KOCH PIPELINE COMPANY, L.P.

Incident Narrative

ON MARCH 31, 2013, LOCAL OPERATING PERSONNEL PERFORMING A ROUTINE STATION WALK THROUGH INSPECTION, NOTICED CRUDE OIL ON THE GROUND ABOVE THE BURIED FLANGE CONNECTIONS LEADING TO, FROM, OR BYPASSING THE PUMPING UNITS OF THE 5TH UNIT IN SERIES AT THE HEAD PUMPING STATION FOR MINNESOTA PIPE LINE. THE PIPELINE WAS IMMEDIATELY SHUTDOWN, A ONE-CALL NOTIFICATION WAS MADE AND EXCAVATION WAS PERFORMED TO EXPOSE THE BURIED FLANGE CONNECTIONS. AFTER A THOROUGH EXAMINATION OF EACH EXCAVATED FLANGE CONNECTION, NO WEEP, LEAK OR OTHER SOURCE OF CRUDE OIL FROM THE FLANGE CONNECTIONS WAS IDENTIFIED. THE DISCHARGE PRESSURE TRANSMITTER, LOCATED JUST UPSTREAM OF THE EXCAVATED FLANGE CONNECTIONS, HAD BEEN DISPLAYING STEADY PRESSURE READINGS BELOW 1100 PSI FOR OVER 24 HOURS PRIOR TO THE RELEASE DISCOVERY. ONLY 3 MINOR PUMP ADJUSTMENTS HAD BEEN MADE DURING THAT 24 HOUR PERIOD. FOR TWO DAYS AFTER THE PIPELINE WAS SHUTDOWN AND THE FLANGE CONNECTIONS EXPOSED, LOCAL OPERATING PERSONNEL WERE UNABLE TO DETERMINE A RELEASE POINT FOR THE CRUDE OIL DETECTED ON MARCH 31. KOCH PIPELINE COMPANY, L.P. (KPL), THE OPERATOR, VERBALLY COMMUNICATED WITH THE PHMSA CENTRAL REGION OFFICE AND THE MINNESOTA OFFICE OF PIPELINE SAFETY THAT THE PIPELINE SECTION WAS HOLDING PRESSURE AND NO SOURCE OF RELEASE WAS FOUND . A WRITTEN STARTUP PLAN FROM KPL WAS PRESENTED, DISCUSSED AND PHMSA CENTRAL REGION VERBALLY APPROVED THE STARTUP PLAN FOR KPL TO BEGIN ITS RESTART. THE PIPELINE WAS RESTARTED, FOLLOWING THE WRITTEN STARTUP PLAN. 36 HOURS LATER, DURING DAYLIGHT HOURS, DISCHARGE PRESSURE AT THE PUMP STATION WAS INCREASED TO 1275 PSI, WHEN LOCAL OPERATING PERSONNEL MONITORING THE EXCAVATED FLANGE CONNECTIONS IDENTIFIED A SMALL DRIP DURING CONTINUOUS FIELD MONITORING. THE PIPELINE WAS IMMEDIATELY SHUTDOWN. THE CRUDE OIL DRIP WAS DISCOVERED ON THE UNIT 5 BURIED DISCHARGE VALVE DOWNSTREAM FLANGE. THE HEADER WAS DRAINED UP. THE GASKET WAS REMOVED TO DISCOVER THE GASKET HAD FAILED. THE GASKET WAS REPLACED AND THE PIPELINE RESTARTED, AGAIN FOLLOWING THE APPROVED RESTART PLAN, TO SIMILAR PRESSURES IN THE VICINITY OF 1275 PSI WITHOUT ISSUE. THE GASKET WAS SHIPPED TO KIEFNER AND ASSOCIATES TO BE ANALYZED. KIEFNER & ASSOCIATES PROVIDED THE FOLLOW CONCLUSION TO THEIR EXAMINATION, ""WE WERE NOT ABLE TO CONCLUSIVELY IDENTIFY THE LEAK CAUSE BASED SOLELY UPON EXAMINATION OF THE DAMAGED GASKETS AFTER THEY WERE REMOVED FROM THE JOINT. HOWEVER, THICKNESS MEASUREMENTS OF THE GASKETS' SEALING SURFACES INDICATED BOTH A) INADEQUATE COMPRESSION AND B) UNEVEN COMPRESSION. THESE CONDITIONS SUGGEST MISALIGNMENT OF THE FLANGE FACES, OR UNEVEN OR INADEQUATE BOLT TORQUE DURING INSTALLATION, OR BOTH. THE FLANGE ALIGNMENT WAS CHECKED WHEN THE GASKETS WERE REPLACED AND IT WAS FOUND TO BE WITHIN THE TOLERANCES OF KOCH'S FLANGE ASSEMBLY PROCEDURE, EFFECTIVELY RULING OUT FLANGE MISALIGNMENT AS A POSSIBLE CAUSE OF THE LEAK.