HILAND CRUDE, LLC

Incident Narrative

AT APPROXIMATELY 05:00 CENTRAL ON MARCH 20, 2014, THE GASKET ON A FLANGE VALVE RISER LOCATED AT HILAND'S CAMP CREEK STATION FAILED, RESULTING IN A RELEASE OF CRUDE OIL INTO THE SECONDARY CONTAINMENT STRUCTURE. WHEN THE STRUCTURE FILLED, SOME OIL WAS RELEASED INTO THE ENVIRONMENT. THE OIL RAN INTO A NARROW (APPROXIMATELY TEN FOOT WIDE) PATH DOWN A HILL INTO A FARMER'S FIELD, AND INTO A DRY, UNNAMED DRAINAGE. HILAND ESTIMATED THAT APPROXIMATELY 475 BARRELS OF CRUDE OIL WAS RELEASED, OF WHICH 375 BARRELS WERE RECOVERED FROM THE SECONDARY CONTAINMENT STRUCTURE. APPROXIMATELY 100 BARRELS WERE RELEASED INTO THE ENVIRONMENT. AT APPROXIMATELY 06:18 ON MARCH 20, 2014, HILAND CRUDE LLC CONTACTED ENVIRONMENTAL CREW (ABSORBENT & SAFETY SOLUTIONS) WHICH SOON ARRIVED ON SITE AND USED ABSORBENT MATERIALS AND BERMS TO STOP FURTHER MIGRATION OF THE CRUDE OIL. LATER THAT DAY ON MARCH 20, 2014 ABSORBENT BEGAN TO REMOVE CONTAMINATED SOIL FROM THE DRY DRAINAGE. HILAND'S FIELD PERSONNEL WAS ABLE TO REPLACE THE FAILED 8' GARLOCK GASKET FROM BETWEEN (2) ASNI 600 FLANGES WITH A FLEXITALLIC CGI GASKET, THEY WERE ABLE TO PROPERLY TORQUE AND ALIGN ALL VALVES PROPERLY AND THE SYSTEM WAS RESTARTED AT 17:30 THAT EVENING. HILAND'S FIELD PERSONNEL INSURED THAT THIS ISSUE WAS NOT FOUND ANYWHERE ELSE WITHIN THE GATHERING SYSTEM. REMEDIATION OF THE CONTAMINATED SOIL CONTINUED UNTIL MAY 2, 2014. ON JULY 8, 2014 THE STATE INFORMED HILAND THAT THE MATTER HAD BEEN CLOSED. AT THE TIME OF THE RELEASE HILAND'S PERSONNEL DID NOT CONSIDER THIS PIPE SECTION JURISDICTIONAL. WHILE CONDUCTING THE INVESTIGATION OF THE RELEASE LOCATION IT WAS DETERMINE THAT THIS SECTION WAS JURISDICTIONAL AND WITHIN A 1/4 MILE OF AN HCA, IT WAS IMMEDIATELY REPORTED ON DISCOVERY TO THE NRC. EQUIPMENT FAILURES, BY THEIR VERY NATURE, ARE UNFORESEEABLE. HOWEVER, HILAND HAS TAKEN A NUMBER OF MEASURES TO PREVENT RELEASES TO THE ENVIRONMENT, AND TO MITIGATE ANY RELEASE WHICH MAY OCCUR. THE CAMP CREEK FACILITY CURRENTLY IS OPERATED FROM A CONTROL CENTER, WHICH IS MANNED 24/7. THE CONTROL CENTER, WHICH WAS NOT OPERATIONAL AT THE TIME OF THE RELEASE AT ISSUE, MONITOR PRESSURE WHICH HAVE LOW AND HIGH PRESSURE ALARMS, AND FLOW METERS THAT ALSO HAVE ALARMS. THE CONTROL CENTER HAS THE ABILITY TO SHUT DOWN THE ENTIRE SYSTEM. FIELD PERSONNEL ARE ON-SITE DURING THE DAY, AND THEY CHECK THE ASSETS PERIODICALLY DURING THE DAY. THERE ARE ISOLATION VALVES UPSTREAM OF THE STATION, WITHIN THE STATION, AND DOWNSTREAM OF THE STATION. THE FIELD PERSONNEL HAVE THE ABILITY TO SHUT DOWN LOCAL PORTIONS OF THE STATION, AS THEY DID WHEN THE RELEASE AT ISSUE WAS DISCOVERED.