BUCKEYE PARTNERS, LP

Incident Narrative

ON SATURDAY MAY 11, 2013 AT APPROXIMATELY 13:30 A 3RD PARTY REPORTED THE PRESENCE OF DEAD VEGETATION ABOVE THE 415 LINE TO LOCAL MANTUA OHIO OPERATIONS PERSONNEL. OPERATIONS PERSONNEL WERE IMMEDIATELY DISPATCHED TO THE SCENE AND WALKED THE REPORTED AREA OF CONCERN. THE 415 LINE WAS SHUT DOWN. ALL APPLICABLE EMERGENCY NOTIFICATIONS WERE MADE A SMALL CRACK WAS DETECTED IN THE 12 O'CLOCK POSITION OF A GIRTH WELD. A TEMPORARY REPAIR SLEEVE WAS INSTALLED. THE 415 LINE WILL OPERATE AT A REDUCED MOP UNTIL PERMANENT REPAIRS ARE MADE. THESE REPAIRS ARE ESTIMATED TO BE COMPLETED BY THE MIDDLE OF JUNE, 2013. TOTAL RELEASE VOLUMES HAVE BEEN ESTIMATED AT <1BBL OF LOW SULFUR DIESEL. NO ADDITIONAL REMEDIATION EFFORTS ARE PLANNED AT THIS TIME. THE ROOT CAUSE OF THE RELEASE IS NOT KNOWN AT THIS TIME OF THIS REPORT'S ORIGINAL SUBMITTAL. METALLURGICAL ANALYSIS WILL BE CONDUCTED ON REMOVED SECTION OF PIPE TO DETERMINE THE CAUSE UPDATE: AUGUST 23, 2013 O THE LEAK AT THE GIRTH WELD WAS FOUND TO HAVE BEEN CAUSED BY A CRACK THAT INITIATED AT AN AREA OF INADEQUATE PENETRATION AND INCOMPLETE FUSION AT THE WELD ROOT, AND AT THERE WAS EVIDENCE OF A REPAIR WELD AT THE LOCATION OF THE CRACK. O THERE WAS NO EVIDENCE THAT THIS CRACK HAD GROWN AS A RESULT OF FATIGUE, SO IT IS LIKELY THAT THIS CRACK HAS BEEN PRESENT SINCE THE TIME OF CONSTRUCTION. O IT IS NOT EVIDENT WHAT CAUSED THE CRACK TO LEAK WHEN IT DID. SOME FORM OF AXIAL STRESS MAY HAVE CAUSED THE CRACK TO OPEN SLIGHTLY (I.E. SOIL MOVEMENT, BENDING). UPDATE FROM FINAL REPORT MARCH 14, 2014 THE LEAK IN GIRTH WELD 71+64 WAS CAUSED BY A CRACK THAT INITIATED AT AN AREA OF INADEQUATE PENETRATION (IP) AND INCOMPLETE FUSION (IF) AT THE WELD ROOT NEAR THE TOP BUTTON OF THE GIRTH WELD. THE IP AND IF DEFECTS ACTED AS STRESS CONCENTRATORS. AT THE SAME POSITION ON THE GIRTH WELD, A REPAIR WAS VISUALLY EVIDENT. REPAIRS TYPICALLY REPRESENT A STRESS CONCENTRATION BECAUSE OF THE ADDITIONAL RESTRAINT ASSOCIATED WITH THE LIMITED SIZE OF THE WELD REPAIR CAVITY. BOTH THE BASE WELD AND REPAIR WELD APPEAR TO HAVE BEEN DEPOSITED USING THE GAS METAL ARC WELDING (GMAW) PROCESS. THE IP AND IF DEFECTS WERE PRESENT AT THE TIME OF CONSTRUCTION. THERE WAS NO EVIDENCE THAT THE CRACK HAD ENLARGED IN SERVICE (E.G. FATIGUE CRACK GROWTH), SO IT IS LIKELY THAT THE CRACK THROUGH THE REPAIR WELD WAS ALSO PRESENT AT THE TIME OF CONSTRUCTION. THEREFORE, SOME OTHER MECHANISM MUST HAVE CAUSED THE FINAL FAILURE OF A THIN REMAINING LIGAMENT OR SOME AXIAL STRESS MUST HAVE CAUSED THE CRACK TO OPEN SLIGHTLY, ALLOWING PRODUCT TO ESCAPE. THE PRECISE REASON FOR THE LEAK OCCURRING WHEN IT DID IS NOT OBVIOUS. HOWEVER, BECAUSE NO REMAINING LIGAMENT WAS VISIBLE ON THE FRACTURE SURFACE, THE MOST LIKELY SCENARIO WAS AN INCREASE IN THE AXIAL STRESS ACTING ON THE GIRTH WELD, SUCH AS SOIL MOVEMENT OR SETTLEMENT, WHICH CAUSED THE CRACK TO OPEN ENOUGH TO LEAK.