PHMSA Report 20160027
PHMSA Report 20160027
Gas transmission and gathering incident in CHURCHPOINT, ACADIA County, LA. Reported cause: EXCAVATION DAMAGE. Reported consequences: 0 fatalities, 0 injuries, 132285 NATURAL GAS released, $118,350 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: 20160027.
Operator ID: 31728.
Reported incident date: 10/1/2015 12:00.
Location detail: 10.55
Cause detail: EXCAVATION DAMAGE BY THIRD PARTY
Cause detail: LOCATING ISSUE
Cause detail: FACILITY NOT MARKED DUE TO INCOMPLETE MARKS AT DAMAGE LOCATION
Cause detail: CONTRACTOR, WHO WAS CLEANING DITCH BY EXCAVATION, GRABBED A ONE-INCH TAP VALVE WHICH PULLED THE THREADS CAUSING LEAK. 2-15-18 REVISE PER PHMSA'S INSTRUCTIONS. *APPROXIMATELY 10-1-2015, RANDY'S DIRT SERVICES (WICKOFF DRAINAGE DISTRICT/CITY OF) APPARENTLY DAMAGED A 1" BRANCH CONNECTION. *ON 3-2-16 AT 16:15, FARMER NOTIFIED GULF SOUTH OF POTENTIAL LEAK. *ON 3-2-16 AT 16:20, LEAK CONFIRMED AND CONFIRMED DISCOVERY THAT REPORTING CRITERIA WAS MET (SINCE SMALL GAS LEAK OF UNKNOWN DURATION, ASSUMED 3 MMCF GAS LOSS). DUE TO THE LIMITED NATURE OF GAS LOSS COMING THROUGH THE 1" BRANCH CONNECTION, PRESSURE WAS LOWERED BY 20% AND REPAIR WAS SCHEDULED. *ON 3-4-16 AT 13:00, PIPELINE WAS SHUT DOWN AND REPAIRED. 3-5-2018 REVISE IN RESPONSE TO PHMSA EMAIL. GULF SOUTH ASSUMES THAT THE DAMAGE TO THE PIPE OCCURRED AS PART OF EXCAVATION THAT OCCURRED ON 10-1-2015, BUT THAT IS ONLY AN ASSUMPTION. IN OUR OPINION, THE SUB-CAUSE IS BY PREVIOUS DAMAGE DUE TO EXCAVATION. BASED ON THE FACT THAT WE ASSUME POSSIBLE LEAKAGE OCCURRED AS EARLY AS 10-1-2015, GULF SOUTH ASSUMED THE GAS LOSS EXCEEDED 3 MMCF, THEREFORE, CREATING AN INCIDENT. THE DATA PROVIDED IS ATTEMPTING TO REFLECT THIS UNDERSTANDING OF THIS INCIDENT. A PIPELINE MARKER WAS LOCATED WITHIN APPROXIMATELY 10-FEET OF THE DAMAGED PIPE. 5-2-18 REVISE IN RESPONSE TO PHMSA EMAIL. GULF SOUTH'S ASSETS WERE CLEARLY MARKED WITH PIPELINE MARKERS BUT THE ONE CALL WAS IMPROPERLY CLEARED. THE ONE CALL TICKET WAS RECEIVED ON 10-1-2015 AND THE POSITIVE RESPONSE WAS DELIVERED ON 10-2-2015 SO THE BEST SPECULATION IS THAT THIS INCIDENT OCCURRED ON 10-2-2015. RESPONSES TO PART G HAVE BEEN REVISED TO PROPERLY REFLECT THIS. PART A HAS BEEN REVISED TO REFLECT THAT THE DATE AND TIME OF THE INCIDENT WAS 10-2-2015 WHEN WE BELIEVE THE DAMAGE LIKELY OCCURRED. THE TIME IS 12:00 BECAUSE WE HAVE NO WAY TO DETERMINE THE CORRECT TIME SINCE WE DIDN'T KNOW UNTIL 3-2-2016 THAT DAMAGE HAD OCCURRED.
PHMSA trend classification: significant incident, not serious.
PHMSA standardized cause: EXCAVATION DAMAGE — THIRD PARTY EXCAVATION DAMAGE.
PHMSA indexed costs: $416,730 reported total cost, $335,613.607 in 1984 dollars, $486,017.508 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.