CONSUMERS ENERGY CO — Gas transmission and gathering — incident on 2016-09-27

Gas transmission and gathering incident in LIVONIA, WAYNE County, MI. Reported cause: EXCAVATION DAMAGE. Reported consequences: 0 fatalities, 0 injuries, 2637 NATURAL GAS released, $53,469 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: 20160087.

Operator ID: 2748.

Reported incident date: 9/27/2016 14:53.

Location detail: E/HS35

Cause detail: EXCAVATION DAMAGE BY OPERATOR'S CONTRACTOR (SECOND PARTY)

Cause detail: MISCELLANEOUS ROOT CAUSES

Cause detail: ROOT CAUSE NOT LISTED (COMMENT REQUIRED)

Cause detail: ON TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2016 AT APPROXIMATELY 14:53 A SECOND PARTY CONTRACTOR PERFORMING PIPELINE INTEGRITY WORK DAMAGED A 10" STEEL HIGH PRESSURE PIPELINE AT THE NORTHEAST CORNER OF NEWBURGH ROAD AND JOY ROAD, LIVONIA, MICHIGAN (WAYNE COUNTY). THE CONTRACT CREW HAD THE NORTH SIDE OF THE 10" ST PIPELINE EXPOSED AND WAS EXCAVATING ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF THE PIPE WHEN THE EXCAVATOR MADE CONTACT WITH A 4" ST BY-PASS WELDED TO THE 10" PIPELINE, CAUSING THE WELD TO CRACK AND GAS TO BLOW. IMMEDIATE PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES WERE TAKEN AND NOTIFICATION WAS MADE TO THE OPERATOR. CONSUMERS ENERGY PERSONNEL ARRIVED ONSITE AT APPROXIMATELY 15:06, CONFIRMING THE DAMAGE AND CONTINUED PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES TO PROTECT THE PUBLIC. LOCAL POLICE AND FIRE WERE ONSITE AND THE TRAFFIC ON JOY ROAD WAS BLOCKED AND REMAINED BLOCKED UNTIL THE BLOWING GAS WAS SHUT-DOWN AND REPAIRS TO THE PIPELINE WERE COMPLETE. AT APPROXIMATELY 16:10 A GAS DISTRIBUTION CREW BEGAN DIGGING A SEPARATE EXCAVATION IN PREPARATION FOR INSTALLATION OF A MUELLER CONTROL FITTING TO ISOLATE THE DAMAGED PIPELINE AND MAKE THE NEEDED REPAIRS. THE CONTROL FITTING WAS INSTALLED AND THE VALVING OPERATION WAS COMPLETED ON SEPTEMBER 28, 2016 AT APPROXIMATELY 15:45 STOPPING THE BLOWING GAS. HOWEVER, TRACES OF GAS CONTINUED TO LEAK THROUGH REQUIRING ADDITIONAL STOPPLING AT THE EXISTING CONTROL FITTING. THE PIPELINE SECTION WAS COMPLETELY ISOLATE AT 20:45. REPAIRS TO THE DAMAGED PIPELINE WERE COMPLETED ON SEPTEMBER 29, 2016 AT APPROXIMATELY 05:30 AND THE PIPELINE RETURNED TO NORMAL OPERATIONS AT 07:30.

PHMSA trend classification: not significant, not serious.

PHMSA standardized cause: EXCAVATION DAMAGE — OPERATOR/CONTRACTOR EXCAVATION DAMAGE.

PHMSA indexed costs: $61,234 reported total cost, $34,788.258 in 1984 dollars, $75,654.559 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.