ENBRIDGE ENERGY, LIMITED PARTNERSHIP

Incident Narrative

ON SATURDAY, JANUARY 18 AT APPROXIMATELY 10:31 AM CST, THE EDMONTON CONTROL CENTER EXPERIENCED A HIGH LEL ALARM AT THE DEER RIVER LINE 4 STATION. THE TECHNICIAN ON CALL ARRIVED ON SITE AT 11:00 AM AND CONFIRMED OIL ON THE FLOOR INSIDE THE PUMP SHELTER OF UNIT 1. UNIT 1 ON LINE 4 WAS SHUT DOWN AND ISOLATED. THE TECHNICIAN FOUND OIL COMING FROM THE UNIT 1 SEAL DRAIN PIPING PLUG. FURTHER INVESTIGATION REVEALED THAT DURING ROUTINE MAINTENANCE ON FRIDAY, JANUARY 17, THE PLUG HAD BEEN REMOVED TO TEST THE UNIT SEAL FAILURE SWITCH. WHEN THE PLUG WAS REINSTALLED, THE THREADS DID NOT LINE UP PROPERLY IN ORDER TO CREATE A PROPER SEAL. THE UNIT WAS OFFLINE WHEN THE TECHNICIAN COMPLETING THE WORK LEFT THE STATION TO RETRIEVE THE TOOLS TO CLEAN THE THREADS OF THE PLUG AND TEE AND WAS PLANNING TO GET BACK TO THE STATION LATER THAT DAY OR MONDAY. ON THE MORNING OF SATURDAY JANUARY 18, CCO STARTED THE UNIT. BETWEEN THE TIME THE TECHNICIAN LEFT THE STATION AND THE TIME THE LEAK WAS DISCOVERED, THE UNIT EXPERIENCED A FAILURE OF THE OUTBOARD SEAL. WHEN THE SEAL LEAK OCCURRED, THE UNSEALED PLUG PREVENTED THE UNIT SEAL FAILURE SWITCH FROM OPERATING, PREVENTING ACTIVATION OF THE SWITCH AND ALLOWED THE OIL TO FLOW PAST THE PLUG. AFTER THE ON CALL TECHNICIAN TIGHTENED THE PLUG WITH A PIPE WRENCH, THE UNIT SEAL FAILURE SWITCH ACTIVATED AS DESIGNED. THE UNIT WAS PLACED BACK INTO SERVICE ON WEDNESDAY JANUARY 22, 2014. THE BEMIDJI PIPELINE MAINTENANCE CREW ARRIVED ON SITE AROUND 2:00 PM CST ON SATURDAY, JANUARY 18 TO BEGIN INITIAL CLEANUP. CLEANUP CONTINUED ON MONDAY JANUARY 20. APPROXIMATELY 3 BBLS OF CRUDE OIL WERE RELEASED.