COLONIAL PIPELINE CO

Incident Narrative

ON 4/2/13 AT APPROXIMATELY 1340 LOCAL TIME, THE B OPERATOR DISCOVERED DIESEL PRODUCT FLOWING FROM TWO O-RING SEALS ON THE TANK VALVE FOR TANK 1486. OTHER COMPANY EMPLOYEES AND CONTRACTORS WERE IMMEDIATELY DISPATCHED AND ARRIVED ON SCENE TO STOP THE LEAK AND CONTAIN THE RELEASED PRODUCT. THE LEAK WAS CONTAINED ALMOST IMMEDIATELY AND WAS STOPPED WHEN THE PRODUCT LEVEL IN THE TANK WAS LOWERED SUFFICIENTLY TO REMOVE THE HEAD PRESSURE FROM THE FAILED O-RINGS. THE CAUSE WAS ORIGINALLY BELIEVED TO BE DUE TO THERMAL EXPANSION OF THE PRODUCT IN THE TANK LINE PIPING ABOVE GROUND. REPAIRS WERE MADE TO THE VALVE (SOFT GOODS REPLACED) ON 4/4/13 AND A THERMAL RELIEF SYSTEM WAS INSTALLED TO PREVENT RECURRENCE. THE RELEASE WAS REPORTED TO THE LOUSIANA DEQ ON 4/3/13 AT 1011 AM BASED ON NON-EMERGENCY NATURE OF THE RELEASE. NO OTHER STATE OR FEDERAL TELEPHONIC NOTIFICATIONS WERE REQUIRED DUE TO NOT MEETING REPORTING THRESHOLDS. A SECOND RELEASE OCCURRED FROM THE VALVE ON 5/27/13 AT APPROXIMATELY 0845, RESULTING IN AN ADDITIONAL 15 GALLONS RELEASED. IT WAS DETERMINED THAT THERE WAS AN INTERNAL VALVE FAILURE. THE VALVE WAS REPLACED AND SENT TO A THIRD-PARTY VALVE REPAIR SHOP FOR DIAGNOSIS AND REPAIR. ON 6/13/13 THE VALVE WAS EXAMINED BY THE SHOP AND WE RECEIVED A REPORT IDENTIFYING WORN PACKING AND SCARRING ON THE VALVE GATE AND SEAT RING. BASED ON ADDITIONAL ANALYSIS OF THE REPORT, IT HAS BEEN DETERMINED THAT THE MOST LIKELY CAUSE OF THE SECOND LEAK WAS THE WORN PACKING MATERIAL AND THE VALVE STEM THAT NEEDED POLISHING.