COLONIAL PIPELINE CO

Incident Narrative

ON JANUARY 13, A CREW WORKED TO REMOVE THE FLO-BALL VALVE ON THE MARATHON HEADER TO TANK 352. THEY REPLACED THE FLO-BALL VALVE WITH A NEW GENERAL TWIN SEAL REDUCED PORT VALVE. THIS WAS THE FIFTEENTH NEW TANK VALVE REPLACED ON THE MARATHON HEADERS FOR VARIOUS TANKS. LEAK FREE INSTALLATION WAS VERIFIED ON THE HEADER SIDE OF THIS VALVE BEFORE CEASING WORK FOR THE DAY. THE TANK AND TANK LINE HAD BEEN EVACUATED FOR THIS INSTALLATION AND LEAKS COULD NOT BE VERIFIED ON THE TANK LINE SIDE OF THE VALVE. THE VALVE REMAINED CLOSED AND LOCKED OUT BECAUSE THE ELECTRICAL OPERATOR ON THE TANK 352 MARATHON VALVE HAD NOT BEEN WIRED UP AND WAS STILL INACTIVE. THE VALVE REMAINED ON THE STATUS BOARD AS CLOSED AND LOCKED OUT. TANK 352 WAS SCHEDULED TO BE FILLED AT APPROXIMATELY 2200 ON JANUARY 13TH. AT APPROXIMATELY 0600 ON JANUARY 14TH, DURING A ROUTINE YARD WALK, THE OUTSIDE TANK FARM CONTROLLER DISCOVERED PRODUCT IN THE EXCAVATION DIRECTLY BELOW THE MARATHON TANK 352 VALVE AND REPORTED THE INCIDENT TO THE OPERATIONS MANAGER AND ON CALL TECHNICIAN. THE RELEASED PRODUCT WAS CONFINED TO THE 8 FOOT BY 6 FOOT EXCAVATION DIRECTLY BENEATH THIS VALVE. THE SOIL IN THE EXCAVATION WAS SATURATED WITH WATER FROM RECENT RAIN EVENTS AND PREVENTED DOWNWARD MIGRATION OF THE SPILLED KEROSENE. THE OPERATIONS MANAGER REPORTED THE INCIDENT TO THE DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS, ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRAM MANAGER AND ENVIRONMENTAL SPECIALIST. THE ON CALL TECHNICIAN HAD THE TANK FARM CONTROLLER ISOLATE THE BLOCK AND BLEED TUBING WHICH IMMEDIATELY ISOLATED THE LEAK SOURCE. THE ENVIRONMENTAL SPECIALIST, PROJECT MANAGER, TECHNICIAN AND LOCAL CONTRACTOR RESPONDED, CLEANED UP THE SITE AND REPAIRED THE GENERAL TWIN SEAL BLOCK AND BLEED TUBING. WATER AND PRODUCT IN THE EXCAVATION WAS REMOVED AND STORED IN A SKID TANK. 1.75 TONS OF SOIL WAS REMOVED CONSISTING OF APPROXIMATELY 4"" OF SOIL FROM THE SIDES OF THE EXCAVATION AND 10"" FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE EXCAVATION. THIS SOIL WAS STOCKPILED FOR FURTHER EVALUATION AND REMEDIATION. SITE CLEAN-UP WAS COMPLETED BY 1100 ON JANUARY 14, 2012. NO AGENCY REPORTING THRESHOLDS WERE EXCEEDED. NO GROUNDWATER OR SURFACE WATER WAS IMPACTED. THEREFORE, NO AGENCY NOTIFICATIONS WERE MADE. THERE WERE 11 GALLONS OF FREE PRODUCT RECOVERED. AN ADDITIONAL 2 GALLONS WERE CONTAINED IN THE 1.75 TONS OF SOIL REMOVED FROM THE EXCAVATION FOR A TOTAL OF 13 GALLONS. THE REASON THE LEAK SHOWED UP UPON FILLING TANK 352 AND NOT WHEN TESTED FROM THE HEADER SIDE WAS THE CONFIGURATION OF THE DIFFERENTIAL THERMAL RELIEF SYSTEM ON THE GENERAL TWIN SEAL VALVE. THE LEAK OCCURRED DUE TO AN EXCESSIVE EXTENSION OF THE TUBING BEYOND THE COMPRESSION COLLAR, WHICH DID NOT ALLOW FOR COMPRESSION OF THE SEALING COLLAR. THIS CONFIGURATION OF TUBING WAS DELIVERED WITH THE NEW VALVE. APPROXIMATELY 3/16' OF THIS TUBING WAS REMOVED AND THEN TUBING WAS RE-INSTALLED WITHOUT ANY LEAKAGE.