PHMSA Report 20240003 - IRONWOOD MIDSTREAM ENERGY PARTNERS, LLC — Hazardous liquid gravity and reporting-regulated-only — incident on 2024-01-01 | Regulus

Hazardous liquid gravity and reporting-regulated-only incident in NA, KARNES County, TX. Reported cause: EQUIPMENT FAILURE. Reported consequences: 0 fatalities, 0 injuries, 102.38 CRUDE OIL released, $12,500 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: 20240003.

Operator ID: 39649.

Reported incident date: 1/1/2024 15:27.

Cause detail: PUMP OR PUMP-RELATED EQUIPMENT

Cause detail: ON JANUARY 1, 2024, AT APPROXIMATELY 21:11, AN IRONWOOD FIELD OPERATOR ARRIVED ON-SITE TO DETERMINE THE CAUSE OF THE PIPELINE PUMP'S FAILURE TO START. THE PUMP HAD BEEN SHUT-DOWN EARLIER IN THE DAY DUE TO LOW TANK LEVELS, LATER THAT EVENING THE ON-CALL OPERATOR WAS INFORMED FROM THE CONTROL ROOM THAT THE PUMP HAD A LOW SUCTION SHUT-DOWN ALARM WHILE TRYING TO START-UP. THE CONTROLLER TRIED, PER PROCEDURE, TO START THE PUMP BUT ON THE SECOND ATTEMPT THERE WAS A LOW SUCTION SHUT-DOWN ALARM THAT REQUIRED THE CALL OUT TO THE ON-CALL OPERATOR. THE CONTROLLER MADE THE CALL AT 20:42, AND THE ON-CALL OPERATOR ARRIVED AT 21:11. AS THE OPERATOR ENTERED THE LOCATION, HE SEEN CRUDE ON THE GROUND. THE PIPELINE WAS SHUT-IN AT THIS TIME, THE OPERATOR EVALUATED THE SITE AND MADE IT SAFE, THEN IMMEDIATELY MADE NOTIFICATION TO MANAGEMENT THAT THERE WAS A RELEASE. THE OPERATOR THEN DISPATCHED A VAC TRUCK TO LOCATION TO REMOVE THE FREE-STANDING CRUDE, APPROXIMATELY 45 BARRELS WERE RECOVERED BY THE VAC TRUCK. THE OPERATOR ALSO MADE A DIRT BERM JUST OUTSIDE THE ROW TO CONTAIN THE CRUDE FROM MOVING FURTHER OUTSIDE OF THE ROW, THE SPILL WENT APPROXIMATELY 20-FEET OUTSIDE OF THE ROW ONTO PRIVATE PROPERTY. FIRST THING THE MORNING OF JANUARY 2ND, IRONWOOD OPERATIONS DISPATCHED A REMEDIATION CREW AND BEGAN CLEANING THE SITE, THE CREW CONSISTED OF A BACKHOE, SKID STEER, AND 4 PERSONNEL. THE CONTAMINATED SOIL WAS COMPLETELY REMOVED FROM ALL AREAS, EXCEPT FOR A SMALL AREA AROUND THE STATION THAT IS CURRENTLY BEING HAND DUG AND SOIL BEING PARTIALLY REMOVED AND PARTIALLY TREATED ON-SITE. THE APPARENT CAUSE WAS A PACKING NUT THAT HAD BACKED OFF DUE TO VIBRATION CAUSING THE CYLINDER SHAFT TO COME FREE AND A FAILURE OF THE PUMP. THIS WAS CONFIRMED BY A THIRD-PARTY FAILURE ANALYSIS. TO MITIGATE THE SAME TYPE OF FAILURE IRONWOOD TOOK A TWO-STEP APPROACH; 1. THE LOW SUCTION SHUT-DOWN ALARM WAS ADJUSTED TO MITIGATE THE RISK OF A DETRIMENTAL LOW FLOW CONDITION, 2. WEDGES WERE MADE THAT ARE INSTALLED BETWEEN THE PACKING NUT AND THE PUMP HOUSING TO PREVENT THE NUT FROM UNINTENTIONALLY LOOSENING, OPERATORS VERIFY THE PACKING NUTS HAVE THE WEDGES DURING STATION CHECKS.