PHMSA Report 20180074 - ENERGY TRANSFER COMPANY — Gas transmission and gathering — incident on 2018-06-16 | Regulus

Gas transmission and gathering incident in NEW GULF, WHARTON County, TX. Reported cause: EXCAVATION DAMAGE. Reported consequences: 0 fatalities, 0 injuries, 4000 NATURAL GAS released, $13,000 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: 20180074.

Operator ID: 32099.

Reported incident date: 6/16/2018 10:00.

Location detail: 14.5354

Cause detail: EXCAVATION DAMAGE BY THIRD PARTY

Cause detail: NOTIFICATION ISSUE

Cause detail: NO NOTIFICATION MADE TO THE ONE-CALL CENTER/811

Cause detail: 6/16/18 AT APPROXIMATELY 10:00AM, A THIRD PARTY CONTRACTOR OPERATING FARMING EQUIPMENT STRUCK THE TEXAS GULF SULPHUR 8 INCH GAS TRANSMISSION LINE. THE THIRD PARTY CONTRACTOR DID NOT MAKE A ONE-CALL NOTIFICATION. GAS CONTROL NOTICED A PRESSURE DROP AND PROCEEDED TO SHUT DOWN THE LINE. NRC TELEPHONIC NOTIFICATION MADE AT 14:11 NRC # 1215478. DURING INVESTIGATION, THE LANDOWNER CONTACTED A PIPELINE TECHNICIAN. AT APPROXIMATELY 8:50PM, THE PIPELINE WAS REPLACED AND REPAIRED WITH 8.5 FEET OF PRE-TESTED EMERGENCY PIPE AND PUT BACK INTO SERVICE. 6/18/18 48-HOUR UPDATE NRC NOTIFICATION MADE AT 13:50. ON 5/21/18, AREA OPERATIONS SUPERVISOR AND LANDOWNER SPOKE ABOUT A DITCH THE LANDOWNER WANTED TO INSTALL. AREA OPERATIONS SUPERVISOR TOLD THE LANDOWNER TO CONTACT HIM WHEN HE WAS READY TO INSTALL THE DITCH AND THE COMPANY WOULD INSTALL FOR HIM. 8/3/18 AS A PRUDENT OPERATOR, ETC DID IT'S BEST WITHIN THEIR CAPABILITIES. NOT ONLY DID ETC MEET WITH THE LANDOWNER NUMEROUS TIMES, BUT OFFERED TO DO ANY DITCHING OR INSTALLATION OF THE CULVERT FOR THE LANDOWNER; TO ENSURE NO INCIDENTS OR DAMAGE TO THE PIPELINE AND TO ENSURE SAFETY OF THE PEOPLE. THIS LINE HAS BEEN LOCATED NUMEROUS TIMES AND THE PROBLEM WAS THAT THE THIRD PARTY CONTRACTOR DID NOT CALL 8-1-1. ETC PIPELINE MAKERS ARE VISIBLE THROUGHOUT THE ROW AND SPECIFICALLY IN THIS AREA. ETC WILL CONTINUE TO PRACTICE SAFE PIPELINE PROCEDURES AND SPREAD PUBLIC AWARENESS AS WE ALREADY DO, TO PREVENT REOCCURRENCES.

PHMSA trend classification: not significant, not serious.

PHMSA standardized cause: EXCAVATION DAMAGE — THIRD PARTY EXCAVATION DAMAGE.

PHMSA indexed costs: $26,000 reported total cost, $18,349.438 in 1984 dollars, $30,198.653 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.