NTSB Safety Recommendation P-02-001

NTSB safety recommendation P-02-001.

The National Transportation Safety Board makes the following safety recommendations to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (Originally issued to RSPA): Establish quantitative criteria, based on engineering evaluations, for determining whether a wrinkle may be allowed to remain in a pipeline.

Priority: CLASS II

Overall Status: Closed - Acceptable Action

Issued Date: 2002-08-02

Adopted Date: 2002-07-23

Overall Date Closed: 2006-11-28

Synopsis: On the morning of April 7, 2000, the Piney Point Oil Pipeline system, which was owned by the Potomac Electric Power Company (Pepco), experienced a pipe failure at the Chalk Point Generating Station in southeastern Prince George's County, Maryland. The release was not discovered and addressed by the contract operating company, Support Terminal Services, Inc. (ST Services), until the late afternoon. Approximately 140,400 gallons of fuel oil were released into the surrounding wetlands and Swanson Creek and, subsequently, the Patuxent River as a result of the accident. No injuries were caused by the accident, which cost approximately $71 million for environmental response and clean-up operations.

Probable Cause: The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of the April 7, 2000, Piney Point Oil Pipeline accident at the Potomac Electric Power Company?s Chalk Point, Maryland, generating station was a fracture in a buckle in the pipe that was undiscovered because the data from an in-line inspection tool were interpreted inaccurately as representing a T-piece. Contributing to the magnitude of the fuel oil release were inadequate operating procedures and practices for monitoring the flow of fuel oil through the pipeline to ensure timely leak detection.

Ntsbnumber: DCA00MP006

Report Number: PAR-02-01

Addressee Name: RSPA

Addressee Status: Closed - Acceptable Action

Addressee Date Closed: 2006-11-28

Addressee Acronym: RSPA

Addressee Organization Type: G-Federal Government

Communication Date: 2003-09-30

Communication Type: Official Correspondence

Communication Contents: RSPA reports that it is working with the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) standards committees, ASME B31.4 (hazardous liquid pipelines) and B31.8 (gas pipelines), to develop acceptance criteria for wrinkles and buckles in in-service gas and hazardous liquids pipelines. RSPA engineers are now working with the ASME B31.4 committee to complete the standard that addresses acceptance criteria for wrinkle bends. Once approved by ASME ballot, the new standard should be included in the next edition of the ASME B31.4 standard, scheduled for release in February 2004. RSPA also is following action by the ASME B31.8 committee, which is amending construction standards on wrinkle bends to establish acceptance criteria for small ripples. Accordingly, Safety Recommendation P-02-1 remains classified "Open--Acceptable Response," pending acceptance and publication of the completed ASME standards committees' revisions. Thank you for keeping us informed of the progress of these actions.

Addressee Acronym: RSPA

Addressee Organization Type: G-Federal Government

Communication Date: 2003-02-05

Communication Type: Official Correspondence

Communication Contents: RSPA reports that it is working with the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) to revise standards ASME B31.4 and B31.8 to develop acceptance criteria for wrinkles and buckles in in-service pipelines. RSPA engineers are now reviewing domestic and international pipeline standards and literature on stress analysis of pipe with wrinkles and buckles, and the agency is working with the ASME B31.4 and B31.8 standards committees to develop wrinkle acceptance criteria. As both standards already have acceptance criteria for wrinkles in field bent pipes used in new construction, RSPA staff has raised the issue of quantitative acceptance criteria for wrinkles with the ASME B31.4 committee; RSPA will discuss this issue further with the ASME B31.8 committee during the next meeting. Accordingly, Safety Recommendation P-02-1 is classified "Open--Acceptable Response," pending completion of the ASME standards revisions.

