VECTREN ENERGY DELIVERY OF OHIO — Gas transmission and gathering — incident on 2016-05-11

Gas transmission and gathering incident in UNION, MIAMI County, OH. Reported cause: EXCAVATION DAMAGE. Reported consequences: 0 fatalities, 0 injuries, 9701 NATURAL GAS released, $92,116 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: 20160048.

Operator ID: 31470.

Reported incident date: 5/11/2016 13:26.

Location detail: 144249.52

Cause detail: EXCAVATION DAMAGE BY THIRD PARTY

Cause detail: NOTIFICATION ISSUE

Cause detail: NO NOTIFICATION MADE TO THE ONE-CALL CENTER/811

Cause detail: ON MAY 11, 2016, AT APPROXIMATELY 1:26 PM, AN EMPLOYEE OF PHILLIPS SAND AND GRAVEL OPERATING A BULLDOZER STRUCK VECTREN'S 16" STEEL TRANSMISSION LINE, A-97. THE EMPLOYEE OF PHILLIPS WAS GRADING A DIRT AND GRAVEL ROADWAY ON PHILIP'S PROPERTY WHEN THE INCIDENT OCCURRED. AT THE TIME OF THE INCIDENT, PHILLIPS TOLD VECTREN THEY HAD BEEN GRADING THIS ROADWAY FOR ABOUT FIVE YEARS. AT THE TIME OF THE INCIDENT VECTREN CHECKED AND THERE WERE NO REQUESTS MADE TO THE OHIO UTILITY PROTECTION SERVICE FOR A LOCATE. IN ADDITION, VECTREN ALSO CHECKED AND THERE WERE NO LOCATES REQUESTED FOR THE PREVIOUS FIVE YEARS. THE VECTREN TRANSMISSION LINE, OPERATING AT APPROXIMATELY 309 PSIG AT THE TIME OF THE DAMAGE, WAS MARKED BY PLASTIC LINE MARKERS WITHIN EYESIGHT OF THE INCIDENT SITE. THE LINE MARKERS STATED, AMONG OTHER THINGS, WARNING GAS PIPELINE IN AREA AND PROVIDED THE 811 NUMBER. THE BULLDOZER, EQUIPPED WITH A BLADE, STRUCK THE TRANSMISSION LINE AND CAUSED A PUNCTURE / GASH THAT UNINTENTIONALLY RELEASED NATURAL GAS. A LOCATE REQUEST WOULD HAVE RESULTED IN A VECTREN TECHNICIAN ON SITE, DURING THE WORK, TO OBSERVE THE PROXIMITY OF THE WORK TO THE TRANSMISSION LINE AND THE DEPTH OF THE TRANSMISSION LINE. VECTREN DID NOT LEARN OF THE WORK THE EMPLOYEE OF PHILLIPS WAS PERFORMING UNTIL AFTER THE INCIDENT. VECTREN WAS NOTIFIED OF THE INCIDENT, AND RESPONDING CREWS ISOLATED THE DAMAGED TRANSMISSION LINE BY OPERATING VALVES UPSTREAM AND DOWNSTREAM AND CONTROLLING THE BLOW DOWN OF THE PIPE SEGMENT. VECTREN LOST SERVICE TO 182 CUSTOMERS. THE DAMAGED TRANSMISSION LINE WAS REPLACED BY 16.5' OF NEW 16" STEEL PIPE. THE AFFECTED CUSTOMERS WERE THEN PUT BACK INTO SERVICE. THE EMPLOYEE OF PHILLIPS OPERATING THE BULLDOZER SOUGHT MEDICAL ATTENTION, WAS EVALUATED AT A LOCAL HOSPITAL, AND RETURNED TO PHILLIPS LATER THAT DAY.

PHMSA trend classification: significant incident, not serious.

PHMSA standardized cause: EXCAVATION DAMAGE — THIRD PARTY EXCAVATION DAMAGE.

PHMSA indexed costs: $101,129 reported total cost, $55,114.743 in 1984 dollars, $124,606.751 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.