BUCKEYE PARTNERS, LP

hazardous_liquid Incident —

Incident Information

Report Date
OperatorBUCKEYE PARTNERS, LP
Commodity—
Pipeline Typehazardous_liquid

Location

State
Coordinates40.60916, -74.23911

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

ON 3/24/2015 AT 05:15, LINDEN OPERATIONS PERSONNEL NOTICED AN ODOR OF GASOLINE, WHILE PERFORMING ROUNDS. FURTHER INVESTIGATION REVEALED PRODUCT DRIPPING FROM THE FLOW SWITCH ON LINE 604. LINE 604 WAS IMMEDIATELY SHUT DOWN, AND LINDEN MAINTENANCE PERSONNEL WERE DISPATCHED. APPROXIMATELY 0.21 BARRELS WAS RELEASED. ALL FREE PRODUCT WAS RECOVERED AND, ALL AFFECTED STONES/SOIL WERE REMOVED. NO FURTHER REMEDIATION IS NECESSARY. THERE WERE NO INJURIES. REPAIRS WERE MADE, AND LINE 604 WAS RESTARTED ON 3/27/2015. AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE ROOT CAUSE IS ON-GOING. UPDATE 3/10/2017 LOCAL OPERATIONS DETERMINED THAT THE FLOW SWITCH FOR LINE 604 WAS LOCATED IN CLOSE PROXIMITY TO THE CONTROL VALVE ON THE DISCHARGE SIDE OF THE LINE 604 MAINLINE PUMP. THIS PLACEMENT ALLOWED THE FLOW SWITCH PADDLE TO BE SUBJECTED TO EXCESSIVE TURBULENCE, RESULTING IN AN INTERNAL MECHANICAL FAILURE WHICH ALLOWED GASOLINE TO ESCAPE INTO THE ELECTRICAL CONDUIT CONNECTED TO THE FLOW SWITCH. THE FLOW SWITCH WAS REPLACED WITH A CERTIFIED REPLACEMENT AND RELOCATED 100 FEET DOWNSTREAM OF LINE 604 CONTROL VALVE.

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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