Addressee Acronym: RSPA

Addressee Organization Type: G-Federal Government

Communication Date: 2006-11-28

Communication Type: Official Correspondence

Communication Contents: The Safety Board notes that PHMSA has conducted two studies, has developed and issued an information sheet to inspectors, and conducts ongoing research on wrinkle bends. The 2002 contracted study on the effects of corrosion metal loss on wrinkles and buckles in steel pipelines focused on the ability of in-line inspection to detect corrosion-related defects within a deformed pipe section and evaluated the development of criteria for evaluating wrinkles and buckles with general metal loss due to corrosion. PHMSA distributed the resultant report, Pipe Wrinkle Study, to its inspectors in October 2004. In addition, PHMSA worked with the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) to develop criteria for the evaluation of wrinkle bends. ASME completed the criteria, and PHMSA placed a summary of it on its Web site for use by all operators. The Safety Board understands that this information will be incorporated in the next edition of ASME B31.4 standard, Pipeline Transportation Systems for Liquid Hydrocarbons and Other Liquids. Further, to ensure PHMSA inspectors are aware of the threats posed by wrinkle bends and to integrate this knowledge into their investigative protocols, PHMSA issued an inspector information sheet in February 2006, which includes the definition of wrinkle, the background and history of wrinkle bends, and the inspection criteria. The Board notes that PHMSA will continue research in an effort to learn more about the cause of wrinkle bends and the threat they pose to pipelines. Because PHMSA has taken action as requested, Safety Recommendation P-02-1 is classified Closed Acceptable Action.

Addressee Acronym: RSPA

Addressee Organization Type: G-Federal Government

Communication Date: 2003-08-06

Communication Type: Official Correspondence

Communication Contents: Letter Mail Controlled 8/8/2003 8:12:54 AM MC# 2030404 In response to this recommendation RSPNOPS commissioned the Michael Baker Jr., Inc. engineering consultants to examine the integrity of the pipeline and the criteria for wrinkle acceptance on the Piney Point Pipeline (operated by Mirant MidAtlantic, LLC). The Executive Summary is attached. This report addressed integrity factors that led to the failure of the pipeline at a wrinkle bend. It did not propose specific acceptance criteria that could be used by field personnel during maintenance operations. The current federal pipeline safety regulation at 49 CFR 195.212 requires that pipe in hazardous liquid pipelines must not have a wrinkle bend when installed. Similarly, the safety regulation at 49 CFR 192.3 15 requires that a newly constructed gas pipeline must not have any wrinkle bends if it is to be operated at 30 percent, or more, of specified minimum yield strength (SMYS). RSPA/OPS engineers are now working with standards committees ASME B3 1.4 (hazardous liquid pipelines) and ASME B3 1.8 (gas pipelines) to develop wrinkle acceptance criteria for in-service gas and hazardous liquid pipelines. Both standards already have acceptance criteria for wrinkles in field bent pipes used in new construction. RSPA/OPS raised the issue of quantitative acceptance criteria for wrinkles with the ASME B3 1.4 committee. In response, the ASME B3 1.4 committee developed a February 2003 draft of a new integrity assessment and repair section that includes quantitative acceptance criteria for ripples, buckles, and wrinkles. The draft includes evaluation criteria for small ripples, buckles, or wrinkles which exhibit no cracks under magnetic particle inspection. It proposes a quantitative acceptance criteria using wrinkle crest-to-trough as a percentage of pipe diameter versus pipe wall stress. An excerpt from the revised standard that addresses the wrinkle bendacceptance criteria is attached. This language is now being edited pursuant to a ballot of the committee membership. Publication of the next edition of the ASME B31.4 standard is scheduled for early 2004. The ASME B31.8 standards committee also has a project underway to amend the construction standard on wrinkle bends to establish an acceptance criteria for small ripples. There are no separate criteria in ASME B31 .8 for wrinkles that are discovered during pipeline maintenance. The design and construction criteria would still apply because post-construction discovery of a wrinkle wouldn’t excuse noncompliance with the applicable design and construction standard. RSPNOPS will ensure that the acceptance criteria for in-service wrinkle bends are incorporated by reference in the Federal gas and hazardous liquid pipeline safety regulations as soon as the new standards are published.

Addressee Acronym: RSPA

Addressee Organization Type: G-Federal Government

Communication Date: 2002-12-10

Communication Type: Official Correspondence

Communication Contents: Letter Mail Controlled 12/31/2002 1:07:43 PM MC# 2021053 This letter responds to National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Safety Recommendations P-02-01 and P-02-02, which address acceptance criteria for wrinkle bends in pipe and updated accident reports to the National Response Center (NRC), respectively. RSPA requests that P-02-01 be classified as "Open - Acceptable Response" based on the information provided in the enclosure. We understand that NTSB will be classifying Recommendation P-02-02 as "Closed - Acceptable Action." Working with ASME B31.4 and B31.8 to develop acceptance criteria for wrinkles and buckles in in-service pipelines. RSPA engineers are now reviewing domestic and international pipeline standards and literature on stress analysis of pipe with wrinkles and buckles. We are working with standards committees ASME B31.4 and B31.8 to develop wrinkle acceptance criteria. Both standards already have acceptance criteria for wrinkles in field bent pipes used in new construction. RSPA staff has raised the issue of quantitative acceptance criteria for wrinkles with the ASME B31.4 committee. We will discuss this issue further with the ASME B31.8 committee during the next meeting.

