COLONIAL PIPELINE CO

Incident Narrative

ON OCTOBER 3, AT 1440 EST, A LANDOWNER CALLED INTO THE CHATTANOOGA OFFICE AND REPORTED A STRONG PETROLEUM ODOR NEAR COLONIAL'S LINE 19. COLONIAL EMPLOYEES RESPONDED, ARRIVED ONSITE AT 1500 AND DISCOVERED DEAD VEGETATION, A PETROLEUM ODOR, AND A FILM OF PRODUCT ON A SMALL DITCH ADJACENT TO THE RIGHT OF WAY. THE EMPLOYEE CALLED 911 AND THE CONTROL ROOM TO REPORT THE CONFIRMED LEAK. LINE 19 WAS SHUTDOWN AT 1519 EST. THE LINE SEGMENT WAS ISOLATED AND EMERGENCY RESPONSE RESOURCES (INTERNAL AND CONTRACT) WERE CONTACTED AND DEPLOYED TO THE SITE. APPROPRIATE AGENCY NOTIFICATIONS WERE MADE (NRC AT 16:47, TEMA AT 15:30 BY HAMILTON COUNTY EMS, AND TDEC AT 16:30). HAMILTON COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT SERVICES AND THE CHATTANOOGA FIRE DEPARTMENT ARRIVED ON SITE AROUND 15:25. LOCAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AND COLONIAL CONTRACTED RESOURCES BEGAN DEPLOYING BOOM TO CONTAIN THE RELEASED PRODUCT. THE PIPELINE WAS EXCAVATED ON 10/4/2012 AND FIELD OBSERVATIONS INDICATED MECHANICAL DAMAGE CAUSING AN AREA OF DENTS WITH GOUGES IN THE VICINITY OF THE 3 O'CLOCK POSITION OF THE PIPELINE. A CRACK MEASURING 3.822"" LENGTH WAS PRESENT IN ONE OF THE GOUGES. THE SPECIFIC CAUSE OF THE DAMAGE IS CURRENTLY UNDER INVESTIGATION. THE DAMAGE WAS REPAIRED WITH A 10 FOOT LENGTH SLEEVE DURING THE EARLY MORNING HOURS OF 10/5/2012. LINE 19 WAS RESTARTED 10/5/12 AT 1200 EST. THE DURATION OF THE RELEASE FROM THE PIPELINE IS UNKNOWN AT THIS TIME. GASOLINE RELEASED FROM THE PIPELINE TRAVELED THROUGH SUBSURFACE SOILS TO A SMALL DITCH. PRODUCT FLOWED WITHIN THE SMALL DITCH APPROXIMATELY 600 FEET TO A MARSH LOCATED ON AN ADJACENT PROPERTY. EMERGENCY RESPONDERS STOPPED THE FLOW OF PRODUCT OFFSITE WITH BOOM AND BY BLOCKING OFF A CULVERT WITHIN THE DITCH. DOWNSTREAM OF THE CULVERT IN THE MARSH, RELEASED PRODUCT WAS CONTAINED WITH BOOM. A SERIES OF UNDERFLOW DAMS WERE CONSTRUCTED ALONG A SMALL STREAM THAT CONNECTED THE MARSH TO THE TENNESSEE RIVER, PREVENTING PRODUCT FROM REACHING THE RIVER. ASSESSMENT ACTIVITIES ARE UNDERWAY TO DEFINE IMPACTS TO SOIL, GROUNDWATER, AND SURFACE WATER. INTERIM REMEDIAL ACTIVITIES ARE UNDERWAY TO EXCAVATE IMPACTED SOILS AT THE LEAKSITE. TDEC IS PROVIDING OVERSIGHT OF CLEANUP ACTITIVIES. AS OF 10/17/2012 APPROXIMATELY 1000 GALLONS OF GASOLINE HAVE BEEN RECOVERED FROM THE IMPACTED DITCH, MARSH, AND LEAK SITE EXCAVATION AREA. IN AN EFFORT TO QUANTIFY THE TOTAL RELEASE VOLUME, THE AMOUNT OF PRODUCT LOST TO EVAPORATION AND IMPACTED SOILS ARE CURRENTLY UNDER EVALUATION. PRELIMINARY ESTIMATES OF EVAPORATIVE LOSSES ARE 1000 GALLONS AND THE AMOUNT CONTAINED IN SOILS ARE ESTIMATED AT 1600 GALLONS. AT THIS TIME THE TOTAL RELEASE VOLUME IS ESTIMATED AT 3600 GALLONS. 2/10/2015 UPDATE: TENNESSEE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT AND CONSERVATION (TDEC) APPROVED AND LANDOWNER AGREED FOR ON-SITE DISPOSAL OF EXCAVATED SOILS. ESTIMATED COSTS HAVE BEEN FINALIZED. EXPECT TO MOVE SOILS TO FINAL DISPOSAL AND SITE CLOSURE IN THE FIRST QUARTER OF 2015.