BUCKEYE PARTNERS, LP — Hazardous liquid — incident on 2012-07-13

Hazardous liquid incident in EMMAUS, LEHIGH County, PA. Reported cause: CORROSION FAILURE. Reported consequences: 0 fatalities, 0 injuries, 8.7 REFINED AND/OR PETROLEUM PRODUCT (NON-HVL) WHICH IS A LIQUID AT AMBIENT CONDITIONS released, $370,115 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: 20120232.

Operator ID: 1845.

Reported incident date: 7/13/2012 11:30.

Cause detail: EXTERNAL CORROSION

Cause detail: AT 11:30 AM ON JULY 13, 2012, WHILE PERFORMING A MONTHLY TANK INSPECTION ON TANK 230 AT BUCKEYE'S MACUNGIE STATION, A LOCAL OPERATIONS EMPLOYEE NOTICED STAINED SOIL NEXT TO THE TANK. EMERGENCY RESPONSE PROCEDURES WERE INITIATED AND ALL APPROPRIATE NOTIFICATIONS WERE MADE. THE TANK WAS ISOLATED AND EMPTIED. THREE MONITORING WELLS WERE EXCAVATED IN THE AREA OF THE STAINED SOIL. GASOLINE ODOR WAS DETECTED IN THE WELL CLOSEST TO THE TANK, BUT NO FREE PRODUCT WAS OBSERVED. THE MONITORING WELLS WERE MONITORED DURING THE TANK EMPTYING PROCESS AND NO ADDITIONAL PRODUCT WAS DISCOVERED. THE TANK HAS BEEN EMPTIED AND CLEANED. AN INDEPENDENT INSPECTION COMPANY IS PERFORMING A SCAN OF THE TANK BOTTOM TO LOCATE THE SOURCE OF THE RELEASE. THE SOURCE HAS NOT BEEN IDENTIFIED AT THE TIME OF THE SUBMISSION OF THIS REPORT AND THE INVESTIGATION IS ONGOING. UPDATE: THE SOURCE OF THE RELEASE HAS BEEN DETERMINED TO BE A SMALL CRACK IN THE FLOOR PLATE NEAR THE TANK SHELL. THE DAMAGED FLOOR PLATE SECTION AND PART OF THE SHELL WAS REMOVED AND SENT TO AN INDEPENDENT LABORATORY FOR METALLURGICAL ANALYSIS. THE METALLURGICAL ANALYSIS CONFIRMED THAT THE WALL LOSS FROM CORROSION ON THE EXTERIOR SECTION SURFACE OF THE FLOOR PLATE (BOTTOMSIDE) HAD THE EFFECT OF INCREASED STRESS ON THE REMAINING STEEL FROM NORMAL SERVICE LOADS WHICH IN TURN ALLOWED LOW CYCLE FATIGUE CRACKING TO OCCUR. THE TANK REPAIR PROCESS IS UNDERWAY. UPDATE: THE TANK REPAIR PROCESS HAS BEEN COMPLETED AND COSTS FINALIZED. THE TOTAL VOLUME RELEASED HAS BEEN RECALCULATED AT 8.7 BARRELS. SOIL BORING INVESTIGATION WAS CONDUCTED AND SOIL SAMPLES WERE SENT FOR LABORATORY ANALYSIS. ANALYTICAL SOIL RESULTS INDICATED THAT CONCENTRATIONS OF TARGET CONSTITUENTS OF CONCERN ARE BELOW PADEP APPROVED RISK-BASED SITE SPECIFIC STANDARDS FOR MACUNGIE STATION; THEREFORE, NO ADDITIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL INVESTIGATION OR REMEDIATION WILL BE CONDUCTED. BUCKEYE WILL NOT BE MAKING ANY MORE UPDATES TO THIS RELEASE REPORT. *SUPPLEMENTAL ANSWERED PART E 5F

PHMSA trend classification: significant incident, not serious.

PHMSA standardized cause: CORROSION — EXTERNAL.

PHMSA indexed costs: $380,538 reported total cost, $200,429.365 in 1984 dollars, $493,595.84 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.