This paper provides a statistical analysis of onshore hazardous liquid pipeline accidents in the United States from January 2010 to April 2020 by evaluating releases reported to be caused by internal corrosion. The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS) Accident Investigation Division (AID) collected and reviewed historical records from Form PHMSA F 7000-1 (Hazardous Liquid/CO2 Accident Report). During the last ten years, PHMSA regulated pipeline companies (operators) have reported 503 internal corrosion accidents, accounting for a total property damage of approximately $188,000,000 and nearly 53,000 barrels spilled. Nearly half of these internal corrosion failures were caused by microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC). About a third were associated with water drop-out/acid, the remainder of the failures were caused by a variety of mechanisms such as erosion, pitting corrosion, galvanic action, carbon dioxide, and buildup of sulfide products, among others.
In this paper, data will be presented and real accidents will be showcased to highlight the contributing causes and underlying mechanisms of the internal corrosion damage of components that resulted in significant releases of hazardous substances, creating a potential hazard for the public, workers, and the environment. The objectives of this paper are to understand the causes of the failures and their consequences, to identify the risk factors involved, and to report trends that may indicate the need for additional preventative and mitigative actions. The over-riding goal is to provide some details in areas for potential improvement in pipeline operations to reduce risk from internal corrosion and improve integrity management goals.
The U.S. Department of Transportation Pipeline Hazardous Material Safety Administration (PHMSA) oversees the safe movement of hazardous materials and energy-related products. PHMSA executes its mission by developing safety standards to protect the public and environment, advancing industry safety systems, encouraging innovation and research, providing comprehensive safety inspections, and when necessary, executing enforcement actions. PHMSA requires pipeline operators to comply with integrity management regulations in high consequence areas (HCAs) for gas transmission pipelines [1], gas distribution pipelines [2], and hazardous liquid (HL) pipelines [3] per rules in Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Parts 192 and 195. Integrity management programs for gas and hazardous liquid pipeline systems cover a vast network of the infrastructure including some regulated gathering lines, transmission lines, tank storage, and distribution lines. Pipeline operators develop written procedures to ensure that integrity management processes are implemented for the entire life span of assets.
