COLONIAL PIPELINE CO

Incident Narrative

AT 12:09 PM CST ON 5/15/13, A CHEVRON PIPELINE EMPLOYEE CONTACTED THE LOCAL COLONIAL RIGHT-OF-WAY (ROW) INSPECTOR AND REPORTED A PETROLEUM ODOR NEAR COLONIAL'S 40 INCH BLOCK VALVE. THE ROW INSPECTOR IMMEDIATELY NOTIFIED THE OPERATIONS MANAGER, THE NEAREST MANNED FACILITY AND THE ALPHARETTA CONTROL CENTER AND TRAVELLED TO THE SITE TO INVESTIGATE THE REPORT. THE OPERATIONS MANAGER NOTIFIED THE GULF COAST DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS AT 12:31 PM. INITIAL COLONIAL PERSON ARRIVED AT THE SITE AT 12:40 PM, AND A SECOND PERSON ARRIVED AT 1:03 PM. INVESTIGATION IDENTIFIED DEAD VEGETATION AND CONTAMINATED SOILS AND THE CONTROL CENTER WAS CONTACTED. LINE WAS SHUT DOWN, BLOCKED IN AND DEPRESSURIZED AS OF 1:27 PM. ADDITIONAL RESPONSE PERSONNEL BEGAN ARRIVING ON SITE AT 2:00 PM. RECON EFFORTS CONFIRMED THAT THE CONTAMINATION WAS LIMITED TO THE PIPELINE RIGHT-OF-WAY. MECHANICAL EXCAVATION OF THE BLOCK VALVE SITE BEGAN AT 6:30 PM. CREWS WORKED THROUGH THE NIGHT AND AT APPROX. 9:30 AM CST ON 5/16/13 A LEAK SOURCE WAS IDENTIFIED AS A 1/2"" NIPPLE ON THE BODY BLEED ASSEMBLY OF A 6 INCH ""WRAP-AROUND"" VALVE UPSTREAM OF THE MAIN LINE BLOCK VALVE. THE NIPPLE WAS REMOVED AND PLUGGED TEMPORARILY. THE 40 INCH BLOCK VALVE, THE UPSTREAM AND DOWNSTREAM 6 INCH WRAP-AROUND VALVES WERE COMPLETELY EXCAVATED AT APROX. 2:30 PM ON 5/16/13. THE STEM SEAL PACKING WAS REPLACED ON BOTH WRAP-AROUND VALVES AS OF 4:00 PM, AS WAS THE 1/2 NIPPLE ON THE UPSTREAM WRAP AROUND VALVE. BASED ON THE OBSERVED CONDITION OF THE 1/2 INCH BLOW DOWN PIPING ON THE 40 INCH BLOCK VALVE, THAT PIPING WAS REPLACED AS OF 6:00 PM CST. SUBSEQUENT DYE PENETRANT TESTING REVEALED A PIN HOLE IN A 1 INCH NIPPLE REMOVED FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE BLOW DOWN PIPING ASSEMBLY. THE LINE SEGMENT WAS RESTARTED AT 8:53 PM CST ON 5/16/13. 20 GALLONS OF LIQUID GASOLINE WAS RECOVERED DURING THE RESPONSE EFFORTS ON 5/15/13 AND 5/16/13. THE NRC WAS NOTIFIED AT 3:26 PM ON 5/15/13 DUE TO THE EXPECTATION THAT THE RESPONSE AND REPAIR COSTS WOULD EXCEED $50,000. AN ANALYSIS OF ADDITIONAL INFORMATION DISCOVERED DURING EXCAVATION FOR SOIL REMOVAL CONCLUDED THAT THE PRIMARY SOURCE OF THE RELEASE WAS A ONE INCH PIPE NIPPLE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BLOW DOWN LINE FOR THE FORTY INCH BLOCK VALVE. THE NIPPLE WAS BENT RESULTING IN A THIN SPOT WHICH WAS FURTHER AFFECTED BY INTERNAL CORROSION, RESULTING IN A PIN HOLE. ENVIRONMENTAL REMEDIATION EFFORTS AT THE SITE ARE COMPLETE.