CONSOLIDATED EDISON CO OF NY

Incident Narrative

FEBRUARY 16, 2016-FUEL OIL PIPELINE (FOPL)ID#39191 WAS IN NORMAL OPERATION, TRANSFERRING 109 GPM #6 FUEL OIL (PRODUCT) FROM 74TH STREET STATION (MANHATTAN) TO RAVENSWOOD STATION (QUEENS) AT 23.3 PSIG AT RAVENSWOOD STATION AND 25.5 PSIG AT 74TH STREET AT THE TIME OF PRODUCT RELEASE DISCOVERY. DISCOVERY OF PRODUCT WAS FROM AN ELECTRICAL FACILITY UNDERGROUND VAULT STRUCTURE ID MH-16261, LOCATED 28 FEET EAST OF PIPELINE. PIPELINE WAS IMMEDIATELY SHUTDOWN AND NOTIFICATIONS MADE. SITE AREA CLEANUP COMMENCED IMMEDIATELY WITH THE ONSITE RAVENSWOOD ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSE CONTRACTOR. PIPELINE WAS EXCAVATED FOLLOWING UTILITY MARK OUT . LEAK LOCATION WAS DISCOVERED ON FEBRUARY 27, 2016. LEAK WAS CHARACTERIZED AS 2- 1/8"" DIAMETER PINHOLES IN THE EXTRADOS OF A BURIED 90 DEGREE PIPELINE ELBOW. THE FOAM GLASS INSULATION AND CORROSION PREVENTION EXTERNAL COATING WERE OBSERVED AS DISPLACED AND DISBONDED. APRIL 19- NEW ELBOW SECTION WAS BENCH PRESSURE TESTED AND PASSED THE 4 HOUR OFFLINE WITNESSED BY NYS-DPS ARPIT MEHTA TEST AT 160 PSIG. FOPL ID#39191 MAOP PRESSURE IS 80 PSIG. PSC FILE #L16.01 WAS ISSUED FOR THIS TEST. THE CONTRACTOR REMOVED THE LEAKING ELBOW SECTION AND THE NEW PRESSURE TESTED ELBOW SECTION WAS INSTALLED BY THE VENDOR. RADIOGRAPHIC EXAMINATION OF PIPELINE ELBOW TIE IN WELDS COMPLETE, AND SUCCESSFUL. MAY 2-1103 HRS-FOPL ID#39191 WAS PLACED IN SERVICE FOR 24 HOUR SURVEILLANCE AT AN ESTABLISHED 50 GPM FLOWRATE. FDNY REPRESENTATIVE WAS ON SITE TO WITNESS THE BEGINNING OF IN-SERVICE TESTING. MAY 3-1106 HRS-FOPL ID#39191 COMPLETED THE 24 HOUR IN-SERVICE FDNY TEST AND THE FUEL OIL PIPELINE REMAINED IN SERVICE TO 74TH STREET STATION. NO VISUAL OBSERVED OR CPM LEAKS HAVE BEEN DETECTED. MAY 5 & 15- TWO SEPARATE PRESSURE DECAY TESTS WERE PERFORMED. THE 2ND TEST WAS ENHANCED BY RUNNING IT FOR 60 MINUTES, INSTEAD OF THE NORMAL 20 MINUTES, TO FURTHER UNDERSTAND THE PRESSURE DECAY BEHAVIOR AND IF THE DECAY PLATEAUED. THIS TEST PASSED THE PRESSURE DECAY TEST CRITERIA. MAY 19-SITE ENVIRONMENTAL CONTRACTOR BEGINS FURTHER EXCAVATION CLEAN UP TO PERFORM AN INSPECTION OF THE EXPOSED MAIN GAS AND FUEL OIL LINES. IN THE COURSE OF THIS WORK, AN INCREASE IN THE INGRESS OF OIL INTO THE EXCAVATIONS IS OBSERVED. MAY 16-17-AFTER ANALYZING PRESSURE 5/15 DECAY TESTING, FURTHER TESTING WAS CONDUCTED OF FOPL ID #39191 BY INCREASING THE PUMPING PRESSURE AND OBSERVING MASS FLOW METER DIFFERENTIALS ON THE LEAK DETECTION SYSTEM. DATA WAS INCONCLUSIVE TO CONFIRM OR DENY PRESENCE OF AN ACTIVE LEAK. A DECISION WAS MADE TO REMOVE THE LINE FROM SERVICE, AND LAY IT UP WITH LOW POUR OIL. MAY 18-FOUR SEPARATE ONE HOUR LINE PRESSURE DECAY TESTS WERE PERFORMED. THE FIRST WITH THE FULL LINE. THE LAST 3 WITH THE LINE SEGREGATED AS DESCRIBED ABOVE. WITH THE LINE SEGREGATED THE 791 FT. RAVENSWOOD SECTION DECAYED 46 PSI, AND CON EDISON SECTION DECAYED 5.7 PSI OVER THE HOUR. THIS TEST WAS ESSENTIALLY REPEATED 2 MORE TIMES. THE FUEL OIL PIPELINE REMAINS OUT OF SERVICE AND AN INVESTIGATION PLAN IS BEING SET. JUNE 17-TRANSCANADA IS STILL INVESTIGATING THE FUEL OIL PIPELINE SECOND LEAK LOCATION ON THEIR SITE BY EXCAVATING THE SURFACE AND EXPOSING THE PIPELINE WEST OF THE ORIGINAL LEAK LOCATION. THE FUEL OIL PIPELINE REMAINS SHUTDOWN DURING THIS LEAK IDENTIFICATION PROCESS. JULY 15-THE OIL RECOVERY ESTIMATE HAS INCREASED TO 244 BARRELS OF OIL FROM 231 BARRELS ON THE TRANSCANADA PROPERTY. JULY 24-A WITNESSED HYDROSTATIC TESTING OF FOPL ID #39191 WAS SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED AT 150% (125PSIG) OF MAOP FOR 12 HOUR PERIOD. CON EDISON ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT REVIEWED AND ACCEPTED THE TESTING RESULTS ON AUGUST 15. AUGUST 10-THE OIL RECOVERY ESTIMATE INCREASED TO 249 BARRELS OF OIL. TRANSCANADA WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR REMEDIATION CONTROL IN THIS AREA AND WILL UPDATE STATE/FEDERAL AGENCIES ON OIL RECOVERY DEVELOPMENTS. NYSDEC#1510992 CASE. SEPTEMBER 12-TRANSCANADA EXCAVATION AREAS ARE BEING BACKFILLED. NOVEMBER 3- FOPL ID#39191 WAS RETURNED TO SERVICE AS OF 1600 HRS.