CHEVRON PIPE LINE CO

Incident Narrative

AT 1603 CST ON 26 JAN 11 FIELD PERSONNEL WERE CONDUCTING JETTING OPERATIONS FROM A BARGE TO LOWER THE 10' GRAND BAY PIPELINE NEAR THE EMPIRE TERMINAL. PERSONNEL INDICATED A CRUDE OIL-LIKE ODOR, THEN HAD A VISUAL CONFIRMATION OF CRUDE OIL IN THE SURROUNDING WATERS. CPL CONTROL CENTER WAS CONTACTED AND THE GRAND BAY AND MAIN PASS PIPELINES WERE SHUT DOWN @ 1605 CST. FIELD PERSONNEL DEPLOYED PROTECTIVE BOOM IN THE AREA AND REQUESTED ASSISTANCE FROM A 3RD PARTY OSRO CLEAN-UP COMPANY. THE VOLUME RELEASED IS 79 BBLS; THE CAUSE OF THE RELEASE IS UNDER INVESTIGATION. OSRO PERSONNEL AND EQUIPMENT WERE SCHEDULED TO ARRIVE @ FIRST AVAILABILITY ON 27 JAN 11. AS OF 2/14/11 THE PIPELINE HAS BEEN RAISED FROM THE SEA BED AND REPAIRED. ALL PRODUCT WAS EVACUATED FROM THE PIPELINE BY PUSHING A POLY PIG WITH SEA WATER AND INHIBITOR. AFTER THE EVACUATION WAS COMPLETE, A SUCCESSFUL TWO HOUR STANDUP TEST WAS PERFORMED USING THE SEA WATER AND INHIBITOR. THE PIPELINE HAS BEEN REBURIED TO THE REQUIRED DEPTH AND IS PRESENTLY FILLED WITH SEA WATER AND INHIBITOR AND WILL REMAIN DE-PRESSURED UNTIL CPL AND ITS BUSINESS JOINT PARTNERS CAN DECIDE ON FUTURE USAGE. GRAND BAY RELEASE RCA SUMMARY: GRAND BAY RELEASE ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION PRELIMINARY RESULTS SUMMARY ON JANUARY 26, 2011, APPROXIMATELY 4 P.M. CENTRAL, A 10 INCH PIPELINE THAT RUNS FROM MAIN PASS PLATFORM 41 TO EMPIRE (APPROXIMATELY 12 MILES SOUTHEAST OF EMPIRE, LA.) FAILED DURING LINE LOWERING OPERATIONS, RESULTING IN A RELEASE OF APPROXIMATELY [79] BARRELS OF CRUDE OIL. BOOM WAS DEPLOYED BY THE BARGE CREW AND CHEVRON CONTROL CENTER INITIATED REMOTE SHUT DOWN OF THE PUMPS. CPL OPERATORS AT THE EMPIRE TERMINAL WERE DISPATCHED TO MANUALLY BLOCK-IN THE VALVES CLOSEST TO THE LEAK SITE AT EMPIRE TERMINAL AND GRAND BAY RECEIVING STATION. SUBJECT TO ADDITIONAL FACT GATHERING AND ANALYSIS AS MAY BE REQUIRED, THE PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION RESULTS ARE SUMMARIZED BELOW: ' THE 10 INCH PIPELINE WAS INSTALLED IN 1953 TO TRANSPORT CRUDE FROM MAIN PASS PLATFORM 41 TO EMPIRE TERMINAL. ' IN JULY 2009, SEVERAL SEGMENTS OF THE 10 INCH PIPELINE WERE EVALUATED PER 49CFR 195.413 AND DETERMINED TO HAVE INSUFFICIENT DEPTH OF COVER. CPL APPLIED FOR PERMITS TO LOWER THOSE SEGMENTS AND THE FAILURE OCCURRED DURING JETTING OPERATIONS TO LOWER THE LINE. ' THE 10 INCH PIPELINE HAD DENTS AT FIVE LOCATIONS, APPARENTLY CAUSED BY BOAT AND BARGE TRAFFIC IN THE AREA, AND THE FAILURE OCCURRED AT ONE OF THESE DENTS. THE DENTS WERE NOT VISIBLE AND UT WAS NOT CAPABLE OF DETECTING THEM. CPL WAS NOT AWARE OF THE PRIOR DENTS OR WHEN THEY OCCURRED. ' METALLURGICAL ANALYSIS OF THE PIPELINE MATERIAL INDICATED BRITTLE AND INFLEXIBLE STEEL WITH NIL FRACTURE TOUGHNESS. THE STEEL WAS COMMON FOR PIPELINES INSTALLED IN 1953. ' THE FAILURE OCCURRED DURING LOWING OPERATIONS BY CHEVRON'S CONTRACTOR, SUNLAND CONSTRUCTION. BASED ON WITNESS INTERVIEWS, IT APPEARS THAT THE CONTRACTOR CUT TRENCHES OF TWO TO FOUR FEET ON THE DAY OF THE FAILURE. IT IS NOT KNOWN WHETHER THE FAILURE RELATED TO OR RESULTED FROM THE TRENCH DEPTH. THIS IS THE FINAL REPORT FOT THE ACCIDENT. SECTION E 8 AND 9 HAS BEEN REVISED TO INDICATE THE RELEASE WAS RECOGNIZED BY LOCAL CPL EMPLOYEE ONSITE AND THE PIPELINE WAS SHUTDOWN IMMEDIATELY.