BUCKEYE PARTNERS, LP — Hazardous liquid — incident on 2012-06-17

Hazardous liquid incident in EMMAUS, LEHIGH County, PA. Reported cause: INCORRECT OPERATION. Reported consequences: 0 fatalities, 0 injuries, 100 REFINED AND/OR PETROLEUM PRODUCT (NON-HVL) WHICH IS A LIQUID AT AMBIENT CONDITIONS released, $0 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: 20120215.

Operator ID: 1845.

Reported incident date: 6/17/2012 5:52.

Cause detail: TANK, VESSEL, OR SUMP/SEPARATOR ALLOWED OR CAUSED TO OVERFILL OR OVERFLOW

Cause detail: A SAFE FILL AND INDEPENDENT TANK HI-HI ALARM WERE RECEIVED FOR TANK 228 AT 05:52 A.M. ON THE MORNING OF 6/17/2012 AT BUCKEYE'S MACUNGIE, PA TANK FARM. PRODUCT FLOW TO THE TANK WAS IMMEDIATELY SHUT DOWN. VOLUME LEVELS AND CALCULATIONS INDICATED THE TANK TO BE AT SAFE-FILL HEIGHT SO THE TANK WAS NOT IMMEDIATELY INSPECTED. AT 11:00 A.M. ON 6/17/2012 AN ODOR COMPLAINT FROM A NEIGHBOR WAS RECEIVED BY THE BREINIGSVILLE CONTROL CENTER. THE BREINIGSVILLE CONTROL CENTER SHUT DOWN THE INBOUND PIPELINE AND CONTACTED MACUNGIE OPERATIONS. MACUNGIE OPERATIONS PERFORMED A FACILITY CHECK AND REPORTED NO PRODUCT ODOR OR SOIL STAINING WAS FOUND. THE INBOUND PIPELINE WAS RESTARTED AND NORMAL OPERATIONS RESUMED. AT 09:00 A.M. ON THE MORNING OF 6/18/2012 A MACUNGIE PIPELINER WAS PREPARING MACUNGIE TANK 228 FOR AN OUTBOUND PRODUCT MOVEMENT. HE SMELLED GASOLINE AT THE BASE OF THE TANK AND NOTICED FREE PRODUCT IN THE TANK SHELL VALVE PIT. THE MACUNGIE PIPELINER THEN CALLED MACUNGIE STATION TO REPORT A POTENTIAL RELEASE. WHEN ADDITIONAL PERSONNEL ARRIVED ON SITE, PRODUCT STAINING WAS NOTICED AT THE TANK VENTS. EMERGENCY RESPONSE WAS BEGUN AND INTERNAL NOTIFICATIONS WERE PERFORMED. THE NRC WAS NOTIFIED AT 14:18 P.M. AFTER IT WAS DETERMINED THAT THE COSTS MAY REACH THE REPORTING CRITERIA. THE INCIDENT INVESTIGATION IS STILL IN PROGRESS. PRELIMINARY FINDINGS SUGGEST MECHANICAL FAILURE MAY HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO THE INCIDENT. A SUPPLEMENTAL REPORT WILL BE FILED UPON THE COMPLETION OF THE INVESTIGATION. REMEDIATION AND REPAIRS ARE ONGOING. ------------------------------------------------------------ UPDATE: 8/24/2012 THE INCIDENT INVESTIGATION FOUND THAT TANK 228'S GAUGE SYSTEM WAS READING APPROXIMATELY 18 INCHES LOWER THAN THE ACTUAL LEVEL IN THE TANK. ADDITIONALLY, THE INVESTIGATION FOUND THE INDEPENDENT HI-HI MAGNETROL ALARM LEVEL WAS 7 INCHES TOO HIGH. AS A RESULT, THE TANK GAUGE WAS SHOWING THE TANK LEVEL TO BE AT MAX SAFE FILL AT THE SAME TIME THE HI-HI ALARM WAS RECEIVED AND THE TANK WAS IN AN OVERFILL CONDITION. THE TANK GAUGE LEVEL AND ALARM LEVELS FOR TANK 228 WERE RECALCULATED AND ADJUSTED TO THE APPROPRIATE LEVELS. ALL OTHER TANKS AT THE MACUNGIE TANK FARM WERE ALSO CHECKED TO ENSURE GAUGE AND ALARM LEVEL ACCURACY. THE TANK HAS BEEN PUT BACK IN SERVICE. MONITORING WELLS HAVE BEEN INSTALLED IN THE TANK DIKE. NO OTHER REMEDIATION ACTIVITIES ARE PLANNED. *SUPPLEMENTAL ANSWERED PART E 5F

PHMSA trend classification: significant incident, not serious.

PHMSA standardized cause: INCORRECT OPERATION — OVERFILL/OVERFLOW OF TANK/VESSEL/SUMP.

PHMSA indexed costs: $87,000 reported total cost, $45,822.9 in 1984 dollars, $112,847.7 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.