Workers Strike Major Pipeline

Hamilton Township (MERCER) NJ--Workers along the New Jersey Turnpike struck a major pipeline causing it to be shut down to control the leak. The leak was reported at approximately 11:45 a.m. on Friday October 3, 2008 sending the Groveville Fire Company to the scene. Upon arrival C-19 requested the Hamilton Township Hazardous Materials team as well as a response from the pipeline company and the New Jersey Turnpike Authority for diesel fuel coming out of the ground from the struck pipeline. The effected pipeline is believed to be a 24.3 section of the Colonial Pipeline that runs from the Gulf of Mexico to Linden, NJ and carried 100 million gallons of product a day.

Pipeline accident causes oil leak

Cleanup and repair get under way in Hamilton

Trenton Times: http://www.nj.com

HAMILTON -- A subcontractor working on the New Jersey Turnpike expansion accidentally drilled into a pipeline carrying diesel fuel from Houston to Linden, causing an undetermined amount of oil to spill.

Hamilton's hazardous material team was called out to the Evergreen Tree Farm at 11:40 a.m. to contain the spill, which leaked No.2 oil into the soil across a patch of land spanning 100 feet by 150 feet, said hazmat director Walt Bronek.

The line, owned by Colonial Pipeline Co., was immediately shut down.

Bronek said the hazmat crew constructed what's known as an "earth berm" to contain the spill.

Steve Baker, a spokesman for Colonial Pipeline, said repair and cleanup crews were working at the site by midafternoon.

"We have people on the scene, along with officials from the state's Department of Environmental Protection, who are containing the leak, and repair will soon be under way," Baker said in the afternoon. "For safety reasons, we had to shut the line down, but it's really an isolated area."

Baker said they did not know how long repairs would take.

Joe Orlando, a spokesman for the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, said traffic on the Turnpike was not affected as a result of the spill. The leak is close to milepost 58.5 near Yardville-Allentown Road and Uncle Petes Road.

"At this point, we aren't sure who exactly hit the line, but it's clear it was an accident," Orlando said. "It's a relatively small area that's been affected."

A woman at the Evergreen Tree Farm said police and fire officials were busy cleaning the site, but she added the farm had not been adversely affected. The crews did block a back road near the farm, but the main entrance remained clear.

Baker said it did not appear the delay in service would have a significant effect on Colonial Pipeline's customers. The company had anticipated downtime this weekend when the fuel wouldn't be flowing through the pipeline, so the stoppage should have minimal impact on customers, he said.

While the company wasn't able to measure the amount of oil that was lost, Baker said company workers at the site didn't believe it was a large amount.

It hadn't been determined yesterday what exactly caused the subcontractor to strike the line or whether the workers were following proper procedures.

Baker said such incidents are rare and the company aims to prevent them from happening.

The pipeline is part of a 5,500-mile system, including the line that runs from Houston through Greensboro, N.C., to Linden, where there is a terminal.

Colonial Pipeline is based in Alpharetta, Ga., and delivers an average of 95 million gallons per day of gasoline, kerosene, home heating oil, diesel fuel and military fuel to shipper terminals in 12 Southern and Eastern states and the District of Columbia, according to the company's website.

It takes 14 to 24 hours to bring the fuel from Houston to Linden, according to the company.

10/04/2008

Farm soiled by oil: One estimate says 3 million gallons clogged in pipe

By JACK KNARR , Staff Writer The Trentonian, http://www.trentonian.com

HAMILTON - Construction workers on the New Jersey Turnpike in Hamilton punched a hole in an interstate oil pipeline yesterday, causing about 1,000 gallons of diesel oil to ooze out onto the fertile soil of Evergreen Farm.

From the spot where the 2-inch drill bit broke through to Raritan 23 miles away where a valve was activated that electronically shut down the pipeline, the township estimates 3 million gallons of oil were backed up in the Colonial Pipeline.

A Colonial spokesman said it was less, but had no estimate.
Repair workers were drilling more new holes in the pipeline last night, so evacuation hoses could be inserted, and 200,000 gallons of oil sucked out and saved in trucks. Only then could the accidental breach - and the evacvuation holes - be repaired this weekend, said Colonial Manager Steve Baker.

Baker said the pipeline could be back in service some time this weekend. "But this line was scheduled to be idle this weekend anyway," he said. "I don't think this will have that big an impact" on overall Colonial delivery.

After the 11:45 a.m. breach was first reported at Evergreen Orchards off the Yardville-Hamilton Square Road, the Groveville Fire Co. responded and quickly called for the township's hazardous materials team after diesel fuel was spotted coming out of the ground.

A company contracted by the Turnpike Authority, Cone Tec, had been "digging borings for a project on the turnpike when a hole was punched in the pipeline," said Karen Hershey, spokesman for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.

Township, state and pipeline experts quickly shored up the drill hole in the pipeline.

"The (drill) bit still remains in the pipeline, which is limiting a larger amount of oil leakage from occurring," said Dominic DeGregory, aide to Hamilton Mayor John Bencivengo. Township hazardous materials workers, led by Walt Bronick, director of the office of safety, created earthen berths that contained the spill.

DeGregory said the drill bit was 6 inches, but Colonial's Baker said the bit was only 2 inches, "which extends a pencil-length device inside" the struck pipe.

Steve Baker said crews were on the scene last night "recovering product" as vacuum trucks put the oil in tankers. "Additional crews are there to repair the line."
The pipeline carries an average of 100 million gallons of gasoline, home heating oil, aviation fuel and other refined petroleum products per day to locations throughout the south and eastern United States, from the Gulf of Mexico to the New York harbor.

Colonial, based in Alpharetta, Ga., has had its share of bad luck in the last month. Hurricane Gustav hit the Louisiana Coast Sept. 1, knocking out power and stalling refinery production, the company said on its Web site. Then less than two weeks later, Hurricane Ike repeated the destruction, this time in Houston, halting production at major Texas refineries.

Only on Sept. 29 was pre-Gustav flow levels achieved again. It wasn't known how the two-inch Hamilton drill-bit hit would affect Colonial.

Photos below provided by: On-Scene Online

12 p.m. photos below: