# HARVEST PIPELINE COMPANY — Gas transmission and gathering — incident on 2016-02-03

**Citation:** PHMSA Report 20160017  
**Type / status:** incident / historical  
**Agency:** Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration  
**Effective:** 2016-02-03  
**Published:** 2016-03-03

Gas transmission and gathering incident in Not Within a Municipality, VERMILION (IN VERMILION BAY) County, LA. Reported cause: CORROSION FAILURE. Reported consequences: 0 fatalities, 0 injuries, 10 NATURAL GAS released, $138,000 reported property damage. Operator-reported incident data submitted to PHMSA, generally within 30 days. Records may be supplemented or corrected and do not represent final agency causal findings. PHMSA trend classification: significant incident, not serious.

## Document text

Gas transmission and gathering incident in Not Within a Municipality, VERMILION (IN VERMILION BAY) County, LA. Reported cause: CORROSION FAILURE. Reported consequences: 0 fatalities, 0 injuries, 10 NATURAL GAS released, $138,000 reported property damage. Operator-reported incident data submitted to PHMSA, generally within 30 days. Records may be supplemented or corrected and do not represent final agency causal findings.

Report number: 20160017.

Operator ID: 30782.

Reported incident date: 2/3/2016 16:00.

Location detail: VERMILION BAY

Cause detail: INTERNAL CORROSION

Cause detail: 2/1/2016: THE COAST GUARD CALLED AND REPORTED BUBBLES IN VERMILLION BAY IN LOUISIANA. HARVEST DISPATCHED OPERATORS TO INVESTIGATE THE REPORT. THE OPERATORS VERIFIED BUBBLES IN THE BAY. GPS COORDINATES INDICATED THE BUBBLES TO BE APPROXIMATELY 150 FEET FROM THE HARVEST REDFISH PIPELINE. IN ORDER TO DETERMINE IF THE HARVEST REDFISH PIPELINE WAS THE SOURCE OF THE LEAK, THE VALVES WERE CLOSED TO BLOCKED-IN THE PIPELINE. IF THE PIPELINE WAS THE SOURCE OF THE LEAK, THE BUBBLES WOULD DECREASE AS THE PIPELINE PRESSURE DECREASED. THE PIPELINE PRESSURE WAS APPROXIMATELY 750 PSI BEFORE CLOSING THE VALVES. THE BUBBLES REMAINED STEADY AFTER VALVES WERE CLOSED. 2/2/2016: ROUGH SEAS HAMPERED THE OPERATION. THE SURVEY CREW COULD NOT MARK THE PIPELINE BECAUSE OF THE ROUGH SEAS. OPERATIONS CONTINUED BLEED-DOWN OF PIPELINE. 2/3/2016: 9:00 AM ROUGH SEAS CONTINUE TO HAMPER THE OPERATION. THE SURVEY CREW COULD NOT MARK THE PIPELINE BECAUSE OF THE ROUGH SEAS. THE PIPELINE PRESSURE WAS DOWN TO 250 PSI. 1:00 PM THE SURVEY CREW COULD NOT MARK THE PIPELINE BECAUSE OF THE ROUGH SEAS. THEREFORE, IT WAS NOT SAFE TO BRING THE WORK BARGE OUT TO THE LOCATION AND SPUD DOWN IN ROUGH SEAS WITHOUT THE EXACT LOCATION OF THE PIPELINE. THE BUBBLES SEEMED TO DECREASE SOME. OPERATIONS CONTINUED BLEED-DOWN OF PIPELINE. 2:30 PM THE BUBBLES CONTINUED TO DECREASE. 4:00 PM THE BLEED-DOWN WAS NEARLY COMPLETE, AND THE BUBBLES CONTINUE TO DECREASE. THE DETERMINATION WAS MADE THAT THE LEAK WAS ON THE HARVEST REDFISH PIPELINE. LDNR AND OTHER AGENCIES WERE NOTIFIED THAT THE LEAK WAS ON THE HARVEST PIPELINE. 5:05 PM THE NRC WAS NOTIFIED THAT THE LEAK WAS ON THE HARVEST PIPELINE. 2/4/2016: 9:00 AM THE DIVERS JETTED DOWN TO AND AROUND THE PIPELINE AT THE LEAK LOCATION AND REMOVED THE CONCRETE COATING. 5:00 PM A PINHOLE IN THE PIPELINE WAS FOUND NEAR THE 6 O'CLOCK POSITION. 2/5/2016: 7:00 AM THE CLEANING AND PREPARATION OF THE PIPE WAS PERFORMED FOR THE INSTALLATION OF A 12-INCH PLIDCO HEAVY DUTY SPLIT SLEEVE. 9:10 AM A UT OF THE PIPELINE AROUND THE PINHOLE CONFIRMED GOOD WALL THICKNESS. 10:30 AM THE SPLIT SLEEVE WAS INSTALLED AND THE FASTENERS WERE TORQUED. 11:00 AM THE SEALANT PACKING OF THE SPLIT SLEEVE WAS BEGUN. 2:50 PM OPERATIONS BEGAN TO PRESSURE-UP THE PIPELINE. (NO LEAK VISIBLE) 7:00 PM THE PIPELINE PRESSURE WAS AT 570 PSI. (NO LEAKS) 8:30PM THE PIPELINE PRESSURE EQUALIZED AT 750 PSI. (NO LEAKS) 2/6/2016: 7:00 AM THE PIPELINE PRESSURE WAS APPROXIMATELY 750 PSI. (NO LEAKS) THE PIPELINE AND SPLIT SLEEVE WERE WRAPPED. 8:00 AM THE BARGE AND EQUIPMENT WAS DEMOBILIZED OFF LOCATION.

