DOMINION TRANSMISSION INC — Gas transmission and gathering — incident on 2004-03-12

Current as of 2004-03-12 Government source

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety AdministrationOfficial agency material

View source

Gas transmission and gathering incident in BIG RUN, JEFFERSON County, PA. Reported cause: 20. Reported consequences: 0 fatalities, 0 injuries, $53,000 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: 20040025.

Operator ID: 2714.

Reported incident date: 3/12/2004.

Cause detail: MALFUNCTION OF CONTROL/RELIEF EQUIPMENT

Cause detail: ON 03/12/04 AT APPROXIMATELY 12 AM, BIG RUN COMPRESSOR STATION LOST PURCHASE POWER. AT APPROXIMATELY 2:45 AM, THE UPS BACKUP BATTERIES FOR COMPUTER CONTROLS LOST THEIR ELECTRIC CURRENT CHARGE. WITH NO BACKUP BATTERIES OPERATING AS THEY SHOULD, AN ESD OCCURRED ALTHOUGH THE DISCHARGE FIRE GATE DID NOT MOVE TO THE CLOSED POSITION. THEREFORE, THE COMPRESOR STATION WAS NOT ISOLATED FROM THE PIPELINE TL-280. THE SUCTION FIRE GATE DID OPERATE PROPERLY. NATURAL GAS PROCEEDED TO VENT OUT OF THE DISCHARGE HEADER FROM THE STATION AND PIPELINE TL-280. THE TUBING LINE FOR THE PILOT AIR TO THE OPERATOR WAS BELIEVED TO HAVE SOME MOISTURE / CONDENSATE THAT COULD HAVE POSSIBLY FROZEN DUE TO BELOW FREEZING TEMPERATURES PREVENTING THE VALVE TO OPERATE. A FULL ESD TEST WAS PERFORMED AFTER THE VALVE WAS INSPECTED. ALL COMPONENTS WORKED PROPERLY. TOTAL VALVE MOVEMENT WAS COMPLETED IN 15.4 SECONDS. THE ESD SYSTEM WAS RESET AND THE UNIT WAS PUT BACK ON LINE AT 17:00. STATION PERSONNEL MONITORED CONDITIONS UNTIL 20:00, WHEN CONDITIONS WERE BACK TO NORMAL.

PHMSA trend classification: not significant, not serious.

PHMSA standardized cause: EQUIPMENT FAILURE — MALFUNCTION OF CONTROL/RELIEF EQUIPMENT.

PHMSA indexed costs: $53,000 reported total cost, $31,481.203 in 1984 dollars, $38,654.135 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.

This material provides agency context. It does not replace binding regulatory text, and its legal effect depends on the underlying authority and facts.