ENTERPRISE PRODUCTS OPERATING LLC — Hazardous liquid — incident on 2011-12-27

Hazardous liquid incident in KERMIT, LOVING County, TX. Reported cause: MATERIAL FAILURE OF PIPE OR WELD. Reported consequences: 0 fatalities, 0 injuries, 3283 HVL OR OTHER FLAMMABLE OR TOXIC FLUID WHICH IS A GAS AT AMBIENT CONDITIONS released, $105,000 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: 20120023.

Operator ID: 31618.

Reported incident date: 12/27/2011 21:00.

Location detail: 50.16

Cause detail: DESIGN-, CONSTRUCTION-, INSTALLATION-, OR FABRICATION-RELATED

Cause detail: KIEFNER REPORT THE FAILURE WAS LOCATED IN THE LAWSON JUNCTION-TO-PECOS RIVER SEGMENT AT STATION 2647+52 (MP 50.16). A COMPLETE CIRCUMFERENTIAL SEPARATION OCCURRED AT A GIRTH WELD. A PORTION OF THE UPSTREAM AND DOWNSTREAM JOINTS, INCLUDING BOTH SIDES OF THE FAILED GIRTH WELD, WAS SENT TO KIEFNER & ASSOCIATES, INC. (KAI) TO DETERMINE THE CAUSE OF FAILURE. *THE ROOT CAUSE OF THE GIRTH WELD SEPARATION WAS EXTERNAL FORCES LIKELY DUE TO SOIL MOVEMENT. THE FRACTURE INITIATED AT A LOCATION OF INCOMPLETE WELD PENETRATION IN AN ACETYLENE GIRTH WELD. THERE WAS NO EVIDENCE THAT THE GIRTH WELD FLAW HAD ENLARGED IN SERVICE OVER TIME OR THAT THE PIPE HAD BEEN LEAKING PRIOR TO THE RUPTURE EVENT. THE FRACTURE INITIATED IN A DUCTILE MANNER AND PROPAGATED WITHIN AND AROUND THE CIRCUMFERENTIAL WELD. *IN THE ABSENCE OF EVIDENCE OF A TIME-DEPENDENT DEGRADATION MECHANISM, THE LIKELY EXPLANATION FOR SUCH A FAILURE IS AN INCREASE IN EXTERNAL LOADING ON THE PIPELINE. THE COUNTY ADJACENT TO WHERE THE FAILURE OCCURRED HAS EXPERIENCED SUBSIDENCE IN THE PAST AS A RESULT OF SINK HOLES DEVELOPING. SUBSIDENCE CAN IMPART SIGNIFICANT AXIAL LOADS ON BURIED PIPELINES. IT IS UNKNOWN WHETHER SUBSIDENCE RECENTLY OCCURRED NEAR TO THIS FAILURE. *INTERNAL PRESSURE WAS NOT THE ROOT CAUSE OF FAILURE.

PHMSA trend classification: significant incident, not serious.

PHMSA standardized cause: MATERIAL FAILURE OF PIPE OR WELD — CONSTRUCTION, INSTALLATION OR FABRICATION-RELATED.

PHMSA indexed costs: $217,000 reported total cost, $116,388.9 in 1984 dollars, $286,630.041 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.