BELLE FOURCHE PIPELINE CO

Incident Narrative

ON FRIDAY, MARCH 6, 2015 AT APPROXIMATELY 8:30 AM MDT, A CONTRACTOR DOING MAINTENANCE FOR BELLE FOURCHE PIPELINE ON US FOREST SERVICE LAND DAMAGED A T CONNECTED TO THE ALEX 8 INCH LINE. A ONE CALL WAS MADE, TICKET NUMBER 15011104, ON 2/12/2015. BELLE FOURCHE PIPELINE MARKED AND LOCATED THE ALEX 6 INCH AND ALEX 8 INCH BY HYDRO VAC ON 2/17/2015. THE AREA WAS FENCED AND SECTIONED OFF. EXCAVATION OF THE LATERAL AND T TOOK PLACE AND WERE EXPOSED PRIOR TO THE INCIDENT. A HOT TAP OCCURRED ON TUESDAY, MARCH 3, 2015. DURING THIS TIME, DIRT FROM THE BANK WAS REMOVED TO ACCOMMODATE THE LENGTH OF THE HOT TAP MACHINE. THE DIRT SLOUGHED OFF, COVERING THE 4 INCH GATHERING LINE. ON MARCH 6, 2015, THE CONTRACTOR RETURNED BACK TO THE LOCATION TO FINISH THE MAINTENANCE ACTIVITIES. AT APPROXIMATELY 8:30 AM MDT, A TRACK-HOE OPERATOR BEGAN TO EXCAVATE DIRT THAT WAS ON TOP OF THE 4 INCH GATHERING LINE THAT SLOUGHED OFF FROM WHEN THE TAPPING MACHINE WAS USED. THE TRACK-HOE OPERATOR REMOVED TWO BUCKETS OF SOIL. ON THE THIRD BUCKET FULL, THE TRACK-HOE OPERATOR STRUCK THE VALVE AND T CONNECTED TO THE ALEX 8 INCH PIPELINE. DUE TO THE CONTRACTOR COMPLETING THE MAINTENANCE ON SCENE, THEY WERE ABLE TO MAKE SURE THE INCIDENT STAYED CONTAINED IN THE BELL HOLE. APPROXIMATELY 385 BARRELS OF CRUDE OIL WERE RECOVERED VIA VAC TRUCKS. BELLE FOURCHE DID LOSE SOME PRODUCT WHICH IS REFLECTED IN PART D OF THIS REPORT. THE TOTAL CONTAMINATED SOIL REMOVED FROM THE SPILL SITE FOR DISPOSAL WAS 289 TONS OR APPROXIMATELY 375 CUBIC YARDS. PLEASE NOTE THAT THE MAIN WAY FOR COMMUNICATIONS BY BELLE FOURCHE IS THROUGH EMAIL AND PHONE SO A FACSIMILE NUMBER WILL NOT BE PROVIDED IN PART I.