COLONIAL PIPELINE CO

Incident Narrative

ON 6/30/2014 AT 07:00, A CONTRACTOR DISCOVERED GASOLINE IN AN EXISTING EXCAVATION AREA AND IN AN ACCESS WELL NEAR THE LOW FLOW SWITCH FOR PUMP UNITS IN THE BENGAL TANK FARM #3 MANIFOLD. GASOLINE WAS ALSO OBSERVED DRIPPING FROM OVERHEAD CONDUIT. THE SYSTEM WAS SHUT DOWN AND DEPRESSURIZED. SUBSEQUENT INVESTIGATION IDENTIFIED THE LEAK SOURCE AS A LOW FLOW SWITCH WHERE A FAILURE OF THE BELLOWS ALLOWED PRODUCT TO ESCAPE INTO THE ELECTRICAL CONDUIT RUN. ONCE THE LEAK SOURCE WAS DISCOVERED, THE FLOW SWITCH WAS REMOVED AND A BLIND FLANGE WAS INSTALLED. CLEANUP BEGAN IMMEDIATELY AND 9 GALLONS OF GASOLINE WERE RECOVERED FROM THE ACCESS WELL AND ANOTHER 2 GALLONS WERE RECOVERED FROM THE TOP OF THE WATER IN THE EXCAVATION AREA. FINAL CLEANUP WAS COMPLETED BY 13:00. THE FAILED FLOW SWITCH HAD BEEN INSTALLED ON MAY 6, 2014 TO REPLACE AN IDENTICAL PADDLE TYPE SWITCH THAT WAS INOPERATIVE. THE FAILURE OF THE NEW SWITCH COULD HAVE BEEN CAUSED BY A MANUFACTURING DEFECT. HOWEVER, THERE WAS A CONCERN THAT VIBRATION FROM PRODUCT TURBULENCE MAY HAVE BEEN A CONTRIBUTING FACTOR. THEREFORE THE PLANNED REPLACEMENT SWITCH WILL BE AN OIL GEAR TYPE FLOW SWITCH WHICH IS USED IN SIMILAR APPLICATIONS BY COLONIAL. AN ENGINEERING ANALYSIS WILL BE CONDUCTED TO DETERMINE THE BEST PHYSICAL LOCATION OF THE NEW FLOW SWITCH TO MINIMIZE THE EFFECT OF TURBULENT VIBRATION. ANOTHER EXISTING PADDLE TYPE FLOW SWITCH ON LINE 2 IN THE TF3 MANIFOLD WILL ALSO BE REPLACED WITH AN OIL GEAR FLOW SWITCH. NO OUTSIDE AGENCIES WERE NOTIFIED DUE TO THE RELEASE NOT MEETING ANY REPORTING CRITERIA.