MARATHON PIPE LINE LLC

hazardous_liquid Incident —

Incident Information

Report Date
OperatorMARATHON PIPE LINE LLC
Commodity—
Pipeline Typehazardous_liquid

Location

State
Coordinates39.06008, -88.49556

Cause

CauseINCORRECT OPERATION
Subcause—

Casualties

Fatalities0
Injuries0

Costs

Property Damage
Lost Commodity
Public/Private Damage
Emergency Response
Environmental Remediation
Other Costs

Location Map

Incident Narrative

DURING ROUTINE MAINTENANCE AT EFFINGHAM, AREA PERSONNEL WERE NOT ABLE TO OBTAIN THE PROPER ISOLATION BY JUST CLOSING THE STATION VALVES. AS A RESULT, THEY HAD THE MAINLINE SHUT DOWN AND CLOSED THE UPSTREAM AND DOWNSTREAM BLOCK VALVES. WITH THE CHANGE IN ENERGY ISOLATION PLANS, THE AREA PERSONNEL FAILED TO RECOGNIZE AND LOCK OUT THE SUMP. SHORTLY AFTER THE UPSTREAM AND DOWNSTREAM BLOCK VALVES WERE CLOSED, THE EFFINGHAM SUMP KICKED ON (14:47) CAUSING THE PRESSURE ON THE MAINLINE BETWEEN THE TWO BLOCK VALVES TO INCREASE TO 1500+ PSIG, EXCEEDING 110% OF MOP. AT 15:20, FIELD PERSONNEL DISCOVERED THAT THE RESULTING PRESSURE INCREASE CAUSED THE INSULATING GASKET ON THE DOWNSTREAM SIDE OF VALVE BV1 TO RUPTURE, RELEASING APPROXIMATELY 7 GALLONS OF CRUDE OIL TO THE ENVIRONMENT. THE LINE WAS EXCAVATED, ALL CONTAMINATED SOIL WAS REMOVED, AND THE INSULATING GASKET WAS REPLACED WITH A FLEXITALLIC GASKET AND NEW STUDS.

About This Pipeline Incident

Pipeline incident data is reported to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA). All significant incidents involving fatalities, injuries, or property damage over $50,000 must be reported.

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