KOCH PIPELINE COMPANY, L.P.

Incident Narrative

ON AUGUST 6, 2013, KOCH PIPELINE WAS EXCAVATING TO FURTHER EXPOSE MINNESOTA PIPE LINE 1 (MPL1), JUST SOUTHEAST OF THE FOLEY PUMP STATION, TO IDENTIFY A DOWNSTREAM CUT-OUT LOCATION TO TIE-IN A REPLACEMENT SECTION OF 16"" LINE PIPE, WHEN SMALL POCKETS OF CRUDE OIL WERE DISCOVERED IN THE SOIL. AFTER DISCOVERY OF THE OIL, MPL 1, 2, & 3 WERE SHUT DOWN AND THE SECTION WAS ISOLATED BY CLOSING BLOCK VALVES. HAND DIGGING WAS PERFORMED DOWNSTREAM ALONG THE PIPE TO DISCOVER THE SOURCE OF THE OIL. THE SOURCE WAS DISCOVERED AT A THREAD-O-RING (TOR). THE WAX COATING AND CAP WERE REMOVED FROM THE TOR, AND A SMALL WEEP WAS FOUND COMING FROM THE THREADS OF THE COMPLETION PLUG IN THE TOR. LINE PRESSURE WAS BLED DOWN, THE COMPLETION PLUG WAS REPLACED AND A 2"" VALVE WAS THREADED ONTO THE TOR WITH A PLUG. KOCH PIPELINE IS MONITORING THE REPLACED COMPLETION PLUG, WITH THE CONNECTED 2"" VALVE AND PLUG, WEEKLY, AS DISCUSSED WITH AND APPROVED BY THE MINNESOTA OFFICE OF PIPELINE SAFETY. THERE HAS BEEN NO EXTERNAL LEAKAGE SINCE THE REPAIR. THE SECTION OF PIPE WAS REPLACED IN SEPTEMBER 2013 AND THE TOR WAS REMOVED FROM THE CUT-OUT, SHIPPED TO A VENDOR, ALONG WITH THE ORIGINAL COMPLETION PLUG AND CAP TO DETERMINE THE ROOT CAUSE. THE VENDOR PROVIDED THE FOLLOWING CONCLUSION TO THEIR EXAMINATION, ""THE ORIGINAL LEAK WAS LIKELY DUE AN AGED O-RING THAT SHRANK AND FLATTENED OVER TIME. THE REPLACEMENT TOR PLUG CONTAINED STRANDS OF WHAT APPEARED TO BE TEFLON TAPE THAT WERE ON THE THREADS, AND ACROSS THE O-RING. THESE STRANDS POSSIBLY REDUCED THE SEALING CAPABILITY OF THE REPLACEMENT PLUG O-RING. THE TOR DID NOT APPEAR TO BE OVALED AND DID NOT APPEAR TO BE OUT OF ROUND. THE INSIDE SURFACE OF THE TOR DID NOT APPEAR TO HAVE ANY DAMAGE TO THE O-RING SEALING SURFACE OR TO THE THREADS. NO DAMAGE WAS FOUND ON THE TOR CAP.