COLONIAL PIPELINE CO
hazardous_liquid Incident —
Incident Information
| Report Date | — |
| Operator | COLONIAL PIPELINE CO |
| Commodity | — |
| Pipeline Type | hazardous_liquid |
Location
| State | |
| Coordinates | 37.66330, -78.23750 |
Cause
| Cause | EQUIPMENT FAILURE |
| Subcause | — |
Casualties
| Fatalities | 0 |
| Injuries | 0 |
Costs
| Property Damage | — |
| Lost Commodity | — |
| Public/Private Damage | — |
| Emergency Response | — |
| Environmental Remediation | — |
| Other Costs | — |
Location Map
Incident Narrative
ON NOVEMBER 16, 2015, THE SENIOR OPERATOR AND A TRAINEE WAS PERFORMING A STATION CHECK DURING SHIFT WHEN THEY NOTICED ODOR OF PETROLEUM PRODUCT COMING FROM THE STING WATER SEPARATOR VAULT. UPON FURTHER INVESTIGATION, THEY OBSERVED APPROXIMATELY 1/4"" OF PRODUCT ON TOP OF THE WATER INSIDE THE PHASE SEPARATION VESSEL. THE SENIOR OPERATOR DROPPED SOME DIAPERS INSIDE THE CONTAINMENT BOX AND DISCOVERED THAT PRODUCT HAD WEPT FROM AROUND THE BOBY OF THE VESSEL WATER COMPARTMENT. HE IMMEDIATELY ISOLATED THE PHASE SEPARATION VESSEL AND NOTIFIED THE LEAD OPERATOR AND OPERATIONS MANAGER. THE PRODUCT WAS CONTAINED ENTIRELY INSIDE THE CONTAINMENT BOX. VOLUME AMOUNT RELEASED WAS 11.7 GALLONS BASED ON CALCULATIONS OF THE DIMENSION OF THE CONTAINMENT BOX. THE DRAIN LINE WAS BLOCKED WITH SLUDGE AND THE PUMP SWITCH FAILED TO OPERATE. CLEAN-UP AND REPAIR ACTIVITIES ARE COMPLETED; PERMANENT REPAIRS WERE MADE TO WIRING CIRCUITRY, HIGH LEVEL SWITCH AND PUMP SWITCH AND RELAY. ADDITIONALLY, TRAP DOOR PLATES ARE BEING MADE TO VISUALLY VIEW/INSPECT PRODUCT LEVEL IN THE MIDDLE COMPARTMENT.
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.