PHMSA Report 20170423
PHMSA Report 20170423
Hazardous liquid incident in BAYTOWN, HARRIS County, TX. Reported cause: EQUIPMENT FAILURE. Reported consequences: 0 fatalities, 0 injuries, 3.05 HVL OR OTHER FLAMMABLE OR TOXIC FLUID WHICH IS A GAS AT AMBIENT CONDITIONS released, $200 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: 20170423.
Operator ID: 31130.
Reported incident date: 12/2/2017 11:55.
Location detail: A09007D
Cause detail: DEFECTIVE OR LOOSE TUBING OR FITTING
Cause detail: AT 11:55 AM ON 12/2/2017, DCP MIDSTREAM'S HOUSTON CONTROL CENTER (HCC) RECEIVED A CALL FROM THE NEIGHBORING TARGA PLANT CONTROL ROOM. THE OPERATOR AT THE TARGA PLANT STATED THAT HE SAW A PRODUCT VAPOR CLOUD BLOWING INSIDE OF THE DCP FACILITY AT THE MONT BELVIEU STATION, ON THEIR CAMERAS. A HCC CONTROLLER NOTIFIED AN NGL TECH OF THE SITUATION WHO THEN PROCEEDED ON SITE TO INVESTIGATE. AROUND 12:19 PM THE NGL TECH WHICH ARRIVED ONSITE, NOTIFIED HCC THAT EVERYTHING WAS UNDER CONTROL AND THE LEAK WHICH OCCURRED ON A SAMPLER SPEED LOOP MOTOR WAS BLOCKED IN AND COMPLETELY ISOLATED. DCP DETERMINED THAT DUE TO EXCESSIVE VIBRATION OF THE PUMP, THE TUBING BROKE OFF. THE PUMP WILL NOW BE BOLTED ONTO THE CONCRETE SLAB TO ALLEVIATE ANY EXCESSIVE VIBRATION. ADDITIONALLY, DCP IS NOW ENGAGED IN CONDUCTING A SITE STUDY TO DETERMINE THE MOST EFFECTIVE PLACE TO LOCATE ITS LEAK DETECTION EQUIPMENT AND FOR ADDING ANY ADDITIONAL EQUIPMENT.
PHMSA trend classification: not significant, not serious.
PHMSA standardized cause: EQUIPMENT FAILURE — DEFECTIVE OR LOOSE TUBING/FITTING.
PHMSA indexed costs: $285 reported total cost, $139.313 in 1984 dollars, $343.084 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.