NATIONAL FUEL GAS SUPPLY CORP — Gas transmission and gathering — incident on 2009-12-21

Gas transmission and gathering incident in EDEN, ERIE County, NY. Reported cause: 1. Reported consequences: 0 fatalities, 0 injuries, $84,800 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: 20090141.

Operator ID: 13063.

Reported incident date: 12/21/2009.

Cause detail: CORROSION, EXTERNAL

Cause detail: ON DECEMBER 21,2009, NATIONAL FUEL GAS DISPATCHER RECEIVED A CALL AT APPROXIMATELY 11:30 AM THAT THERE WAS A NATURAL GAS INCIDENT IN THE VICINITY OF 9999 NEW OREGON RD. IN NORTH COLLINS, ERIE COUNTY, NY. DISPATCHER DETERMINED FROM SCADA AND OTHER PHONE CONTACTS, THAT LINE KNY WAS EXPERIENCING GAS LOSS. A REGULATOR CREW WAS DISPATCHED TO CLOSE BLOCK VALVE NCE-5 IN NORTH COLLINS AND SEND A SUPERVISOR TO NORTH BOSTON STATION TO CLOSE VALVES BNE-193 AND 195.VALVES BNE-193 & 195 WERE CLOSED AT 12:12 PM AND THE VALVE NCE-5 WAS CLOSED AT 12:32. AT THAT TIME THE LINE WAS ISOLATED.WHEN THE SITUATION WAS UNDER CONTROL IT WAS DETERMINED THAT A RUPTURE HAD OCCURRED ON LINE KNY APPROXIMATELY 641� SOUTH OF LOWER KNOLL RD, AND NORTH OF NEW OREGON RD. FURTHER INVESTIGATION REVEALED THAT NO PERSONAL INJURIES OR DEATHS RESULTED FROM THE INCIDENT. THERE WAS SOME PROPERTY DAMAGE AT 9999 NEW OREGON RD. THE PIPELINE WAS PAIRED BY REPLACING APPROXIMATELY 4 FEET OF 20� OD, 0.375" WALL, X-52 GRADE, PRETESTED STEEL PIPE. PART G: NARRATIVE DESCRIPTION OF FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO THE EVENT - CONTINUED:INVESTIGATION UPDATE: THE FAILED SECTION WAS DELIVERED TO BATTELLE, COLUMBUS OHIO FOR A COMPLETE METALLURGICAL AND FAILURE ANALYSIS TO DETERMINE THE ROOT CAUSE OF THE FAILURE. BATTELLE CONCLUDED:"THE ORIGIN FOR THE FAILURE WAS IDENTIFIED AS A PAIR OF PITS COINCIDENTALLY LOCATED WITHIN THE CROWN OF THE PIPE IN THE VICINITYOF MAXIMUM AXIAL STRESS. THE UNUSUAL LOCAL AXIAL LOADING ACTED ON THIS PAIR OF COINCIDENTALLY LOCATED PITS CAUSING FAILURE, WHICH WAS FACILITATED BY WINTER TEMPERATURES WORKING IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE INHERENTLY HIGH DBTP' LEADING TO REDUCED FRACTURE TOUGHNESS. DBTT - DUCTILE BRITTLE TRANSITION TEMPERATURE. BATTELLE ALSO CONCLUDED: "THE FAILURE WAS DUE TO A UNIQUE COMBINATION OF FACTORS THAT INVOLVED LOCALLY HIGH BENDING AND AXIAL STRAINS UNIQUE TO THE VICINITY OF OVER BEND ACROSS THE RIDGE WHERE THE FAILURE OCCURRED, FREE OF OTHER CONTRIBUTORY OR CAUSATIVE FACTORS."

PHMSA trend classification: not significant, not serious.

PHMSA standardized cause: CORROSION — EXTERNAL.

PHMSA indexed costs: $84,800 reported total cost, $49,097.332 in 1984 dollars, $90,953.308 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.