BUCKEYE GULF COAST PIPELINE LP
hazardous_liquid Incident — — May 12, 2011
Incident Information
| Incident Date | May 12, 2011 |
| Operator | BUCKEYE GULF COAST PIPELINE LP |
| Commodity | HVL OR OTHER FLAMMABLE OR TOXIC FLUID WHICH IS A GAS AT AMBI |
| Pipeline Type | hazardous_liquid |
Location
| State | |
| Coordinates | 42.88895, -82.49131 |
Cause
| Cause | INCORRECT OPERATION |
| Subcause | "VALVE LEFT OR PLACED IN WRONG POSITION, BUT NOT RESULTING IN A TANK, VESSEL, OR SUMP/SEPARATOR OVERFLOW OR FACILITY OVERPRESSURE" |
Casualties
| Fatalities | 0 |
| Injuries | 0 |
Costs
| Property Damage | $0 |
| Emergency Response | $0 |
| Other Costs | $0 |
Location Map
Incident Narrative
"ON THE MORNING OF 5/12/2011 A LINE PURGE WAS SCHEDULED FOR BUCKEYE'S 6 INCH SALMON BUTANE LINE. A THIRD-PARTY CONTRACTOR WAS HIRED TO PERFORM THE PURGE. THE CONTRACTOR INSTALLED A TEMPORARY SCRAPER CATCHER ON THE DOWNSTREAM OPERATOR'S PROPERTY. EARLY IN THE PURGING PROCESS THERE WAS SOME NITROGEN BLOW-BY OF THE SCRAPER. LATER, THE PURGING OPERATION WAS SHUT DOWN WHEN THE SCRAPER WAS ROUGHLY HALFWAY THROUGH THE PIPELINE. BEFORE THE PROCESS WAS RESTARTED, IT WAS DECIDED TO VENT SOME OF THE BLOWN-BY NITROGEN FROM THE DOWNSTREAM SIDE OF THE SCRAPER. THIS WAS DONE AT THE DOWNSTREAM OPERATOR'S FACILITY ON A 2 INCH VALVE ON THE TEMPORARY SCRAPER CATCHER. AT 11:05, PARTWAY THROUGH THE NITROGEN VENTING, A SLUG OF BUTANE WAS RELEASED THROUGH THE 2 INCH VALVE. THE RELEASE LASTED LESS THAN 1 MINUTE. THE BUTANE IMMEDIATELY TURNED TO VAPOR. PART OF THE RESULTING VAPOR CLOUD DRIFTED OVER A LOCAL HIGHWAY, WHICH RESULTED IN A TEMPORARY ROAD CLOSURE. BUCKEYE'S OPERATIONS MANAGER FOR THE AREA WAS NOTIFIED OF THE RELEASE AT 14:15 AND NOTIFIED THE NRC. NO CLEANUP WAS NEEDED AT THE SCENE DUE TO THE VAPORIZATION AND DISPERSION OF THE BUTANE. SUPPLEMENTAL/FINAL REPORT FILED TO POPULATE FIELD E5.F"
About This Pipeline Incident
Pipeline incident data is reported to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA). All significant incidents involving fatalities, injuries, or property damage over $50,000 must be reported.