# TRI-STATES NGL PIPELINE LLC — Notice of Amendment

**Citation:** CPF 220135001M  
**Type / status:** enforcement / historical  
**Agency:** Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration  
**Effective:** Not stated  
**Published:** 2013-01-29

CLOSED notice of amendment citing 195.402(d)(1).

## Document text

Notice of Amendment involving TRI-STATES NGL PIPELINE LLC. PHMSA's enforcement data identifies the cited regulation as 195.402(d)(1). The case was opened on 2013-01-29 and is reported as closed as of 2013-04-02. Open the official case record for notices, responses, orders, and the latest status.

Official case documents:

220135001M_closure letter_04022013.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/220135001M/220135001M_closure%20letter_04022013.pdf

220135001M_closure letter_04022013_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/220135001M/220135001M_closure%20letter_04022013_text.pdf

220135001M_notice of amendment_01292013.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/220135001M/220135001M_notice%20of%20amendment_01292013.pdf

220135001M_notice of amendment_01292013_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/220135001M/220135001M_notice%20of%20amendment_01292013_text.pdf

220135001M_Operator Response to Notice_03222013.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/220135001M/220135001M_Operator%20Response%20to%20Notice_03222013.pdf

220135001M_closure letter_04022013_text.pdf

CERTIFIED MAIL - RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED
April 2, 2013
Mr. Steve Pankhurst
Business Unit Leader
Tri-States NGL Pipeline LLC
150 West Warrenville Road
Naperville, IL 60563
CPF 2-2013-5001M
Dear Mr. Pankhurst:
On June 18-22, 2012, a representative of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety
Administration (PHMSA), Southern Region, Office of Pipeline Safety conducted an on-site
pipeline safety inspection of the Tri-States NGL Pipeline, LLC (Tri-States) written
Operations, Maintenance, and Emergency Response Manual (OMER) in Moss Point,
Mississippi, pursuant to Chapter 601 of 49 United States Code. As a result of the inspection,
PHMSA issued Tri-States a Notice of Amendment (NOA) on January 29, 2013.
The PHMSA Southern Region reviewed the amended procedures Tri-States submitted to us
on March 22, 2013, and find them adequate. This letter is to inform you that Tri-States has
complied with the terms of the NOA and that no further actions are necessary with regards to
the NOA. This case is now closed.
Please be advised that this letter refers only to the NOA (CPF 2-2013-5001M) and not to any
other PHMSA pending cases, if any. Also be advised that nothing herein states or implies that
the above described OMER procedures meet the requirements of the federal pipeline safety
regulations or that the OMER procedures are approved. The pipeline system and OMER
procedures remain subject to inspection by PHMSA.
Sincerely,
Wayne T. Lemoi
Director, Office of Pipeline Safety
PHMSA Southern Region

220135001M_notice of amendment_01292013_text.pdf

NOTICE OF AMENDMENT
CERTIFIED MAIL - RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED
CPF 2-2013-5001M
January 29, 2013
Mr. Steve Pankhurst
Business Unit Leader
Tri-States NGL Pipeline LLC
150 West Warrenville Road
Naperville, IL 60563
Dear Mr. Pankhurst:
On June 18-22, 2012, a representative of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety
Administration (PHMSA), Southern Region, Office of Pipeline Safety inspected the
Tri-States NGL Pipeline, LLC (Tri-States) written Operations, Maintenance, and Emergency
Response Manual (OMER) at your Moss Point, Mississippi office pursuant to Chapter 601 of
49 United States Code.
On the basis of the inspection, PHMSA has identified apparent inadequacies within Tri-States
written OMER procedures, as described below:
1. §195.402 Procedural manual for operations, maintenance, and emergencies.
... (d) Abnormal operation. The manual required by paragraph (a) of this section must
include procedures for the following to provide safety when operating design limits have
been exceeded:
(1) Responding to, investigating, and correcting the cause of:
(i) Unintended closure of valves or shutdowns;
(ii) Increase or decrease in pressure or flow rate outside normal operating limits;
(iii) Loss of communications;
(iv) Operation of any safety device;
(v) Any other malfunction of a component, deviation from normal operation, or
personnel error which could cause a hazard to persons or property.
Tri-State’s procedures for abnormal operation did not require Tri-States to investigate and
determine the cause of all abnormal operations and did not clearly explain how Tri-States
would investigate abnormal operations.
Tri-States OMER procedure P-195.402(d) Abnormal Operations, Section A, General
conveyed: “Those events potentially involving equipment failure or those, which cannot be
cleared from the Control Center, will be referred to the appropriate field maintenance
personnel for further investigation and resolution.” This was inadequate as highlighted in



− Section B.1. Unintended/Unexplained Valve Closure where an unintended or unexplained
valve closure would only be investigated and documented by creating a MAXIMO Work
Request using Job Plan UG 1976 if the control center was unable to re-open the valve; and,
− Section B.2. Unintended/Unexplained Station Shutdown where an unintended or unexplained
station shutdown would only be investigated and documented by creating a work request if
the fault condition cannot be cleared [AND] the station is needed for current operations.
Response to this Notice
This Notice is provided pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 60108(a) and 49 C.F.R. § 190.237. Enclosed
as part of this Notice is a document entitled Response Options for Pipeline Operators in
Compliance Proceedings. Please refer to this document and note the response options. Be
advised that all material you submit in response to this enforcement action is subject to being
made publicly available. If you believe that any portion of your responsive material qualifies
for confidential treatment under 5 U.S.C. 552(b), along with the complete original document
you must provide a second copy of the document with the portions you believe qualify for
confidential treatment redacted and an explanation of why you believe the redacted
information qualifies for confidential treatment under 5 U.S.C. 552(b). If you do not respond
within 30 days of receipt of this Notice, this constitutes a waiver of your right to contest the
allegations in this Notice and authorizes the Associate Administrator for Pipeline Safety to
find facts as alleged in this Notice without further notice to you and to issue a Final Order.
If, after opportunity for a hearing, your plans or procedures are found inadequate as alleged in
this Notice, you may be ordered to amend your plans or procedures to correct the
inadequacies (49 C.F.R. § 190.237). If you are not contesting this Notice, we propose that
you submit your amended procedures to my office within 30 days of receipt of this Notice.
This period may be extended by written request for good cause. Once the inadequacies
identified herein have been addressed in your amended procedures, this enforcement action
will be closed.
It is requested (not mandated) that Tri-States NGL Pipeline LLC maintain documentation of
the safety improvement costs associated with fulfilling this Notice of Amendment
(preparation/revision of plans, procedures) and submit the total to Wayne T. Lemoi, Director,
Southern Region, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. In correspondence
concerning this matter, please refer to CPF 2-2013-5001M and, for each document you
submit, please provide a copy in electronic format whenever possible.
Sincerely,
Wayne T. Lemoi
Director, Office of Pipeline Safety
PHMSA Southern Region
Enclosure: Response Options for Pipeline Operators in Compliance Proceedings
2

## Provenance

- Official: Yes
- Source: <https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-data/case/220135001M>
- Source ID: `phmsa-enforcement`
- SHA-256: `1ef330e301b4f26da0bc34c295cb65d3bdc20bbeb7e25f018e865634d9dec8ce`
- Retrieved: 2026-08-20T04:44:44.458Z
- Exported: 2026-08-22T15:30:32.685Z
- Document slug: `phmsa-enforcement-220135001m`

### Source metadata

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  "region": "Southern",
  "pipelineType": "INTERSTATE LIQUID ONSHORE",
  "caseStatus": "CLOSED",
  "citedSections": [
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  ],
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  "jurisdiction": "US",
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}
```
