SFPP, LP

Incident Narrative

AT APPROXIMATELY 1210 ON 11/4, THE COLTON SOUTH CONTROL CENTER RECEIVED A CALL FROM THE UPRR REPORTING AN ODOR OF GASOLINE NEAR THE HAMILTON BLOCK VALVE ON L.S. 108 NEAR PLMP 39.65 IN THE CITY OF POMONA. THE PIPELINE WAS IMMEDIATELY SHUT DOWN WITH APPROXIMATELY 70 PSI AT THE SITE. A LINE RIDER WAS DISPATCHED AND VERIFIED THAT THE HAMILTON 20' BLOCK VALVE WAS LEAKING FROM THE VALVE STEM PACKING AND CALCULATED THE STAINED AREA TO BE APPROXIMATELY +/- 5 GALLONS UTILIZING THE SPILL VOLUME CALCULATOR. CALIFORNIA NOTIFICATIONS WERE MADE. THE VALVE STEM WAS RE-PACKED. SUBSEQUENT INVESTIGATION REVISED THE SPILLED AMOUNT TO BE 2.5 BARRELS (105 GALLONS). THE CAUSE OF THE RELEASE WAS A STEM PACKING FAILURE WHICH WAS REPAIRED WITH MINOR MAINTENANCE NOTE: PART A, #9 AND 11 ESTIMATED FROM DIMENSIONS OF CONTAMINATION. A SOIL INVESTIGATION TO DETERMINE THE LATERAL AND VERTICAL EXTENT WILL BE CONDUCTED AND AN ESTIMATE WILL BE PROVIDED VIA A SUPPLEMENTAL REPORT. NOTE: PART C, #3, THE PIPELINE WAS BUILT IN 1979; UNKNOWN DATE OF VALVE MANUFACTURE OR IF RE-MANUFACTURERED. NOTE: PART E, #1, PRESSURE RECORDED AT VALVE SITE FIVE MINUTES PRIOR TO SHUTDOWN. 9. WE WERE LIMITED TO 500 CHARACTERS; OUR ENTIRE RESPONSE IS: THE PERFORMANCE OF AN INFORMAL INVESTIGATION INTO THE PRE-EXISTING CONDITION OF THE PIPELINE (I.E. PRESSURE, FLOW, LINE BALANCE, ETC.) WAS SHOWN TO PROVIDE NO EVIDENCE OF AN EXISTING PROBLEM THE CONTROLLER(S) SHOULD HAVE IDENTIFIED. FURTHERMORE, THE ACTIONS TAKEN BY THE CONTROLLER(S), UPON LEARNING OF THE POTENTIAL PROBLEM FROM FIELD PERSONNEL PHYSICALLY AT THE VALVE, WERE FOUND TO BE IN ALIGNMENT WITH THE OPERATORS WRITTEN POLICIES AND PROCEDURES AND THE TIMELINE OF EVENTS SHOW THAT ACTION WAS TAKEN PROMPTLY AND DECISIVELY THUS HELPING TO MITIGATE ANY FURTHER LOSS OR ENVIRONMENTAL HARM.