PHMSA trend classification: significant incident, not serious.

PHMSA standardized cause: CORROSION — INTERNAL.

PHMSA indexed costs: $145,020 reported total cost, $76,135.186 in 1984 dollars, $178,268.153 in current-year dollars.

PHMSA trend flags, standardized causes, and indexed costs are analytical fields added to operator-reported incident data. They do not represent final agency causal findings.

## Provenance

- Official: Yes
- Source: <https://data.transportation.gov/api/views/27nc-rsge/files/2b05c2d8-d14a-4c56-ac1c-7d23a4bc31c8?download=true&filename=Gas%20Transmission%20%26%20Gathering%20Incident%20Data%20-%20January%202010%20to%20present.zip>
- Source ID: `phmsa-pipeline-incidents`
- SHA-256: `e26c839f4e4e20562a545986ecdabfa4d4c650bbc029d213fe16a991847266dd`
- Retrieved: 2026-08-20T03:30:32.010Z
- Exported: 2026-08-23T22:49:21.336Z
- Document slug: `phmsa-incident-8fbe57f290d66c895d7d857e`

### Source metadata

```json
{
  "recordKind": "pipeline_incident",
  "datasetType": "gas_transmission_gathering",
  "datasetLabel": "Gas transmission and gathering",
  "datasetPeriod": "January 2010 to present",
  "report": {
    "number": "20160017",
    "supplementalNumber": "17038",
    "type": "ORIGINAL FINAL",
    "receivedDate": "2016-03-03",
    "receivedDateRaw": "3/3/2016"
  },
  "operator": {
    "id": "30782",
    "name": "HARVEST PIPELINE COMPANY"
  },
  "incident": {
    "date": "2016-02-03",
    "dateRaw": "2/3/2016 16:00"
  },
  "location": {
    "city": "Not Within a Municipality",
    "county": "VERMILION (IN VERMILION BAY)",
    "state": "LA",
    "postalCode": "70510",
    "latitude": 29.716111,
    "longitude": -92.016944,
    "type": "PIPELINE RIGHT-OF-WAY",
    "details": {
      "DESIGNATED_NAME": "VERMILION BAY"
    },
    "facilityName": "REDFISH GAS PIPELINE"
  },
  "cause": {
    "category": "CORROSION FAILURE",
    "details": {
      "CAUSE_DETAILS": "INTERNAL CORROSION",
      "NARRATIVE": "2/1/2016: THE COAST GUARD CALLED AND REPORTED BUBBLES IN VERMILLION BAY IN LOUISIANA. HARVEST DISPATCHED OPERATORS TO INVESTIGATE THE REPORT. THE OPERATORS VERIFIED BUBBLES IN THE BAY. GPS COORDINATES INDICATED THE BUBBLES TO BE APPROXIMATELY 150 FEET FROM THE HARVEST REDFISH PIPELINE. IN ORDER TO DETERMINE IF THE HARVEST REDFISH PIPELINE WAS THE SOURCE OF THE LEAK, THE VALVES WERE CLOSED TO BLOCKED-IN THE PIPELINE. IF THE PIPELINE WAS THE SOURCE OF THE LEAK, THE BUBBLES WOULD DECREASE AS THE PIPELINE PRESSURE DECREASED. THE PIPELINE PRESSURE WAS APPROXIMATELY 750 PSI BEFORE CLOSING THE VALVES. THE BUBBLES REMAINED STEADY AFTER VALVES WERE CLOSED. 