAVATED FROM THE SITE. THE AVERAGE CONCENTRATION OF GRO AND DRO IN THE SOIL WAS 216 MG/KG AND 40 MG/KG RESPECTIVELY. THE FINAL CALCULATED VOLUME OF PETROLEUM CONTAINED IN THE SOIL REMOVED IS 576 GALLONS. SINCE NO MEASURABLE PRODUCT WAS CONTAINED IN THE RECOVERED GROUNDWATER, THE FINAL RELEASE VOLUME IS 576 GALLONS. THIS REPORT IS BEING FINALIZED WITH CAUSE DETERMINED FROM METALURGICAL ANALYSIS. PER ASSET INTEGRITY AND THE REPORT, THE FAILURE MODE WAS FATIGUE CRACKS WITHIN AN AREA WHERE A DENT WAS PRESENT WITH SIGNIFICANT CORROSION (UP TO 35%) UNDER AN A SLEEVE WITH SHRINK SLEEVES ON THE END THAT WAS INSTALLED IN 2005. UPDATE 10/10/2017: PER PHMSA DIRECTION, UPDATED PART A, 18.A. TO REFLECT 11:00 AS THE TIME THE OPERATOR IDENTIFIED THE ACCIDENT. PLEASE NOTE THAT THE CONFIRMED DISCOVERY OF THE RELEASE, AS REFLECTED IN THE NARRATIVE ABOVE, DID NOT OCCUR UNTIL 14:00. UPDATE APRIL 2020: DURING THE TIME PERIOD THAT THIS RELEASE OCCURRED, COLONIAL HAD EXPERIENCED SEVERAL OTHER RELEASES THAT HAD THE SAME FAILURE MODE. THE IA THAT FOLLOWED THIS INCIDENT WAS CONSOLIDATED WITH THE OTHER RECENT FATIGUE CRACK IN DENT FAILURES, AND WAS ADDRESSED AS ONE COMPREHENSIVE, SYSTEM-WIDE ASSESSMENT OF THE FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF FATIGUE CRACKS IN DENTS. THIS APPROACH WAS TAKEN BY COLONIAL TO ENSURE THAT THE LESSONS LEARNED FROM ALL OF THE INCIDENTS COULD BE FACTORED INTO THE CORRECTIVE ACTION PLAN AND DRIVE IMPROVEMENTS SYSTEM-WIDE. THE IA INCLUDED METALLURGICAL ANALYSES OF THREE OF THE DENT FAILURES, ALL CONFIRMING THAT PRESSURE CYCLING OF THE DENT RESULTED IN THROUGH WALL FATIGUE CRACKS. THE PRESENCE OF THE DENT CONCENTRATED STRESSES ON THE PIPELINE, CREATING A FATIGUE CRACK TO FORM AND GROW THROUGH-WALL OVER TIME DUE TO PRESSURE CYCLING.