COLONIAL PIPELINE CO

Incident Narrative

ON MONDAY, 7/29/13 AT 14:30 EDT, THE COLONIAL PIPELINE GREENSBORO TANK FARM FACILITY EXPERIENCED A RELEASE IN THE OIL MANIFOLD IN THE AREA AROUND THE TANK 879 STINGER VALVE AND TANK-TO-TANK SYSTEM SUCTION (OUTLET) AND DISCHARGE (INLET) VALVES. THE RELEASE OCCURRED WHILE PURGING THE TANK 879 TANK LINE WITH NITROGEN IN PREPARATION FOR AN UPCOMING TANK LINE INSPECTION TOOL RUN. AT THE TIME OF THE RELEASE, TANK 879 WAS EMPTY, THE TANK ISOLATION VALVE HAD BEEN REMOVED AND BLINDED, AND THE TANK WAS FULLY OUT-OF-SERVICE FOR INSPECTION. TANK 879 HAD BEEN EMPTY SINCE 7/17/13 (12 DAYS) WITH ALL TANK 879 VALVES CLOSED. PRIOR TO STARTING THE NITROGEN INJECTION, THE TANK 879 TANK-TO-TANK SUCTION VALVE (OUTLET) WAS OPENED AND THE TANK-TO-TANK TRANSFER CAN PUMP WAS USED TO EVACUATE ANY POTENTIAL REMAINING PRODUCT IN THE TANK 879 TANK LINE AND THE TRANSFER SYSTEM SUCTION LINE. THE TANK 879 SUCTION VALVE WAS THEN CLOSED. THE NITROGEN WAS HOOKED UP THROUGH THE TANK 879 STINGER VALVE. THE NITROGEN WAS STARTED. THE NITROGEN INJECTION CONTINUED FOR APPROXIMATELY 30 MINUTES REACHING A PRESSURE OF 25-30 PSI. AT THIS TIME, THE PROJECT INSPECTOR AND CONTRACTOR PERSONNEL ON-SITE OVERSEEING THE NITROGEN INJECTION, IDENTIFIED PRODUCT ON THE GROUND IN THE IMMEDIATE VICINITY OF THE TANK 879 TANK LINE IN THE OIL MANIFOLD NEAR THE ORIGIN OF THE NITROGEN INJECTION. THE NITROGEN OPERATION WAS IMMEDIATELY SHUT DOWN. INITIAL INTERNAL NOTIFICATIONS WERE MADE AND CLEAN-UP ACTIVITIES BEGAN IMMEDIATELY UTILIZING PROJECTS AND CONTRACT PERSONNEL ALREADY ONSITE. COLLECTION HOLES WERE DUG TO GATHER THE PRODUCT AND A VACUUM PUMP WAS USED TO COLLECT THE PRODUCT INTO A ~500 GALLON TRAILER MOUNTED TANK. APPROXIMATELY 240 GALLONS WAS RECOVERED ON 7/29 AND 7/30. THE OIL MANIFOLD OIL/WATER SEPARATOR, UPPER POND, AND LOWER POND WERE VISUALLY INSPECTED AND NO SIGN OF PRODUCT WAS IDENTIFIED. AN EXTERNAL NOTICE WAS MADE TO THE STATE, NCDENR, ON 7/29/13 AT 15:55 LOCAL TIME DUE TO EXCEEDING THE 25 GALLON REPORTING TRIGGER. CONTRACT CREWS CONTINUED TANK 879 TANK LINE EXCAVATION ACTIVITIES FROM 7/29/13-8/9/13. ON 8/7/13 AN EXTERNAL NOTIFICATION WAS MADE TO THE NRC IN ANTICIPATION OF COSTS EXCEEDING $50,000. ON 8/9/13, CONTRACT CREWS HAD FULLY EXCAVATED THE TANK 879 TANK LINE IN THE OIL MANIFOLD AND IDENTIFIED THE LEAK SOURCE AS A PINHOLE ON THE BOTTOM SIDE OF THE TANK LINE. UPDATE: THE ESTIMATED RELEASE VOLUME IS 1193 GALLONS. A TOTAL OF 1165 GALLONS OF FREE PRODUCT (MIXTURE OF KEROSENE AND FUEL OIL) HAVE BEEN RECOVERED FROM EXCAVATED AREAS AROUND THE TANK LINE AND THE CONCRETE BASIN. AN ESTIMATED 28 GALLONS OF PRODUCT WERE CONTAINED WITHIN APPROXIMATELY 154 CUBIC YARDS OF SOILS IMPACTED BY THE RELEASE. THESE SOILS WERE EXCAVATED AND WILL BE TREATED ON THE FACILITY LANDFARM. RESULTS FROM THE LATEST ASSESSMENT ACTIVITIES INDICATE THAT NO SIGNIFICANT CONTAMINATION FROM THE RELEASE REMAIN WITHIN SOILS OR GROUNDWATER.