NTSB Safety Recommendation P-81-015

NTSB safety recommendation P-81-015.

THE NTSB RECOMMENDS THAT THE COLONIAL PIPELINE COMPANY: CONDUCT AN ANALYSIS OF PREVIOUS PIPE FAILURES THROUGHOUT ITS ENTIRE SYSTEM CAUSED BY CRACKING INITIATED DURING THE RAIL SHIPMENT OF THE PIPE AND REPORT TO THE SAFETY BOARD THE RESULTS AND THE INTENDED ACTIONS TO MINIMIZE PIPE FAILURES.

Priority: CLASS II

Overall Status: Closed - Acceptable Action

Issued Date: 1981-07-21

Adopted Date: 1981-07-15

Overall Date Closed: 1982-11-02

Synopsis: ON MARCH 6, 1980, A 32-INCH-DIAMETER REFINED PETROLEUM PRODUCTS PIPELINE OWNED AND OPERATED BY THE COLONIAL PIPELINE COMPANY RUPTURED IN TWO LOCATIONS SUMULTAN EOUSLY. ONE BREAK, WHERE THE PIPE HAD BEEN THINNED BY CORROSION IN A CASING UNDER A ROAD, CAUSED THE RELEASE OF 8,000 BARRELS (336,000 GALLONS) OF AVIATION-GRADE KEROSENE ADJACENT TO ROUTE 234 NEAR MANASSAS, VIRGINIA. BEFORE BEING FULLY CONTAINED, THE KEROSENE HAD FLOWED INTO BULL RUN RIVER AND HAD ENTERED THE OCCOQUAN RESERVOIR, A SOURCE OF DRINKING WATER FOR SEVERAL NORTHERN VIRGINIA COMMUNITIES.

Probable Cause: None

Ntsbnumber: DCA80MP010

Report Number: PAR-81-02

Addressee Name: Colonial Pipeline Company

Addressee Status: Closed--No Longer Applicable

Addressee Date Closed: 1982-11-02

Addressee Organization Type: P-Private Industry

Communication Date: 1981-11-04

Communication Type: Official Correspondence

Communication Contents: COLONIAL PIPELINE COMPANY LTR: COLONIAL PIPELINE HAS CONDUCTED AN ANALYSIS OF ALL PREVIOUS PIPE FAILURES ON ITS SYSTEM SINCE IT INITIATED OPERATIONS IN 1964, AND DETERMINED THAT THERE ARE FIVE CASES IN WHICH RAILROAD FATIGUE MAY HAVE BEEN A FACTOR. BASED ON THE RESULTS OF THIS INVESTIGATION, THE FOLLOWING CONCLUSIONS HAVE BEEN REACHED: THE REGION I CRACKS ARE FATIGUE CRACKS CAUSED BY THE RAIL SHIPMENT LOADINGS COUPLED WITH GEOMETRY OF THE PLATE EDGES AT THE WELD; THE REGION II CRACKS ARE CORROSION FATIGUE CRACKS THAT PROPAGATED DUE TO THE OPERATIONAL PRESSURE VARIATIONS; THE FINAL FRACTURE EVENT WAS INITIATED BY A SURGE PRESSURE IN THE PIPELINE DUE TO THE SHUTDOWN OF A DOWNSTREAM PUMP STATION; AND THE FAILURE WAS CAUSED BY A COMBINATION OF RAIL SHIPMENT CRACKING AND CRACK EXTENSION IN SERVICE. IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT ONE CANNOT DEFINITELY STATE THAT THE REGION I CRACKS COULD NOT HAVE INITIATED AND PROPAGATED IN SERVICE BASED ON THE RESULTS OF THIS INVESTIGATION. HOWEVER, THE APPEARANCE OF THE FRACTURE SURFACE, PAST EXPERIENCE WITH RAIL SHIPMENT FATIGUE CRACKS, AND THE OPERATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PIPELINE ALL COMBINE TO INDICATE THAT THE CRACKING WAS DUE TO THE RAIL SHIPMENT. ALTHOUGH COLONIAL DOES NOT VIEW RAILROAD FATIGUE DAMAGE AS A WIDESPREAD PROBLEM ON ITS SYSTEM, WITHOUT QUESTION THERE ARE SERIOUS IMPLICATIONS. IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE TWO FAILURES IN SOUTH CAROLINA, COLONIAL INITIATED A PROGRAM OF CONTINUING ACTION TO MINIMIZE THE POSSIBILITY OF ADDITIONAL PIPE FAILURES FROM ANY CAUSE. THESE ACTIONS HAVE GENERALLY INCLUDED A CONTINUOUS UPGRADING OF SAFETY DEVICES, TRAINING OF PERSONNEL, MONITORING AND ANALYZING THE HYDRAULICS, AND OVERALL OPTIMIZATION OF OPERATING POLICY SO AS TO ACHIEVE REQUIRED THROUGHPUT AT MINIMAL STRESS LEVELS. COLONIAL HAS BEEN IN CONTACT WITH AND OBTAINED LITERATURE FROM THOSE COMPANIES WHICH ARE ATTEMPTING TO BUILD A TECHNICALLY AND OPERATIONALLY FEASIBLE INTERNAL INSTRUMENT CAPABLE OF PHYSICALLY LOCATING STRESS CRACKS IN OPERATING PIPELINES, INCLUDING CRACKS WHICH HAY HAVE BEEN CAUSED BY RAILROAD FATIGUE.

Addressee Organization Type: P-Private Industry

Communication Date: 1982-11-02

Communication Type: Official Correspondence