PHMSA Report 20230047
PHMSA Report 20230047
Hazardous liquid gravity and reporting-regulated-only incident in WRIGHT, CAMPBELL County, WY. Reported cause: CORROSION FAILURE. Reported consequences: 0 fatalities, 0 injuries, 150 CRUDE OIL released, $19,121 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: 20230047.
Operator ID: 31878.
Reported incident date: 5/6/2023 9:06.
Cause detail: INTERNAL CORROSION
Cause detail: AT APPROXIMATELY 9:06 A.M. ON MAY 06, 2023, A THIRD PARTY CALLED THE BRIDGER PIPELINE LLC CONTROL CENTER TO REPORT A POTENTIAL CRUDE OIL LEAK ON THE BRIDGER PIPELINE LLC BOLT TO HWY 450 8" GATHERING PIPELINE. THE CONTROL CENTER OPERATOR PROMPTLY CONTACTED THE WRIGHT AREA SUPERVISOR AND PROVIDED HIM THE LOCATION INFORMATION TO FOLLOW UP ON THE REPORTED LEAK. THE AREA SUPERVISOR SUBSEQUENTLY RESPONDED TO THE REPORTED LOCATION AND ARRIVED ON SITE AT APPROXIMATELY 9:30 A.M.. WHILE AT THE LEAK SITE THAT WAS INITIALLY REPORTED, THE AREA SUPERVISOR WAS MADE AWARE OF TWO ADDITIONAL POTENTIAL CRUDE OIL LEAKS ON THE SAME 8" PIPELINE. SINCE THEIR LOCATION WAS CLOSE, HE SUBSEQUENTLY RESPONDED TO THE OTHER LOCATIONS AND VERIFIED CRUDE OIL LEAKS AT EACH LOCATION. (PLEASE REFERENCE 05/06/2023 PHMSA F7000-2 REPORTS FOR BRIDGER PIPELINE LLC LEAKS LOCATED AT GPS LOCATIONS 43.624936,-105.494388 AND 43.622928,-105.511763.) AFTER VERIFYING ALL 3 LEAKS, THE AREA SUPERVISOR CONTACTED OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT AND INFORMED THEM ABOUT THE LEAKS. SHORTLY AFTER DISCOVERING THE LEAKS, THE COMPANY PIPELINE MAINTENANCE CREW AND ADDITIONAL CONTRACTOR RESOURCES WERE MOBILIZED AND BEGAN ARRIVING TO THE 3 LEAK LOCATIONS AT APPROXIMATELY 10:30 A.M.. THEY PROMPTLY BEGAN WORK ON CONTAINING ALL FREE LIQUIDS. ONCE THE LEAK WAS CONTAINED, THE PIPELINE WAS EXCAVATED AND EXPOSED. AFTER THE LINE WAS EXPOSED, A VISUAL EXAMINATION REVEALED A SMALL LEAK ON THE BOTTOM OF THE PIPE. A LEAK CLAMP WAS SUBSEQUENTLY INSTALLED TO STOP THE LEAK AND COMPANY PERSONNEL AND ADDITIONAL CONTRACTOR RESOURCES BEGAN CLEANUP OPERATIONS AT THE LOCATION. AFTER THE IMMEDIATE LEAK LOCATION WAS CLEANED UP, THE SECTION OF PIPE WITH THE LEAK WAS CUTOUT AND REPLACED. THE REMOVED SECTION OF PIPE WAS CUT OPEN AND FIELD EMPLOYEES VERIFIED THE LEAK WAS DUE TO INTERNAL CORROSION. AS A RESULT OF THE INITIAL FIELD EXAMINATION, AN ASSESSMENT OF THE LINE SEGMENT USING A MFL INLINE INSPECTION TOOL WAS COMPLETED, AND 3 ADDITIONAL ANOMALIES WERE IDENTIFIED FOR REPAIR. ALL ANOMALIES HAVE BEEN REPAIRED AND THE LINE HAS BEEN PLACED BACK INTO SERVICE. THE LEAK DID NOT IMPACT ANY SURFACE WATER, GROUND WATER OR WILDLIFE; HOWEVER, AN APPROXIMATE 600 FT. LONG BY 100 FT. WIDE AREA OF SOIL WAS CONTAMINATED. ALL CONTAMINATED SOILS HAVE BEEN EXCAVATED AND REPLACED WITH CLEAN FILL DIRT. THE CONTAMINATED SOILS WERE MANAGED IN ACCORDANCE WITH WYOMING DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY REQUIREMENTS. THE LEAK DID MEET WYOMING DEQ SPILL REPORTING REQUIREMENTS, SO THEY WERE NOTIFIED AND AN ONLINE WYOMING DEQ SPILL REPORT WAS SUBSEQUENTLY COMPLETED. BECAUSE THE LEAK DID NOT REACH OR IMPACT ANY WATER SOURCES NO NRC NOTIFICATION WAS MADE.
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