TAMPA BAY PIPELINE CO.

Incident Narrative

OPERATIONS CONTROL CENTER (OCC) RECEIVED FIRST NOTIFICATION OF 'SLIGHT' AMMONIA ODOR BY HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY SHERRIFF'S OFFICE DISPATCH @ 19:15 PM ON 8/22/2012, PATROL OFFICER ON SCENE, NO ROAD CLOSURES, NO VISIBLE PRODUCT RELEASE. PIPELINE CONTROLLER FOLLOWS PROCEDURE, SHUTS DOWN PIPELINE. DISPATCHED PIPELINE PERSONNEL, ARRIVED BY 20:10 PM. DETECTED LOW CONCENTRATION (<10 PPM) OF AMMONIA BEING BROUGHT TO SURFACE BY HIGH GROUNDWATER LEVELS. STATIONED PIPELINE PERSONNEL ON SCENE TO MONITOR UNTIL DAYLIGHT WHEN MITIGATION MATERIALS WERE AVAILABLE. THE LOCATION OF THE SOURCE POINT INDICATED COMING FROM AN EXISTING 'STOPPLE' OR LINE STOP FITTING INSTALLED DURING A MAINTENANCE OPERATION IN 2008. FROM PAST EXPERIENCE THESE TYPE OF INDICATORS GENERALLY POINT TO A 'SEGMENT SCREW' OR A T-O-R FITTING CAP THAT CAN BE EXCAVATED AND REPAIRED WITH LITTLE TO NO DISTURBANCE TO THE SURROUNDING AREA AND NO RISK TO PUBLIC SAFETY. THE EXCAVATION AND REPAIR WAS SUBSEQUENTLY SCHEDULED FOR MONDAY 8/27 BEGINNING AFTER 10:00 PM TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF MINIMAL TRAFFIC ACTIVITY. *THIS TIME AND DATE WAS CHOSEN AS A RESULT OF THE MOT CONTRACTOR INFORMING US THAT THEY COULD NOT GET A LANE CLOSURE FOR TRAFFIC REDIRECTION PERMITTED FOR WEEKEND ACTIVITY, ALSO AT THE PLANNING STAGE TROPICAL STORM ISAAC'S PROJECTED PATH AND SEVERITY REMAINED AN UNKNOWN. ON MONDAY AM 8/27, WITH THE WESTWARD MOVEMENT OF ISAAC AND THE FORECAST OF MINIMAL RAIN AND POTENTIALLY HELPFUL WIND CONDITIONS, THE CALL WAS MADE TO GO WITH THE JOB AS PLANNED. WHEN THE EXCAVATION BEGAN WE WERE ADVANCING TOWARD THE SUSPECTED FITTING (APPROX. 5 FOOT DEPTH OF COVER) AND BEGAN EXPERIENCING DITCH 'SLOUGHING' AND EROSION DUE TO HIGH GROUNDWATER LEVELS. AT ~3:00 PM TUESDAY 8/28 WE WERE ABLE TO VISUALLY OBSERVE THE FITTING AND IT WAS DISCOVERED THAT THERE WAS AN APPARENT DEFECT IN THE WELD OF THE OVER SLEEVE (STOPPLE TEE) FITTING CIRCUMFERENTIAL WELD AT APPROXIMATELY THE 10:00 O'CLOCK POSITION WHEN VIEWED FROM THE DOWNSTREAM END OF THE FITTING. THIS DISCOVERY CHANGED THE NATURE OF THE REPAIR CONSIDERABLY AND WITH THE ADDITIONAL SAFETY CONCERNS OF THE UNSTABLE EXCAVATION CONDITIONS, A MORE ROBUST REPAIR PLAN WAS DEVELOPED WHICH INCORPORATED DEWATERING THE SITE INTO FRAC TANKS, INSTALLING A NEW STOPPLE FITTING DOWNSTREAM OF THE FAILURE, AND ACCESSING THE EXISTING STOPPLE FITTING IMMEDIATELY UPSTRREAM (300' WSW) OF THE FAILED FITTING; FOR LINE PLUGGING AND BLOWDOWN IN ORDER TO REPLACE THE FAILED FITTING WITH A NEW SECTION OF TESTED PIPE.