2/2/2016: ROUGH SEAS HAMPERED THE OPERATION. THE SURVEY CREW COULD NOT MARK THE PIPELINE BECAUSE OF THE ROUGH SEAS. OPERATIONS CONTINUED BLEED-DOWN OF PIPELINE. 2/3/2016: 9:00 AM ROUGH SEAS CONTINUE TO HAMPER THE OPERATION. THE SURVEY CREW COULD NOT MARK THE PIPELINE BECAUSE OF THE ROUGH SEAS. THE PIPELINE PRESSURE WAS DOWN TO 250 PSI. 1:00 PM THE SURVEY CREW COULD NOT MARK THE PIPELINE BECAUSE OF THE ROUGH SEAS. THEREFORE, IT WAS NOT SAFE TO BRING THE WORK BARGE OUT TO THE LOCATION AND SPUD DOWN IN ROUGH SEAS WITHOUT THE EXACT LOCATION OF THE PIPELINE. THE BUBBLES SEEMED TO DECREASE SOME. OPERATIONS CONTINUED BLEED-DOWN OF PIPELINE. 2:30 PM THE BUBBLES CONTINUED TO DECREASE. 4:00 PM THE BLEED-DOWN WAS NEARLY COMPLETE, AND THE BUBBLES CONTINUE TO DECREASE. THE DETERMINATION WAS MADE THAT THE LEAK WAS ON THE HARVEST REDFISH PIPELINE. LDNR AND OTHER AGENCIES WERE NOTIFIED THAT THE LEAK WAS ON THE HARVEST PIPELINE. 5:05 PM THE NRC WAS NOTIFIED THAT THE LEAK WAS ON THE HARVEST PIPELINE. 2/4/2016: 9:00 AM THE DIVERS JETTED DOWN TO AND AROUND THE PIPELINE AT THE LEAK LOCATION AND REMOVED THE CONCRETE COATING. 5:00 PM A PINHOLE IN THE PIPELINE WAS FOUND NEAR THE 6 O'CLOCK POSITION. 2/5/2016: 7:00 AM THE CLEANING AND PREPARATION OF THE PIPE WAS PERFORMED FOR THE INSTALLATION OF A 12-INCH PLIDCO HEAVY DUTY SPLIT SLEEVE. 9:10 AM A UT OF THE PIPELINE AROUND THE PINHOLE CONFIRMED GOOD WALL THICKNESS. 10:30 AM THE SPLIT SLEEVE WAS INSTALLED AND THE FASTENERS WERE TORQUED. 11:00 AM THE SEALANT PACKING OF THE SPLIT SLEEVE WAS BEGUN. 2:50 PM OPERATIONS BEGAN TO PRESSURE-UP THE PIPELINE. (NO LEAK VISIBLE) 7:00 PM THE PIPELINE PRESSURE WAS AT 570 PSI. (NO LEAKS) 8:30PM THE PIPELINE PRESSURE EQUALIZED AT 750 PSI. (NO LEAKS) 2/6/2016: 7:00 AM THE PIPELINE PRESSURE WAS APPROXIMATELY 750 PSI. (NO LEAKS) THE PIPELINE AND SPLIT SLEEVE WERE WRAPPED. 8:00 AM THE BARGE AND EQUIPMENT WAS DEMOBILIZED OFF LOCATION."
    }
  },
  "consequences": {
    "fatalities": 0,
    "injuries": 0,
    "commodity": "NATURAL GAS",
    "release": "10",
    "propertyDamage": 138000,
    "estimatedOperatorCost": 0,
    "estimatedEmergencyCost": 0,
    "estimatedEnvironmentalCost": null,
    "ignition": "NO",
    "explosion": "NO",
    "evacuated": 0,
    "raw": {
      "FATAL": "0",
      "INJURE": "0",
      "UNINTENTIONAL_RELEASE": "10",
