ENABLE GAS TRANSMISSION, LLC — Gas transmission and gathering — incident on 2014-11-14

Gas transmission and gathering incident in OKLONA, CLARK County, AR. Reported cause: EXCAVATION DAMAGE. Reported consequences: 0 fatalities, 0 injuries, 2820 NATURAL GAS released, $48,525 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: 20140133.

Operator ID: 602.

Reported incident date: 11/14/2014 17:17.

Location detail: 695+18

Cause detail: EXCAVATION DAMAGE BY THIRD PARTY

Cause detail: NOTIFICATION ISSUE

Cause detail: NO NOTIFICATION MADE TO THE ONE-CALL CENTER/811

Cause detail: FRIDAY 11/14/2014 AT 17:17, SYSTEM CONTROL RECEIVED A CALL FROM MR. GARY GRADY REPORTING THAT A NATURAL GAS LINE HAD BEEN HIT BY A BULLDOZER AND WAS BLOWING GAS NEAR OKOLONA, ARKANSAS. SYSTEM CONTROL CONTACTED EMMET TEAM PERSONNEL TO INVESTIGATE THE CALL. EMMET TEAM PERSONNEL CONTACTED MR. GRADY TO DETERMINE THE LOCATION AND SITUATION. ADDITIONAL PERSONNEL WERE CALLED OUT TO ASSIST WITH RESPONDING TO THE LEAK. AT 18:14, EMMET TEAM PERSONNEL CONFIRMED THAT LINE AM-153 WAS LEAKING GAS. THE SITE OF THE LEAK WAS REPORTED TO BE AT GPS COORDINATES -93.36972716 W, 34.01297563 N. THE SITE OF THE LEAK WAS APPROXIMATELY 1.5 MILES WEST ALONG THE PIPELINE FROM THE OKOLONA CITY LIMITS IN SECTION 29 TOWNSHIP 8S AND RANGE 22W OF CLARK COUNTY. THE LEAK WAS LATER DETERMINED TO BE AT STATION 695+18 ON LINE AM-153. THE PIPELINE WAS MARKED WITH CARSONITE MARKERS AND BURIED APPROXIMATELY 30 INCHES DEEP AT THE LEAK SITE. ADDITIONAL SIGNS WERE ADDED ONCE REPAIR WAS MADE. MR. GRADY TOLD EMMET TEAM PERSONNEL THAT HE WAS OPERATING THE BULLDOZER SUB-CULTIVATING THE PROPERTY FOR THE LANDOWNER IN PREPARATION FOR REPLANTING OF TREES. HE STATED THAT HE HAD NOT NOTIFIED 811 ARKANSAS ONE CALL PRIOR TO STARTING HIS WORK. ARKANSAS ONE CALL PERSONNEL CONFIRMED THAT NO REQUEST TO LOCATE UNDERGROUND UTILITIES WAS RECEIVED WHEN THEY SEARCHED THEIR RECORDS FOR THE HARETOWN ROAD AREA IN CLARK COUNTY. BECAUSE THE LOCAL TEMPERATURE WAS IN THE HIGH 30S AND EXPECTED TO DROP DURING THE NIGHT INTO THE 20S, A PLAN WAS DEVELOPED TO TEMPORARILY STOP THE LEAK AND MAKE PERMANENT REPAIRS DURING THE NEXT DAY. ADDITIONAL PERSONNEL WERE CALLED OUT TO MONITOR LINE PRESSURES AT THE AM-153 TAKE-OFF FROM LINE S NEAR GURDON AND THE END OF AM-153 NEAR DELIGHT. EQUIPMENT AND A TEMPORARY REPAIR SLEEVE WERE BROUGHT FROM THE EMMET OFFICE. AN EMERGENCY EXCAVATION NOTICE WAS GIVEN TO ARKANSAS ONE CALL ABOUT THE IMPENDING EXCAVATION NEAR THE LINE AM-153 LEAK, TICKET # AR14114-0908. THE INSTALLATION OF THE STYLE 96 BOLT-ON REPAIR SLEEVE OVER THE LEAKING PIPE WAS STARTED. AT 00:15 ON SATURDAY 11/15/2014, EMMET TEAM PERSONNEL COMPLETED THE INSTALLATION AND NOTIFIED SYSTEM CONTROL THAT THE LEAK WAS STOPPED. THE LINE PRESSURE AT DELIGHT WAS OBSERVED TO BE APPROXIMATELY 1 PSIG. SYSTEM CONTROL PROVIDED LOCAL, STATE AND FEDERAL AGENCIES WITH UPDATED STATUS REPORTS ABOUT THE AM-153 LEAK. DURING THE INSTALLATION OF THE TEMPORARY LEAK REPAIR, LOCAL DISTRIBUTION COMPANY EXPERIENCED THE LOSS OF NATURAL GAS SERVICE TO 5 OR 6 HOMES. DISTRIBUTION PERSONNEL CLOSED OFF THE DELIGHT DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM AT THE TOWN BORDER STATION DUE TO A CONCERN ABOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF PILOT LIGHTS EXTINGUISHING AND OF ESCAPING GAS. NATURAL GAS DISTRIBUTION SERVICE WAS STOPPED TO APPROXIMATELY 200 CUSTOMERS. AFTER SUNRISE ON 11/15/2014, A CONTRACTOR WAS MOBILIZED. REPAIR MATERIALS INCLUDING PRE-TESTED PIPE, FITTINGS AND STOPPLES WERE BROUGHT TO THE LEAK SITE. SYSTEM CONTROL WAS NOTIFIED OF THE REPAIR WORK THAT WOULD OCCUR. EXCAVATION FOR THE REPAIR INSTALLATION BEGAN AT 09:49. TWO STOPPLES AND A BY-PASS PIPE WERE INSTALLED TO REPLACE THE DAMAGE SECTION OF PIPE. WELDS WERE CHECKED. THE NEW PIPING WAS SUCCESSFULLY LEAK TESTED FROM 13:30 TO 14:00. THE STOPPLES WERE TAPPED TO ALLOW GAS TO FLOW AROUND THE DAMAGED SECTION OF PIPE. THE DAMAGED SECTION OF PIPE WAS REMOVED AND REPLACED WITH WELD CAPS. AT 19:18 ON 11/15/2014, SYSTEM CONTROL WAS NOTIFIED THAT THE PERMANENT REPAIRS WERE COMPLETED. DURING THE INSTALLATION OF THE PERMANENT LEAK REPAIR, THE TOWN BORDER STATION AT DELIGHT WAS REOPENED TO PROVIDE NATURAL GAS TO THE DELIGHT DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM. SGO ASSEMBLED APPROXIMATELY 20 TECHNICIANS TO RELIGHT PILOTS AND RESTORE NATURAL GAS SERVICE TO CUSTOMERS IN DELIGHT.

PHMSA trend classification: not significant, not serious.

PHMSA standardized cause: EXCAVATION DAMAGE — THIRD PARTY EXCAVATION DAMAGE.

PHMSA indexed costs: $70,305 reported total cost, $37,753.506 in 1984 dollars, $83,339.59 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.