EXXONMOBIL PIPELINE CO

Incident Narrative

OPERATOR EMPLOYEE INVESTIGATED STATION AFTER SMELLING CRUDE AND DISCOVERED FRESH CRUDE OIL IN A PREVIOUSLY EXCAVATED HOLE NEAR THE MAINLINE P-2 SUCTION VALVE. THE STATION WAS SHUT DOWN BY A POWER SURGE AT THE TIME OF DISCOVERY. AN ESTIMATED 5.5 BBLS. OF CRUDE OIL WAS RELEASED TO SOIL FROM TWO INTERNAL CORROSION PITS IN A VALVE BODY DRAIN CONNECTION PIPE AT THE ST. JAMES-NORTH PUMP STATION. THE RELEASE WAS DISCOVERED AND REPORTED TO EMPCO SUPERVISION BY AN EMPCO EMPLOYEE ON 4/10/12 AT 5:17 PM AFTER AN UNEXPECTED COMMERCIAL POWER FAILURE WHICH SHUT DOWN THE PUMP STATION. THE NORTHLINE PIPELINE AND ST. JAMES-NORTH PUMP STATION WAS IMMEDIATELY ISOLATED AND EMERGENCY RESPONSE PERSONNEL AND EQUIPMENT WERE MOBILIZED TO THE SITE. AGENCY NOTIFICATIONS WERE MADE. THE ENTIRE CRUDE OIL RELEASE WAS CONTAINED WITHIN EMPCO STATION AND OIL RECLAIMED VIA VACUUM TRUCK WITHIN 3 HOURS OF THE RELEASE DISCOVERY. A REVIEW OF SCADA SYSTEM PIPELINE SURVEILLANCE DATA (LEVEL 1) DID NOT INDICATE ANY ABNORMAL CONDITIONS DUE TO THE PRESUMED SLOW RELEASE RATE. SUSPECTED INTERNAL CORROSION WAS DISCOVERED IN A VALVE BODY BLEED PIPE DETAIL. THE RECONDITIONED VALVE WAS INSTALLED IN 2003 AS PART OF A PROJECT TO CONSTRUCT THE PUMP STATION. THE VALVE WAS REMOVED AND BLIND FLANGE INSTALLED TO ENABLE RE-COMMISSIONING OF THE PIPELINE USING AN ADJACENT SIMILAR PUMP UNIT. DRAIN PIPING OF THREE IDENTICAL PUMP STATION ISOLATION VALVES WERE PRESSURE TESTED PRIOR TO STATION RE-COMMISSIONING. A LOSS INVESTIGATION IS IN-PROGRESS AND MITIGATION STRATEGIES ARE BEING DEVELOPED TO QUICKLY ADDRESS THREE SIMILAR REMAINING VALVES IN THE PUMP STATION. THE ORIGINAL NRC REPORT # 1008304 SHOWED THE RELEASE AMOUNT TO BE 11 BBLS. THAT VOLUME WAS DETERMINED TO BE INCORRECT; THE CORRECT VOLUME WAS DETERMINED BY THE AMOUNT RECOVERED IN THE VACUUM TRUCK. PROCEDURES WERE REVISED TO PERIODICALLY DRAIN THE VALVE TO DISCOURAGE DEVELOPMENT OF CONDITIONS THAT CAN POSSIBLY LEAD TO VALVE DAMAGE OR IMPAIR THE OPERATION OF THE VALVE.