EXPRESS HOLDINGS (USA), LLC

Incident Narrative

AT APPROXIMATELY 19:49 ON AUGUST 7, 2014 THE PLATTE PIPELINE CONTROL CENTER RECEIVED AN EMERGENCY CALL FROM A LANDOWNER REPORTING A FIRE CAUSED BY AN APPARENT LIGHTNING STRIKE ON THE PLATTE PIPELINE RIGHT OF WAY 1/4 MILE DOWNSTREAM OF YODER STATION (GOSHEN COUNTY, WY). THE CONTROL CENTER OPERATOR IMMEDIATELY INITIATED SHUTDOWN OF THE PLATTE PIPELINE AND NOTIFIED FIELD PERSONNEL. FIELD PERSONNEL WERE DISPATCHED AND ARRIVED ON SITE, HOWEVER, THEY WERE UNABLE TO POSITIVELY VERIFY THE FIRE WAS FUELED BY CRUDE OIL FROM THE PLATTE PIPELINE. ADDITIONAL RESOURCES WERE THEN CONTACTED TO ASSIST WITH EXPOSING THE PIPELINE TO DETERMINE WHETHER OR NOT THE PIPELINE WAS LEAKING. AT APPROXIMATELY 23:00 IT WAS CONFIRMED THAT OIL WAS MISTING FROM A SMALL PINHOLE IN THE PIPE AT APPROXIMATELY THE 2:30 POSITION. THE AREA IMPACTED BY THE FIRE WAS APPROXIMATELY 24 FT. X10 FT.. THE PINHOLE LEAK WAS CONTROLLED AND CONTAINED UNTIL A LEAK CLAMP ARRIVED ON SITE AND WAS INSTALLED. UPON INSTALLATION OF THE LEAK CLAMP, FIELD PERSONNEL MONITORED IT FOR A PERIOD OF TIME TO ENSURE THE LEAK WAS STOPPED. NO LEAKS WERE OBSERVED THEREFORE A RESTART PLAN WAS DEVELOPED AND APPROVED BY MANAGEMENT. IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE RESTART PLAN, PLATTE PIPELINE WAS RESTARTED AT APPROXIMATELY 07:00 ON AUGUST 9, 2014 AND WAS OPERATING AT NORMAL PRESSURES BY 11:21. FIELD PERSONNEL REMAINED ON SITE FOR THE NEXT 48 HRS. TO MONITOR THE REPAIR AND ENSURE IT WAS NOT LEAKING AT NORMAL OPERATING PRESSURES. NO LEAKS WERE OBSERVED. PERMANENT REPAIRS TO THE PIPELINE ARE SCHEDULED FOR THE FIRST WEEK IN SEPTEMBER. AT THAT TIME, THE DAMAGED SECTION WILL BE REMOVED AND REPLACED WITH NEW PIPE. AS NOTED ABOVE, THE INITIAL ASSESSMENT DETERMINED THE PINHOLE WAS SUSPECTED TO BE CAUSED BY A CLOUD-TO-GROUND LIGHTNING STRIKE (NOTE: A CLOUD-TO-GROUND LIGHTNING STRIKE WAS CONFIRMED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WITHIN 100 FT. OF THE COORDINATES OF THE DAMAGED PIPE); HOWEVER, THE DAMAGED PIPE WILL BE SUBMITTED FOR METALLURGICAL ANALYSIS TO VERIFY THE FINDINGS. EXTERNAL NOTIFICATIONS WERE MADE TO THE NRC, GOSHEN COUNTY LEPC, AND WYOMING DEQ. A REPRESENTATIVE OF PHMSA VISITED THE SITE ON AUGUST 8. ALL FREE OIL WAS RECOVERED FROM THE LOCATION AND THE CONTAMINATED SOIL WAS EXCAVATED AND REMOVED FOR OFFSITE DISPOSAL. THERE WAS NO IMPACT TO GROUND WATER OR WILDLIFE.