WEST TEXAS GAS INC — Gas transmission and gathering — incident on 2013-05-31

Gas transmission and gathering incident in LA PRYOR, ZAVALLA County, TX. Reported cause: EXCAVATION DAMAGE. Reported consequences: 0 fatalities, 0 injuries, 126.8 NATURAL GAS released, $3,886 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: 20130058.

Operator ID: 22435.

Reported incident date: 5/31/2013 13:50.

Location detail: 3.21

Cause detail: EXCAVATION DAMAGE BY OPERATOR'S CONTRACTOR (SECOND PARTY)

Cause detail: EXCAVATION ISSUE

Cause detail: EXCAVATOR FAILED TO MAINTAIN CLEARANCE AFTER VERIFYING MARKS

Cause detail: A SECOND PARTY CONTRACTOR WAS AWARD A CAPITOL PROJECT TO REPLACE 2.5 MILES OF 6.625 INCH PIPELINE IN ZAVALLA COUNTY TEXAS FOR WEST TEXAS GAS (WTG). THE PROJECT WAS ON WTG'S TGU SYSTEM AND THE 6/A SUB-SYSTEM. THE SCOPE OF THE PROJECT INCLUDES THE PARALLEL INSTALLATION OF NEW PIPE APPROXIMATELY SEVEN FOOT FROM THE EXISTING PIPELINE. THE REPLACEMENT PIPELINE WILL BE CONSTRUCTED WHILE THE EXISTING PIPELINE REMAINS IN-SERVICE, THE EXCEPTION WOULD BE FOR THE TIE-IN ON BOTH THE UPSTREAM AND DOWNSTREAM POINTS. WTG EMPLOYEES LOCATED THE EXISTING PIPELINE UTILIZING A CONDUCTIVE PIPELINE LOCATOR AND "POT-HOLED" THE PIPE AT APPROXIMATELY 300 FOOT INTERVALS TO ENSURE THE ACCURACY OF THE PIPE LOCATION. THIS CENTERLINE WAS CLEARLY MARKED. THE CENTERLINE OF THE NEW PIPELINE LOCATION WAS CLEARLY STAKED. IN ADDITION "LINE-UP MARKERS" WAS ALSO IN PLACE FOR THE TRENCHER OPERATOR. APPROXIMATELY 2.25 MILES OF THE PROJECT WAS COMPLETED WITHOUT INCIDENT. ON MAY 31, 2013 PRIOR TO 1:50 PM THE TRENCHER OPERATOR BECAME IN-ATTENTIVE AND ALLOWED THE MACHINE TO START DRIFTING TOWARD THE PIPELINE THAT WAS IN OPERATION. AT APPROXIMATELY 1:50 PM, THE TRENCHER CAME INTO CONTACT WITH THE PRESSURIZED PIPELINE. WHEN THE TRENCHER STRUCK THE PIPELINE, IT PLACED A GOUGE IN THE PIPELINE. THE GOUGE INCLUDED METAL LOSS OF AN AREA APPROXIMATELY 2 INCHES BY 3 INCHES WHICH ALLOWED THE RELEASE OF GAS. THE OPERATOR WAS ABLE TO DISMOUNT THE TRENCHER AND MOVE TO A SAFE DISTANCE PRIOR TO THE GAS BEING IGNITED.

PHMSA trend classification: significant incident, not serious.

PHMSA standardized cause: EXCAVATION DAMAGE — OPERATOR/CONTRACTOR EXCAVATION DAMAGE.

PHMSA indexed costs: $800,972 reported total cost, $414,841.511 in 1984 dollars, $1,019,741.882 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.