ENTERPRISE PRODUCTS OPERATING LLC

hazardous_liquid Incident —

Incident Information

Report Date
OperatorENTERPRISE PRODUCTS OPERATING LLC
Commodity—
Pipeline Typehazardous_liquid

Location

State
Coordinates41.69767, -90.09863

Cause

CauseMATERIAL FAILURE OF PIPE OR WELD
Subcause—

Casualties

Fatalities0
Injuries0

Costs

Property Damage
Lost Commodity
Public/Private Damage
Emergency Response
Environmental Remediation
Other Costs

Location Map

Incident Narrative

AT 23:16 ON AUGUST 12, 2013 WILLOW STATION PUMP WENT DOWN ON LOW SUCTION PRESSURE AND SCADA INDICATED A SIGNIFICANT DROP IN PRESSURE. THE CONTROLLER SUSPECTED A LEAK AND NOTIFIED THE IOWA STATION OPERATOR TO SHUT DOWN THE PUMPS. LOCAL OPERATIONS PERSONNEL WERE NOTIFIED AND PLACED ON STANDBY ONCE THE LOCATION WAS CONFIRMED. AT 23:58, A FARMER REPORTED A FIRE IN HIS FIELD NEAR AERIAL MARKER (AM) 76 / MILEPOST (MP) 16. OPERATIONS PERSONNEL WERE IMMEDIATELY DISPATCHED TO THE AREA. THE CONTROLLER BLOCKED IN THE MOVS AT AM 115 / MP 55 AND AM 177 / MP 116. LOCAL OPERATIONS PERSONNEL CLOSED MANUAL BLOCK VALVES AT AM 71 / MP 11, AM 86 / MP 26 AND AM 87 / MP 27. A 1-MILE SAFETY BUFFER WAS ESTABLISHED AROUND THE LEAK SITE, TRAFFIC WAS BLOCKED AND ALL HOMES WERE EVACUATED WITHIN THE BUFFER ZONE. AT 02:35 ON 8/13/2013, LOCAL OPERATIONS PERSONNEL WERE ABLE TO GET CLOSER TO THE LEAK SITE AND CLOSED THE BLOCK VALVE AT AM 76 / MP 16. THIS ISOLATED THE LEAKING SEGMENT BETWEEN AM 76 / MP 16 AND AM 86 / MP 26. THE AREA WAS SECURED AND PRESERVED FOR EXAMINATION BY A THIRD-PARTY. AFFECTED PIPE WAS CUT OUT AND SENT IN FOR METALLURGICAL ANALYSIS ALONG WITH THE PIECES THAT WERE COLLECTED. THE AFFECTED PIPELINE SEGMENT WAS REPLACED AND THE PIPELINE WAS RETURNED TO SERVICE ON 8/17/2013. =================NOTES============================ THROUGH A REVIEW OF SCADA DATA, THE TIME OF THE ACCIDENT WAS LATER DETERMINED TO BE AT 23:10 ON AUGUST 12, 2013 AS INDICATED BY A RAPID PRESSURE DROP ON THE LINE PRESSURE AND DISCHARGE PRESSURE AT WILLOW STATION. THE EVACUATION OF THE GENERAL PUBLIC WAS CARRIED OUT BY LOCAL EMERGENCY OFFICIALS. THE RESPONSE PROVIDED IN PART A QUESTION 17 IS THE NUMBER OF HOMES THAT WERE EVACUATED. THE EXACT NUMBER OF PEOPLE EVACUATED CANNOT BE VERIFIED. SOIL CONTAMINATION: FOURTEEN SAMPLES WERE COLLECTED FROM THE RUPTURE SITE, INCLUDING THE DEPRESSION, ONLY ONE SAMPLE ANALYSIS EXHIBITED BENZENE RESULTS. THE BENZENE DETECTED IN THIS SAMPLE DID NOT EXCEED REGULATORY (IL EPA) SOIL STANDARDS AND THE ORIGINS OF THE DETECTION HAVE NOT BEEN CONFIRMED TO BE RESULTING FROM THIS RELEASE. GROUNDWATER CONTAMINATION: ONE GROUNDWATER SAMPLE WAS COLLECTED FROM THE DEPRESSION, THIS SAMPLE ANALYSIS EXHIBITED BTEX (BENZENE, TOLUENE, ETHYL BENZENE, XYLENE) RESULTS ABOVE THE REGULATORY (IL EPA) GROUNDWATER STANDARDS AND THE ORIGINS OF THE DETECTION HAS NOT BEEN CONFIRMED TO BE RESULTING FROM THIS RELEASE. =================METALLURGICAL ANALYSIS================== RESULTS FROM THE METALLURGICAL ANALYSIS IDENTIFIED THE FAILURE WAS CAUSED BY A DEFECT THAT FORMED IN THE LONGITUDINAL ERW SEAM OF THE PIPE. THE DEFECT WAS A COMBINATION OF TWO FLAWS: AN EXTERNAL SURFACE-BREAKING HOOK CRACK AND A CRACK THAT FORMED AT THE BASE OF THE HOOK CRACK AND ENLARGED OVER TIME WHILE THE PIPE WAS IN SERVICE. THE HOOK CRACK WAS A MANUFACTURING DEFECT THAT FORMED WHEN THE PIPE WAS MANUFACTURED. FRACTOGRAPHIC AND METALLOGRAPHIC EXAMINATION WAS UNABLE TO CONCLUSIVELY DETERMINE THE CAUSE OF THE IN-SERVICE FLAW GROWTH. ===================8/15/2014 UPDATE=============== PART C #6. THE LENGTH AND WIDTH OF THE RUPTURE OPENING REPRESENTS THE NOMINAL OD AND THE GAP BETWEEN THE ENDS OF THE PIPE.

About This Pipeline Incident

Pipeline incident data is reported to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA). All significant incidents involving fatalities, injuries, or property damage over $50,000 must be reported.

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