# NOVA CHEMICALS CORPORATION — Notice of Probable Violation

**Citation:** CPF 320085015  
**Type / status:** enforcement / historical  
**Agency:** Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration  
**Effective:** Not stated  
**Published:** 2008-12-22

CLOSED notice of probable violation citing 195.509(a).

## Document text

Notice of Probable Violation involving NOVA CHEMICALS CORPORATION. PHMSA's enforcement data identifies the cited regulation as 195.509(a). The case was opened on 2008-12-22 and is reported as closed as of 2010-08-04. Proposed civil penalty: $5,000. Assessed civil penalty: $5,000. Open the official case record for notices, responses, orders, and the latest status.

Official case documents:

320085015_Final Order_08042010.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/320085015/320085015_Final%20Order_08042010.pdf

320085015_Final Order_08042010_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/320085015/320085015_Final%20Order_08042010_text.pdf

320085015_NOPV PCP_12222008.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/320085015/320085015_NOPV%20PCP_12222008.pdf

320085015_nopv pcp_12222008_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/320085015/320085015_nopv%20pcp_12222008_text.pdf

320085015_Operator Response_01192009.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/320085015/320085015_Operator%20Response_01192009.pdf

320085015_Final Order_08042010_text.pdf

AUG 04 2010
Mr. Bill Greene
Senior Vice President, Operations
NOVA Chemicals, Inc.
1555 Coraopolis Heights Road
Moon Township, PA 15108
Re: CPF No. 3-2008-5015
Dear Mr. Greene:
Enclosed please find the Final Order issued in the above-referenced case. It makes a finding of
violation and assesses a civil penalty of $5,000. This is to acknowledge receipt of payment of
the full penalty amount, by wire transfer, dated January 15, 2009. This enforcement action is
now closed. Service of the Final Order by certified mail is deemed effective upon the date of
mailing, or as otherwise provided under 49 C.F.R. § 190.5.
Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.
Sincerely,
Jeffrey D. Wiese
Associate Administrator
for Pipeline Safety
Enclosure
cc: Mr. David Barrett, Director, Central Region, PHMSA
CERTIFIED MAIL – RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED [7005 1160 0001 0039 0621]



U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
PIPELINE AND HAZARDOUS MATERIALS SAFETY ADMINISTRATION
OFFICE OF PIPELINE SAFETY
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20590
____________________________________
)
In the Matter of )
)
NOVA Chemicals, Inc., ) CPF No. 3-2008-5015
)
Respondent. )
____________________________________)
FINAL ORDER
On April 29-30, 2008, pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 60117, a representative of the Pipeline and
Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS),
conducted an on-site pipeline safety inspection of the facilities and records of NOVA Chemicals,
Inc. (NOVA or Respondent), in Marysville, Michigan. NOVA, a subsidiary of NOVA
Chemicals (Canada) Ltd., is a large chemicals and plastics manufacturer and operates three
parallel 3.6-mile pipelines that carry highly volatile refined liquids from Marysville, Michigan,
to the NOVA petrochemical complex in Corunna, Ontario.
As a result of the inspection, the Director, Central Region, OPS (Director), issued to Respondent,
by letter dated December 22, 2008, a Notice of Probable Violation and Proposed Civil Penalty
(Notice). In accordance with 49 C.F.R. § 190.207, the Notice proposed finding that NOVA had
violated 49 C.F.R. § 195.509(a) and proposed assessing a civil penalty of $5,000 for the alleged
violation.
NOVA responded to the Notice by letter dated January 19, 2009 (Response). The company did
not contest the allegation of violation and paid the proposed civil penalty of $5,000, as provided
in 49 C.F.R. § 190.227. Payment of the penalty serves to close the case with prejudice to
Respondent.
FINDING OF VIOLATION
In its Response, NOVA did not contest the allegation in the Notice that it violated 49 C.F.R. Part
195, as follows:
Item 1: The Notice alleged that Respondent violated 49 C.F.R. § 195.509(a), which state in
relevant part:



2
§ 195.509 General.
(a) Operators must have a written qualification program by April 27,
2001. . . .
The Notice alleged that Respondent violated 49 C.F.R. § 195.509(a) by failing to have a written
operator qualification program by April 27, 2001. Although NOVA has been operating the
pipeline facility at Marysville, Michigan, since 1987, it did not have a written qualification
program until November 2006.
Respondent did not contest this allegation of violation. Accordingly, based upon a review of all
of the evidence, I find that Respondent violated 49 C.F.R. § 195.509(a) by failing to have a
written qualification program by April 27, 2001.
Having reviewed the record and considered the assessment criteria, I assess Respondent a civil
penalty of $5,000, which amount has already been paid by Respondent.
The terms and conditions of this Final Order are effective upon service in accordance with 49
C.F.R. § 190.5.
___________________________________ __________________________
Jeffrey D. Wiese Date Issued
Associate Administrator
for Pipeline Safety

## Provenance

- Official: Yes
- Source: <https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-data/case/320085015>
- Source ID: `phmsa-enforcement`
- SHA-256: `e0fd6b7673730f217704343b7c93994c44813b75718814687716573c8e91bcd9`
- Retrieved: 2026-08-20T04:44:44.458Z
- Exported: 2026-08-22T05:00:15.274Z
- Document slug: `phmsa-enforcement-320085015`

### Source metadata

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  "cpf": "320085015",
  "operator": "NOVA CHEMICALS CORPORATION",
  "region": "Central",
  "pipelineType": "INTERSTATE LIQUID ONSHORE",
  "caseStatus": "CLOSED",
  "citedSections": [
    "195.509(a)"
  ],
  "dataAsOf": "08/04/2026 12PM",
  "caseDataAsOf": "2026-08-04",
  "attachmentCount": 5,
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      "bytes": 32533,
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  ],
  "extractedAgencyDocumentCount": 1,
  "attachmentPolicy": "Official attachment links are retained. Agency-issued documents may also include a verified local PDF and page-level text representation.",
  "jurisdiction": "US",
  "operatorName": "NOVA CHEMICALS CORPORATION"
}
```
