BP PIPELINES (ALASKA), INC

Incident Narrative

ON AUGUST 29, 2014, MAINTENANCE OF THREE TK BALL VALVES (XV-1326, XV-1327, XV- 1328) AT SKID 50 WAS INITIATED DURING A SCHEDULED OUTAGE. UNANTICIPATED GOUGING FOUND ON THE BONNETS OF THE TK BALL VALVES AND THE UNAVAILABILITY OF SPARE PARTS DELAYED COMPLETION OF THE VALVE MAINTENANCE BEYOND THE AMOUNT OF TIME SCHEDULED. WHILE THE VALVE BONNETS WERE BEING REPAIRED, XV-1326 VALVE REMAINED OPEN AND THE SINGLE-BLOCK ISOLATION REMAINED IN PLACE DUE TO THE DELAY IN COMPLETION OF THE MAINTENANCE WORK AND EXTENSION BEYOND THE AUGUST 29 DAYSHIFT, THE SKID 50 OPERATOR BEGAN PREPARING THE SKID FOR HAND OVER TO THE NIGHT SHIFT OPERATOR. A PORTION OF THIS PREPARATION INVOLVED RE-OPENING SDV-3415 VALVE UPSTREAM, WHICH HAD BEEN FUNCTION-TESTED EARLIER IN THE DAY, THOUGH NOT AS PART OF THE ENERGY ISOLATION PROCEDURE. WITH ASSISTANCE FROM AN INSTRUMENT TECHNICIAN, THE SKID 50 OPERATOR OPENED SDV3415 AT 6:02PM; ASSOCIATED PRESSURE TREND DATA SHOWS A DROP IN THE OT18 LINE AT 6:02PM FROM 43.5 POUNDS TO 7.6 POUNDS. APPROXIMATELY 1.5 HOURS LATER DURING A JOINT WALK-DOWN OF THE ISOLATION BY THE DAY AND NIGHT SKID 50 OPERATORS, A CRUDE OIL LEAK WAS DISCOVERED FROM THE OPEN TOP OF XV-1326. THE OPERATOR CLOSED SEVERAL VALVES UPSTREAM OF THE ISOLATION BUT THE LEAK DID NOT IMMEDIATELY STOP. AFTER RECEIVING PERMISSION FROM THE FS3 OTL THE SKID 50 OPERATOR ACCESSED ONE OF THE LOCKED OUT DRAINS AND BEGAN DRAINING CRUDE TO AN OPEN-TOP TANK OUTSIDE OF THE MODULE. AFTER ABOUT FIVE MINUTES, THE LEAK FROM XV1326 STOPPED. APPROXIMATELY 252 GALLONS (~6 BBLS) OF CRUDE OIL WAS RECOVERED FROM INSIDE MODULE 4955 AT SKID 50. NO INJURIES OCCURRED DURING THE INCIDENT OR RESPONSE, AND THE RELEASE WAS CONFINED TO MODULE 4955 AT SKID 50.