HOUSTON PIPELINE CO — Gas transmission and gathering — incident on 2003-05-24

Gas transmission and gathering incident in WOODVILLE, TYLER County, TX. Reported cause: 24. Reported consequences: 0 fatalities, 0 injuries, $745,000 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: 20030062.

Operator ID: 7605.

Reported incident date: 5/24/2003.

Cause detail: MISCELLANEOUS

Cause detail: HOUSTON PIPELINE WAS CONDUCTING PIGGING OPERATIONS ON A SECTION OF THE TEXOMA 30" GAS TRANSMISSION LINE. LIQUIDS WERE BEING REMOVED FROM THE SYSTEM AND TRANSFERRED TO TEMPORARY STORAGE TANKS ON THE RIGHT-OF-WAY.VACUUM / TRANSPORT TRUCKS WERE REMOVING LIQUIDS FROM THE TANKS WHEN A APPARENT MALFUNCTION ON ONE OF THE TRUCKS SPARKED CAUSING A FLASH FIRE. THE ACTUAL CAUSE OF THE FIRE IS STILL UNDER INVESTIGATION. LOCAL EMERGENCY PERSONNEL IN CONJUNCTION WITH HPL DECIDED TO LET THE FIRE BURN UNTIL IT COULD BE MORE EASILY EXTINGUISHED. NO INJURIES WERE REPORTED IN THE FIRE AND NO DEATHS OCCURRED. A VOLUNTEER FIREMAN WAS TREATED FOR HEAT EXHAUSTION. BELL HOLES WERE EXCAVATED TO EXAMINE THE PIPELINE FOR POSSIBLE HEAT EFFECTS. NONE WERE DETECTED. NO PIPELINE VALVES OR OTHER SURFACE EQUIPMENT WAS DAMAGED. FOLLOWING EXTINGUISHMENT OF THE FIRE, THE PIGGING OPERATION WAS FINISHED AND THE PIPELINE WAS RETURNED TO SERVICE. NO GAS WAS LOST OR VENTED DUE TO THE FIRE. FINAL UPDATE...AUGUST 07, 2009 THIS INCIDENT OCCURRED DURING A PIGGING OPERATION OF AN INTRASTATE PIPELINE. PIPELINE PRESSURE WAS EVACUATED DURING THIS LIQUID REMOVAL PROCESS, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF 50 PSIG OF NATURAL GAS, USED TO PUSH THE MAINTENANCE PIG. FINAL INVESTIGATION CONCLUDED THAT A TRANSPORT TRUCK, USED TO HAUL THE CONDENSATE FROM THIS SITE, EXPERIENCED A MALFUNCTION OF A SAFETY SWITCH ON THE DIESEL ENGINE, RESULTING IN IGNITION OF THE VAPORS OFF THE FRAC TANKS. THE ONLY PRODUCT LOSS DURING THIS INCIDENT WAS THE LIQUID CONDENSATE DURING THE FIRE. PROPERTY DAMAGES WERE LIMITED TO THE FRAC TANKS AND DIESEL TRUCKS OWNED BY THE THIRD PARTY CONTRACTOR. THERE WERE NO ADDITIONAL DAMAGES TO COMPANY FACILITIES OR PROPERTY.

PHMSA trend classification: significant incident, not serious.

PHMSA standardized cause: ALL OTHER CAUSES — MISCELLANEOUS.

PHMSA indexed costs: $745,000 reported total cost, $478,607.403 in 1984 dollars, $1,095,284.371 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.