Incidenthistorical
PHMSA Report 20110030
SOUTHERN NATURAL GAS CO — Gas transmission and gathering — incident on 2011-02-18
Current as of 2011-02-18 Government source
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Gas transmission and gathering incident in HEFLIN, CLEBURNE County, AL. Reported cause: MATERIAL FAILURE OF PIPE OR WELD. Reported consequences: 0 fatalities, 0 injuries, 2100 NATURAL GAS released, $126,000 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: 20110030.
Operator ID: 18516.
Reported incident date: 2/18/2011 13:30.
Location detail: 396.6
Cause detail: DESIGN-, CONSTRUCTION-, INSTALLATION-, OR FABRICATION-RELATED
Cause detail: SOUTHERN NATURAL GAS (SNG) COMPANY'S GAS CONTROL NOTICED A PRESSURE DROP IN ITS SCADA SYSTEM ON FEBRUARY 18, 2011 THAT INDICATED A POSSIBLE PIPELINE LEAK. FIELD PERSONNEL WERE DISPATCHED TO INVESTIGATE THE 24" NORTH MAIN LOOP PIPELINE. A CRACK IN A WRINKLE BEND WAS FOUND AT MILEPOST 396.6 RELEASING NATURAL GAS. THE PIPELINE WAS ALREADY ISOLATED DUE TO CAO CPF 2-2010-1001H, CONTAINING GAS BETWEEN THE CLOSED VALVES AT A PRESSURE OF 290 PSIG. THE LINE WAS BLOWN DOWN WITH A 135 FEET SECTION CUT OUT, WELD CAPS BEING INSTALLED ON EITHER SIDE OF THE CUT. THE LINE SEGMENT IS OUT OF SERVICE AND WILL REMAIN SO UNTIL 2012 WHEN IT IS PLANNED FOR ABANDONMENT. THE POST-INCIDENT INVESTIGATION AND EVALUATIONS REVEALED FAILURE LIKELY TO HAVE BEEN CAUSED BY COMBINED MECHANICAL STRESSES IN A WRINKLE BEND, WITH SUCH STRESSES COMING FROM NORMAL PIPELINE OPERATIONS, HYDROGEOLOGICAL INFLUENCE IN THE SOIL, AND THE NATURE OF WRINKLE BEND CONFIGURATION.
PHMSA trend classification: significant incident, not serious.
PHMSA standardized cause: MATERIAL FAILURE OF PIPE OR WELD — CONSTRUCTION, INSTALLATION OR FABRICATION-RELATED.
PHMSA indexed costs: $173,364 reported total cost, $94,862.376 in 1984 dollars, $223,771.465 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.