MARATHON PIPE LINE LLC

hazardous_liquid Incident —

Incident Information

Report Date
OperatorMARATHON PIPE LINE LLC
Commodity—
Pipeline Typehazardous_liquid

Location

State
Coordinates30.01177, -90.85770

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

A TECHNICIAN FOUND OIL HAD LEAKED OUT THE ENCLOSURE DOOR OF A STRAINER DURING A ROUTINE FACILITY INSPECTION. THREE STRAINERS AT ST. JAMES CAPLINE WENT THROUGH ANNUAL PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE ON THURSDAY JANUARY 16, 2015. WHILE CLEANING THE STRAINERS, A TECHNICIAN FOUND THE O-RINGS PROTRUDED OVER THE LIP OF THE GROOVE AND WAS CRUSHED FLAT. THE O-RING SIZE COULD NOT BE CONFIRMED DUE TO DAMAGE AND AGE. MANUFACTURER SPECIFICATIONS WERE UNKNOWN AT THE TIME. BASED ON FIELD MEASUREMENTS IT WAS DETERMINED THAT THE O-RINGS NEEDED TO BE 1/4 INCH AND A 1/4 INCH O-RING WAS INSTALLED ON EACH STRAINER. ON JANUARY 19 A TECHNICIAN FOUND OIL HAD LEAKED OUT OF THE ENCLOSURE DOOR OF STRAINER 212. THIRTY-ONE GALLONS WERE FOUND BELOW THE STRAINER ON THE GROUND. THE MANUFACTURER WAS CONTACTED AND CONFIRMED THAT THE SPECIFICATION WAS FOR A 1/4 INCH O-RING. IT WAS DETERMINED FROM IN-DEPTH MEASUREMENTS THAT THE GROOVE HAD IRREGULARITIES, WHICH WOULD NOT ALLOW THE CORRECT 1/4 INCH O-RING TO SEAL PROPERLY. A STAKEHOLDER CALL WAS PERFORMED TO DETERMINE A PATH FORWARD TO PLACE A 5/16 O-RING TO FILL THE IRREGULARITIES.

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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