SUNOCO PIPELINE L.P.

Incident Narrative

LOCAL OPERATING PERSONNEL WERE NOTIFIED BY THE CONTROL CENTER THAT RINGGOLD STATION HAD BEEN AUTOMATICALLY SHUT DOWN AT APPROXIMATELY 0330 CDT BY A VAPOR ALARM AND SYSTEM LOCK OUT. AT APPROXIMATELY 0415 LOCAL OPERATING PERSONNEL ARRIVED AT RINGGOLD STATION AND DISCOVERED A RELEASE OF CRUDE OIL HAD OCCURRED. THEIR INVESTIGATION DETERMINED THE RELEASE ORIGIN TO BE FROM 1/2"" DIAMETER STAINLESS STEEL TUBING ASSOCIATED WITH A THERMAL RELIEF. THE RELEASE SOURCE WAS ISOLATED BY LOCAL OPERATING PERSONNEL WHEN A ONE INCH BALL VALVE WAS CLOSED. FOLLOWING INITIAL EMERGENCY RESPONSE ACTIVITY AND DUE TO DARK CONDITIONS IN THE PREDAWN HOURS, CONFIRMED DISCOVERY OF A REPORTABLE RELEASE MADE AT APPROXIMATELY 0500. INITIAL ESTIMATED VOLUME WAS 100 BBLS. DETERMINATION THAT THE RELEASE WOULD LIKELY MEET TELEPHONIC REPORTING CRITERIA WAS MADE BY APPROXIMATELY 0530. ONLINE NOTIFICATION TO THE NRC WAS ATTTEMPTED STARTING AT APPROXIMATELY 0630. THE SYSTEM WOULD NOT ACCEPT THE REPORT AFTER TWO ATTEMPTS SO TELEPHONIC NOTIFICATION WAS COMPLETED AT 0656 CDT. INVESTIGATION OF THE INCIDENT FOUND THE RELEASE WAS DUE TO A CRACK IN THE TUBING. SUBSEQUENT METALLURGICAL ANALYSIS REVEALED THAT THE TUBING HAD FAILED BEHIND THE FERRULE DUE TO FATIGUE. THE TUBING AND FITTINGS HAVE BEEN REPLACED. ADDITIONALLY, AS A RESULT OF THE INVESTIGATION AT RINGGOLD STATION IT WAS DETERMINED THAT THE REFERENCED TUBING AND FITTINGS WERE REDUNDANT AND ARE NOT NECESSARY. THIS TUBING AND THE ASSOCIATED FITTINGS ARE CURRENTLY ISOLATED AND ARE SCHEDULED FOR REMOVAL AT A LATER DATE.