| |
Undiscovered Pipe Failure
Executive Summary: On the morning of April 7, 2000,
the Piney Point Oil Pipeline system, which was owned by the Potomac Electric
Power Company, experienced a pipe failure at the Chalk Point Generating
Station in southeastern Prince George's County, Maryland. The release
was not discovered and addressed by the contract operating company, Support
Terminal Services, Inc., until the late afternoon. Approximately 140,400
gallons of fuel oil were released into the surrounding wetlands and Swanson
Creek and, subsequently, the Patuxent River as a result of the accident.
No injuries were caused by the accident, which cost approximately $71
million for environmental response and clean-up operations.
The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the
probable cause of the April 7, 2000, Piney Point Oil Pipeline
accident at the Potomac Electric Power Company's Chalk Point,
Maryland, generating station was a fracture in a buckle in
the pipe that was undiscovered because the data from an in-line
inspection tool were interpreted inaccurately as representing
a T-piece. Contributing to the magnitude of the fuel oil release
were inadequate operating procedures and practices for monitoring
the flow of fuel oil through the pipeline to ensure timely
leak detection.
http://www.ntsb.gov/publictn/2002/PAR0201.htm
|
|
|
|
