COLONIAL PIPELINE CO

Incident Narrative

ON SEPTEMBER 5, 2013, AT 11:00 LOCAL TIME, A COLONIAL EMPLOYEE ARRIVED AT THE SELMA DELIVERY FACILITY TO INVESTIGATE A REPORT OF DEAD VEGETATION WITHIN THE FACILITY. THE EMPLOYEE CONFIRMED THE PRESENCE OF DEAD VEGETATION AND ODOR. EMERGENCY RESPONSE INTERNAL NOTIFICATIONS AND ACTIVITIES WERE INITIATED AND ALL LINES RUNNING THROUGH THE AFFECTED AREA OF THE FACILITY WERE SHUT DOWN AND ISOLATED. EXCAVATION AND CLEAN-UP CREWS ARRIVED ON SITE SEPTEMBER 5 AT APPROXIMATELY 15:00 TO BEGIN CLEAN-UP, EXCAVATION, AND REPAIRS. A SMALL AMOUNT OF FREE PRODUCT WAS IDENTIFIED IN SUBSURFACE SOILS BELOW THE DEAD VEGETATION IN AN AREA WHERE MULTIPLE COLONIAL DELIVERY LINES AND NON-COLONIAL SHIPPER LINES ARE LOCATED. SELMA FIRE DEPARTMENT AND JOHNSTON COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT WERE ALSO NOTIFIED ON SEPTEMBER 5TH AT 5:50PM AND 5:55PM LOCAL TIME RESPECTIVELY. THE NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES WAS NOTIFIED ON SEPTEMBER 5TH AT 5:50PM DUE TO IMPACTS TO GROUNDWATER AND THE ESTIMATED RELEASE VOLUME EXCEEDING 25 GALLONS. WHEN ESTIMATED RESPONSE AND REPAIR COSTS EXCEEDED $50,000, THE NRC WAS NOTIFIED ON SEPTEMBER 6, 2013 AT 12:02 LOCAL TIME (INCIDENT REPORT #1059409.) ON SEPTEMBER 7, A CORROSION PINHOLE WAS DISCOVERED ON AN 8-INCH DELIVERY FACILITY LINE NUMBER 863-13. THE CORROSION PIT WAS PROBED AND BEGAN LEAKING FUEL OIL WHICH INDICATED THAT THE LINE WAS AN OIL DELIVERY LINE. THE PIPE WAS REPAIRED WITH A 24-INCH SLEEVE. SINCE GASOLINE WAS THE ONLY PRODUCT TYPE FOUND DURING THE RESPONSE EFFORT, EXCAVATIONS AND TESTING OF THE REMAINING LINES CONTINUED, BUT FAILED TO REVEAL ANOTHER LEAK SOURCE. IN 2014, HYDROSTATIC TESTING OF THE FACILITY DELIVERY LINES IN THE AREA OF THE RELEASE FOUND NO ACTIVE LEAK SOURCE. AN OPERATIONAL EVALUATION OF GASOLINE DELIVERIES AT THE FACILITY INDICATED THAT, ALTHOUGH THE LINE 863-13 WAS USED PRIMARILY FOR GASOLINE DELIVERIES, IT WAS POSSIBLE FOR FUEL OIL TO BE PRESENT IN THE LINE DUE TO PRODUCT CUTS AND SWITCHES THAT PROTECTED THE QUALITY OF ULSD BATCHES. BASED ON THE RESULTS OF ALL EXCAVATIONS, INSPECTIONS, AND TESTS, IT HAS BEEN DETERMINED THAT THE CORROSION PINHOLE DISCOVERED ON LINE 863-13 THAT WAS REPAIRED WITH A 24-INCH SLEEVE WAS THE SOURCE OF THE RELEASE DISCOVERED ON 5 SEPTEMBER 2013.