Addressee Acronym: RSPA

Addressee Organization Type: G-Federal Government

Communication Date: 2006-08-07

Communication Type: Official Correspondence

Communication Contents: Letter Mail Controlled 8/15/2006 8:42:02 AM MC# 2060397:This letter requests the closure of pipeline safety recommendation P-02-01. In response to this recommendation and accident, PHMSA conducted two studies, developed and issued an information sheet to inspectors, and has ongoing research on wrinkle bends. In 2002, PHMSA contracted Michael Baker Jr., Inc., and its subcontractors, Systems, Services, and Designs, Inc., and Berkeley Engineering and Research, Inc., to complete a study on the effects of corrosion metal loss on wrinkles and buckles in steel pipelines. The study focused on the ability of in-line inspection to detect corrosion-related defects within the deformed pipe section and evaluate the development of criteria for evaluation of wrinkles and buckles with general metal loss due to corrosion. The study presented several conclusions: (1) the more severe the deformation, the more serious the defect, and the more probable that metal loss exists; (2) the more severe the deformation, the more probable the metal loss will not be detected by metal loss devices; and (3) the use of established integrity methods should result in derating or repairing the pipeline long before fatigue causes any concern. In October 2004, PHMSA distributed the enclosed final report, Pipe Wrinkle Study, to the PHMSA inspector workforce. PHMSA asked the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) to develop criteria for the evaluation of wrinkle bends. ASME completed this criteria and PHMSA placed a summary on its website for use by all operators (copy enclosed). This summary can be viewed at: http://www.phmsa.dot.gov/news/index.html, under News and Information. ASME plans to incorporate the criteria in the next edition of standard ASME B31.4, Pipeline Transportation Systems for Liquid Hydrocarbons and Other Liquids. To ensure PHMSA inspectors are aware of the threats posed by wrinkle bends and integrate this knowledge into their investigative protocols, PHMSA issued the enclosed inspector information sheet in February 2006. This document includes the definition of wrinkle, the background and history of wrinkle bends, and inspection criteria. PHMSA continues to conduct research in an effort to learn more about the cause of wrinkle bends and the threat they pose to pipelines. For example, PHMSA is currently studying integrity management for wrinkle bends and buckles. This study seeks validation of the available direct assessment methodologies for: (1) the external corrosion and stress-corrosion cracking; (2) the development of improved modules to assist operators in controlling stress-corrosion cracking; (3) the improvement of approaches to manage the integrity of systems with wrinkle bends and buckles; and (4) the viable approaches to control running fractures to help operators minimize rupture consequences. PHMSA plans to complete the study this year. PHMSA requests that NTSB classify this Safety Recommendation Closed-Acceptable Action.

Addressee Acronym: RSPA

Addressee Organization Type: G-Federal Government

Communication Date: 2005-02-28

Communication Type: Official Correspondence

Communication Contents: In its 2/28/2005 report to Congress, "Open Statutory Mandates Regarding Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety," the DOT wrote: Study on wrinkle bends completed. Final report issued on May 15, 2003. NTSB stated that recommendation remains open pending acceptance and publication of the completed American Society of Mechanical Engineers standards committees' revisions.

Addressee Acronym: RSPA

Addressee Organization Type: G-Federal Government

Communication Date: 2006-04-14

Communication Type: Official Correspondence

Communication Contents: In its 4/14/2006 report to Congress, "National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and DOT Office of Inspector General (OIG): PHMSA completed a study on wrinkle bends in 2003, and issued its final report in May 2004: The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) revised its B3 1.4 standard to include criteria addressing wrinkle bends, which it planned to publish in early 2006. Information on the wrinkle bend criteria is on the PHMSA website. PHMSA is preparing a letter to request closure of this recommendation.