      "EST_COST_PROP_DAMAGE": "138000",
      "PRPTY": "145020"
    }
  },
  "provenance": {
    "viewId": "27nc-rsge",
    "viewUrl": "https://data.transportation.gov/api/views/27nc-rsge",
    "assetId": "2b05c2d8-d14a-4c56-ac1c-7d23a4bc31c8",
    "archiveFilename": "Gas Transmission & Gathering Incident Data - January 2010 to present.zip",
    "archiveSha256": "fe0b136ca4b00ac987a8bc2e195098accf910d97512c5fc3b59e62d9da5f674e",
    "memberPath": "incident_gas_transmission_gathering_jan2010_present.txt",
    "memberSha256": "b435f2a25718cf54c54e00294e6788c4f9c6860e02fb86355e75d294c243c4dd",
    "rowNumber": 1226,
    "rowSha256": "ede5c528fac43f0a836daa6443812a118393d9e6870a7ed3c781e985d6058901"
  },
  "caveat": "Operator-reported incident data submitted to PHMSA, generally within 30 days. Records may be supplemented or corrected and do not represent final agency causal findings.",
  "operatorReported": true,
  "finalAgencyFinding": false,
  "flaggedAnalysis": {
    "dataAsOf": "2026-07-31",
    "flags": {
      "fireFirst": null,
      "significant": true,
      "serious": false
    },
    "standardizedCause": {
      "sevenCategory": "CORROSION",
      "sevenSubcategory": "INTERNAL",
      "eightCategory": "CORROSION",
      "eightSubcategory": "INTERNAL"
    },
    "costs": {
      "reported": 145020,
      "in1984Dollars": 76135.18576892743,
      "currentYearDollars": 178268.1526177838
    },
    "caveat": "PHMSA trend flags, standardized causes, and indexed costs are analytical fields added to operator-reported incident data. They do not represent final agency causal findings.",
    "provenance": {
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/data_statistics/pipeline/PHMSA_Pipeline_Safety_Flagged_Incidents.zip",
      "landingPageUrl": "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/data-and-statistics/pipeline/pipeline-incident-flagged-files",
      "catalogUrl": "https://data.transportation.gov/Pipelines-and-Hazmat/Pipeline-Incident-Flagged-Files/qdme-9bbm",
      "retrievalMode": "official_live",
      "archivedAt": null,
      "archiveSha256": "317e6a3e16d60b9b677efe391dc40258b5dd7ead83fb8bea74cb553cedfbbdec",
      "workbook": "gtggungs2010toPresent.xlsx",
      "sheet": "gtggungs2010toPresent",
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      "rowSha256": "76266fa9ac4da321a80afc55489695a09329216f0c9340e10a44ec78e56aac7d"
    }
  },
  "jurisdiction": "US",
  "operatorName": "HARVEST PIPELINE COMPANY"
}
```
