PLAINS PIPELINE, L.P.

Incident Narrative

ON DECEMBER 8, 2011, THREE PLAINS EMPLOYEES WERE PERFORMING ROUTINE MAINTENANCE TO REPLACE A TANK MIXER ON A 77,000 BARREL INTERNAL FLOATING ROOF TANK STORING WEST TEXAS INTERMEDIATE (WTI) CRUDE OIL. PRIOR TO CHANGING THE TANK MIXER, THE LEVEL OF WTI IN THE TANK WAS LOWERED BELOW THE BOTTOM OF THE MIXER MAN WAY TO PERFORM THIS MAINTENANCE. THE ISOLATION VALVE IN THE INCOMING TANK SUPPLY LINE WAS CLOSED, TAGGED AND LOCKED OUT. THE BREAKER TO THE MIXER MOTOR WAS ALSO OPENED, TAGGED AND LOCKED OUT. THE CREW ALSO COMPLETED A WORK AUTHORIZATION PERMIT AS REQUIRED TO PERFORM THIS TASK. THE CREW BEGAN REMOVING THE EXISTING MIXER. IN ORDER TO REMOVE THE OLD MIXER FROM THE TANK, A ONE TON DIESEL POWERED MECHANIC'S TRUCK WAS BACKED APPROXIMATELY 18-INCHES FROM THE MIXER IN ORDER TO USE THE CRANE MOUNTED ON THE BACK OF THE TRUCK TO LIFT THE MIXERS. PRIOR TO POSITIONING THE TRUCK NEAR THE MIXER, A VOC SURVEY OF THE WORK AREA INDICATED NO PRESENCE OF A HAZARDOUS ATMOSPHERE. THE TRUCK WAS LEFT RUNNING WHEN REMOVAL OF THE MIXER FROM THE TANK BEGAN. WHEN THE MIXER WAS PULLED FROM THE MAN WAY MOUNTING FLANGE OF THE TANK, VOC VAPORS EMANATED FROM THE TANK AND ENVELOPED THE WORK AREA, INCLUDING THE MECHANIC'S TRUCK. AT THE TIME THE MIXER MOVED FROM THE MAN WAY FLANGE, THE GAS MONITOR WORN BY ONE OF THE WORKERS ALARMED. THE WORKER STEPPED BACK FROM THE MAN WAY UNTIL THE ALARM CLEARED. THE MECHANIC'S TRUCK ALSO BEGAN TO BACK FIRE, RACE, AND SURGE OUT OF CONTROL FROM THE HYDROCARBON RICH ATMOSPHERE. THE TRUCK'S IGNITION WAS TURNED OFF BUT THE TRUCK CONTINUED TO RUN. FEARFUL FOR THEIR SAFETY, THE THREE EMPLOYEES FLED FROM THE AREA. JUST AS THE EMPLOYEES FLED, THE HYDROCARBON VAPOR CLOUD FLASHED FROM THE TRUCK IGNITION SOURCE CAUSING AN EXPLOSION AND FIRE. THE EXPLOSION RESULTED IN THE TANK AND TRUCK BEING SET ON FIRE. THE JAL, NEW MEXICO VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT WAS IMMEDIATELY CALLED BY ONE OF THE EMPLOYEES INVOLVED IN THE INCIDENT. THE JAL FIRE DEPARTMENT WAS FIRST TO ARRIVE AT THE SCENE APPROXIMATELY 10 MINUTES AFTER THE INCIDENT AND THE EUNICE, N. MEXICO FIRE DEPARTMENT ARRIVED A SHORT TIME LATER. THE FIRE WAS EXTINGUISHED AT 1110MST. TWO EMPLOYEES WERE TAKEN BY AMBULANCE TO WINKLER COUNTY MEMORIAL HOSPITAL FOR PRECAUTIONARY MEDICAL EVALUATIONS. ONE EMPLOYEE SUFFERED A SECOND DEGREE BURN AND BLISTERING TO THE BACK OF HIS NECK AND A SECOND EMPLOYEE SUFFERED MINOR BRUISING FROM BEING KNOCKED TO THE GROUND BY THE EXPLOSION. AFTER RECEIVING MEDICAL EVALUATIONS, THE TWO EMPLOYEES WERE ALLOWED TO RETURN TO WORK. UPON DETERMINING THE STATUS OF THE INJURIES ASSOCIATED WITH THE INCIDENT, A TELEPHONIC NOTIFICATION WAS MADE TO NATIONAL RESPONSE CENTER (1043 MST) AND WAS ASSIGNED NRC REPORT NO. 997554. AN INTERNAL INVESTIGATION CONCLUDED THE EXPLOSION AND FIRE WAS A RESULT OF FLAMMABLE VAPORS REACHING A SOURCE OF IGNITION DURING THE REPLACEMENT OF A TANK MIXER. THE EXPLOSION AND FIRE WAS DUE TO OPERATOR PERSONNEL FAILING TO FOLLOW REQUIRED MAINTENANCE AND SAFETY PROCEDURES AND POLICIES WHEN PERFORMING WORK WITHIN AN AREA WITH A POTENTIAL HAZARDOUS ATMOSPHERE. THE FIRE DESTROYED THE PICKUP AND CAUSED EXTENSIVE DAMAGE TO THE TANK INCLUDING DISTORTION OF A PORTION OF THE OUTER SHELL AND THE INTERNAL FLOATING ROOF AND HEAVY DAMAGE TO THE EXTERIOR PAINT AND THE OLD MIXER THAT WAS REMOVED. THE DAMAGED TANK WILL BE DEMOLISHED AND AN EXISTING TANK AT JAL STATION WILL BE USED TO PERFORM THE FUNCTION OF THE DEMOLISHED TANK. TO PREVENT THIS FROM REOCCURRING, PLAINS IS ENHANCING THE CURRENT TRAINING OF THE WORK AUTHORIZATION PERMIT TO INCLUDE STRONG EMPHASIS ON PROCEDURES FOR ATMOSPHERIC MONITORING AND IDENTIFYING POTENTIAL IGNITION SOURCES IN WORK AREAS. IN ADDITION, DURING FUTURE WORK, ATMOSPHERIC MONITORING WILL BE CONDUCTED WITH A CALIBRATED DIRECT READING INSTRUMENT INITIALLY AND CONTINUOUS MONITORING WILL BE PERFORMED AND DOCUMENTED. PLAINS PERSONNEL WILL ALSO BE RE-TRAINED ON ATMOSPHERIC MONITORING ALARM PROTO