LOUIS DREYFUS OLEFINS, LLC — Hazardous liquid — incident on 2006-10-31

Hazardous liquid incident in LAPLACE, ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST County, LA. Reported cause: 15. Reported consequences: 0 fatalities, 0 injuries, YES NGL - NATURAL GAS LIQUIDS released, $115,504 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: 20060329.

Operator ID: 31673.

Reported incident date: 10/31/2006.

Cause detail: COMPONENT

Cause detail: 10-31-06 AT 0645 THIRD PARTY (PUBLIC) NOTIFIED THE LOUIS DREYFUS CONTROL ROOM TO REPORT SMELL AT VALVE SITE 5. 10-31-06 AT 0718 LOUIS DREYFUS REPRESENTATIVE ARRIVED ON SCENE ALONG WITH ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST FIRE DEPARTMENT AND VERIFIED SMALL LEAK ON CHECK VALVE SWING CHECK ARM AT VALVE SITE 5. LEAK WAS MONITORED WITH HYDROCARBON DETECTOR, HYDROCARBONS WERE CONFIRMED TO FENCED IN AREA AT VALVE SITE 5. FIRE DEPARTMENT LEFT SCENE AT 0740 10-31-06 AT 0745 LOUIS DREYFUS CONTROL ROOM STARTED BRINGING PRESSURE DOWN ON LINE. 10-31-06 AT 0915 PIPELINE WAS SHUTDOWN AND VALVES UPSTREAM AND DOWNSTREAM WERE CLOSED. 10-31-06 AT 1015 CONTRACTED HAZMAT TEAM ARRIVE ON SCENCE AND DETERMINED LESS THAN 5 GALLONS OF PRODUCT WAS RELEASED. 10-31-06 AT 1345 HAZMAT TEAM RELEASED FROM SITE. CONTINUOUS MONITORING WAS CONDUCTED WITH HYDROCARBON DETECTORS EVERY 1/2 HOUR UNTIL REPAIR COULD BE MADE. 10-31-06 AT 1635 TELEPHONIC CALL WAS MADE TO OFFICE OF PIPELINE SAFETY 7000-1 WITH REPORT # 816686 10-31-06 ESTABLISHED 24 HOUR MONITORING OF SITUATION UNTIL REPAIRS CAN BE MADE. 11-01-06 FAXED IN "SAFETY RELATED CONDITION REPORT" TO LOUISIANA DNR AND DOT OFFICE OF PIPELINE SAFETY. 11-04-06 AT 1450 INSTALLED CLAMP ON CHECK VALVE FOR REPAIR 11-04-06 AT 1450 OPENED DOWNSTREAM AND UPSTREAM VALVES AND STARTED UP PIPELINE. 11-05-06 MONITORED VALVE SITE 5 FOR ONE WEEK EVERYDAY AND WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR ON A WEEKLY SCHEDULE. 11-16-06 COMPLETED WRITTEN 700-1 "ACCIDENT REPORT" AND MAILED IN TO OFFICE OF PIPELINE SAFETY. THE INVESTIGATION RESULTS REPORTED THE CAUSE OF THE ACCIDENT TO BE DUE TO A CHEMICALLY ATTACKED O-RING. ANALYSIS SHOWED THE O-RING IN THE CHECK VALVE TO BEMADE OF BUNA-N MATERIAL AND WAS CHEMICALLY ATTACKED BY THE TRANSPORTED PRODUCT. VITON O-RING MATERIAL SHOULD HAVE BEEN USSED FOR THIS APPLICATION. SINCE THE INITIAL INCIDENT, AN INTERNAL AUDIT HAS BEEN PERFORMED ON THE LDH ENERGY OLEFINS LLC PIPELINE SYSTEM TO CONFIRM THAT ALL SEALS AND O-RINGS WERE OF VITON MATERIAL.

PHMSA trend classification: significant incident, not serious.

PHMSA standardized cause: MATERIAL FAILURE OF PIPE OR WELD — JOINT/FITTING/COMPONENT.

PHMSA indexed costs: $115,504 reported total cost, $67,542.974 in 1984 dollars, $166,337.558 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.