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COLONIAL PIPELINE CO

hazardous_liquid Incident —

Incident Information

Report Date—
OperatorCOLONIAL PIPELINE CO
Commodity—
Pipeline Typehazardous_liquid

Location

State
Coordinates36.07101, -79.93669

Cause

CauseEQUIPMENT FAILURE
Subcause—

Casualties

Fatalities0
Injuries0

Costs

Property Damage—
Lost Commodity—
Public/Private Damage—
Emergency Response—
Environmental Remediation—
Other Costs—

Location Map

Incident Narrative

AT 06:12 LOCAL, AUGUST 21, 2015, AN EMPLOYEE DETECTED GASOLINE LEAKING FROM THE TUBING BETWEEN MOTOR AND PUMP ON LINE 04 UNIT #3. INTERNAL NOTIFICATIONS WERE MADE AND LINE 4 WAS SHUT DOWN. LOCAL PERSONNEL COMMENCED CLEAN UP AND BY 08:30 FREE PRODUCT HAD BEEN FOUND IN SEVERAL ACCESS WELLS IN THE IMMEDIATE AREA. WHEN IT WAS DETERMINED THAT RESPONSE ACTIVITY COSTS WOULD LIKELY EXCEED $50,000, REPORT # 1126276 WAS FILED WITH THE NRC AT 10:37. STATE AND LOCAL AGENCIES WERE NOTIFIED. THE SOURCE OF THE RELEASE WAS A CRACK ON THE INBOARD COOLING TUBING FLARED CONNECTION. UNIT #3 WAS ISOLATED AND LINE 04 WAS RESTARTED AT 08:30. THE TUBING WAS REPLACED AND UNIT #3 WAS RESTARTED AT 14:49. ALL FREE PRODUCT WAS COLLECTED AND TRANSFERRED INTO THE FACILITY SUMPS. EXPLORATORY DIGGING CONTINUED THROUGH 09/2/2015 EXTENDING THE DIG AREA TO THE ACCESS WELLS NEAR THE RELEASE SOURCE. APPROXIMATELY 40 CUBIC YARDS OF IMPACTED SOIL HAS BEEN EXCAVATED AND PLACED ON PLASTIC WITH CONTAINMENT. APPROXIMATELY 80 CUBIC YARDS WERE EXCAVATED IN TOTAL. SOIL SAMPLES WERE COLLECTED FROM THE STOCKPILE AND SENT TO A LAB FOR ANALYSIS. TOTAL FREE PRODUCT COLLECTED WAS 301 GALLONS. THE TOTAL VOLUME OF GASOLINE RELEASED TO THE SOILS IS CALCULATED TO BE 74 GALLONS. IMPACTED SOILS WILL BE TRANSPORTED TO A DISPOSAL FACILITY FOR TREATMENT AND DISPOSAL. INCIDENT ANALYSIS IDENTIFIED THE IMMEDIATE CAUSE AS A SECONDARY FATIGUE CRACK IN TUBING NEAR THE BASE OF THE FLARED CONNECTION WHICH WAS CAUSED BY VIBRATION OF THE TUBING AND WAS MOST LIKELY EXACERBATED BY AN UNSUPPORTED CYCLONE SEPARATOR. CORRECTIVE ACTIONS THAT WERE APPROVED DURING THE IA PROCESS INCLUDE: 1. ASSESS THE VALUE OR USEFULNESS OF CYCLONE SEPARATORS TO DETERMINE IF REMOVAL OF CYCLONE SEPARATORS FROM SERVICE SHOULD BE EXPLORED. 2. FIELD PERSONNEL TO IDENTIFY UNSUPPORTED CYCLONE SEPARATORS AND REPLACE ANY ASSOCIATED TUBING THAT HAS BEEN CONNECTED TO AN UNSUPPORTED CYCLONE SEPARATOR. 3. UNTIL CYCLONE SEPARATORS DECISION IS MADE, FIRMLY ATTACH UNMOUNTED CYCLONE SEPARATORS WITH A BRACKET TO THE BODY OF THE PUMP PER EM 7.2-G MAIN AND LATERAL LINE MOTORS AND PUMPS (ANNUAL). 4. CONSIDER ADDING THE IDENTIFICATION OF FREE-HANGING MASSES AND VIBRATION ISSUES TO FACILITY ASSESSMENTS.

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.

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