COLONIAL PIPELINE CO

Incident Narrative

AT 1225 EST ON APRIL 12, 2015, A LOCAL LANDOWNER CALLED THE EMERGENCY LINE TO REPORT SHEEN ON A BEAVER POND AND AN OILY SMELL NEAR HUNTER ROAD IN FOUNTAIN INN, SOUTH CAROLINA. A LOCAL COLONIAL SENIOR OPERATOR WAS DISPATCHED TO INVESTIGATE. DEAD VEGETATION ON THE RIGHT OF WAY AND THE SMELL OF DIESEL FUEL WERE CONFIRMED AND THE LINE WAS SHUT DOWN AT 1334 EST. BLOCK VALVES WERE CLOSED REMOTELY AT BELTON, SIMPSONVILLE, SPARTANBURG AND GAFFNEY. ALL REQUIRED INTERNAL NOTIFICATIONS WERE MADE BEGINNING AT 1352 EST. THE NRC WAS NOTIFIED AT 1536 EST (REPORT #1113391). SCDHEC WAS NOTIFIED AT 1600 EST. ADDITIONALLY, THE MANUAL BLOCK VALVE AT COOPER BRIDGE ROAD (UPSTREAM OF ENOREE RIVER) WAS CLOSED AT 1637 EST. AS MORE COLONIAL PERSONNEL AND CONTRACT CREWS ARRIVED AT THE SITE, BOOM AND UNDERFLOW DAMS WERE INSTALLED ON HUNTER BRANCH CREEK AS A PRECAUTION. EXCAVATION STARTED AT 1900 EST TO IDENTIFY THE LEAK SOURCE. PRODUCT CONTAINMENT AND EXCAVATION ACTIVITIES WERE CONTINUOUS AND THE SOURCE OF THE LEAK WAS IDENTIFIED AS A 4 INCH UNDERSIDE CRACK AT 2030 EST ON APRIL 13TH. NDT WAS PERFORMED ON THE PIPE AND A 4 FOOT SLEEVE WAS INSTALLED AS A PERMANENT REPAIR. THE LINE WAS RESTARTED AT 0500 EST ON APRIL 14TH TO PUT PRESSURE AT THE REPAIR SITE. THE LINE WAS SHUT DOWN AT 0525 EST AND PRESSURE HELD AT 125. PER THE START UP PLAN, THE LINE WAS RESTARTED AT 0550 EST AND THE RATE WAS GRADUALLY INCREASED TO 41,500 BARRELS PER HOUR. WITH NO ISSUES AT THE REPAIR SITE, AT 1145 EST, THE LINE WAS RETURNED TO NORMAL OPERATION OPERATIONS. CURRENT RELEASE ESTIMATE IS CALCULATED AT 3010 GALLONS BASED ON AN INITIAL LAB SAMPLE AND APPROXIMATION OF SOIL VOLUME YET TO BE EXCAVATED. THE EXTENT OF SOIL IMPACT IS CURRENTLY BEING ASSESSED TO ALLOW FOR A MORE ACCURATE VOLUME ESTIMATE. SOILS CONTINUE TO BE REMOVED AND WILL BE DISPOSED OF OFF-SITE AT ANDERSON REGIONAL LANDFILL IN BELTON, SC. ENTIRETY OF GROUNDWATER IMPACT AND TOTAL AMOUNT OF COMMODITY IS NOT KNOWN AT THIS TIME, AND WILL BE ASSESSED AFTER THE EXCAVATION PROJECT ENDS. A LIGHT SHEEN WAS EVIDENT ON THE BEAVER POND, BUT THERE HAS BEEN NO MEASURABLE PRODUCT IMPACTING IT. THERE IS NO EVIDENCE OF IMPACT TO WILDLIFE AND THERE ARE NO THREATENED OR ENDANGERED SPECIES LISTED IN THE VICINITY. UPDATE 10/21/15: TOTAL SOIL VOLUME DISPOSED OF IS 10,831 TONS. CALCULATED VOLUME OF PRODUCT CONTAINED IN THE SOIL IS 2,623 GALLONS. TOTAL SPILL VOLUME FOR THE RELEASE OS 2,643 GALLONS. 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.