{"operation":"document","citation":"CPF 120025005","title":"SUNOCO PIPELINE LP — Notice of Probable Violation","source_type":"enforcement","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"historical","official":true,"published_on":"2002-07-03","effective_on":null,"summary":"CLOSED notice of probable violation citing 195.452(b).","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-120025005.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-120025005.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-120025005","source_url":"https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-data/case/120025005","body":"Notice of Probable Violation involving SUNOCO PIPELINE LP. PHMSA's enforcement data identifies the cited regulation as 195.452(b). The case was opened on 2002-07-03 and is reported as closed as of 2006-06-30. Proposed civil penalty: $10,000. Assessed civil penalty: $5,000. Open the official case record for notices, responses, orders, and the latest status.\n\nOfficial case documents:\n\n120025005_Final Order_06232003.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/120025005/120025005_Final%20Order_06232003.pdf\n\n120025005_final order_06232003_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/120025005/120025005_final%20order_06232003_text.pdf\n\ncpf120025005o.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/120025005/cpf120025005o.pdf\n\ncpf120025005o_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/120025005/cpf120025005o_text.pdf\n\n120025005_final order_06232003_text.pdf\n\no\nU 5 Deportment\not Tionspoilot toft\nResearch and\nSpecial Programs\nAdministration\n400 Seventh St S w\nWashington 0 C 20590\nJUN 23 2003\nMr David Justin\nVice President\nSunoco Pipeline, L P\nTen Penn Center\n1801 Market Street\nPhiladelphia, PA 19103\nRe CPF No 1-2002-5005\nDear Mr Justm\nEnclosed is the Final Order issued by the Associate Adnunistrator for Pipehne Safety in the\nabove-referenced case It makes a finding of violation, assesses a civil penalty of $5, 000, and\nrequires the amendment of certain of your integnty management program procedures The Final\nOrder also finds that you have completed the Proposed Compliance Order item set forth in the\nNotice When the civil penalty is paid and the amendment of procedures completed, as determmed\nby the Director, Eastern Region, OPS, this enforcement action will be closed The penalty payment\nterms are set forth in the Final Order Your receipt of the Final Order constitutes service of that\ndocument under 49 CF R ) 190 5\nSincerely,\nQ~t-rent-Io~ k. 4a 1'\nGwendolyn M Hill\nPipeline Comphance Registry\nOffice of Pipeline Safety\nEnclosure\nCERTIFIED MAIL - RETURN RECEIPT RE UESTED\n\n\n\nDEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION\nRESEARCH AND SPECIAL PROGRAMS ADMINISTRATION\nOFFICE OF PIPELINE SAFETY\nWASHINGTON, DC 20590\nIn the Matter of\nSunoco Pipeline, L P\nRespondent\nCPF No 1-2002-5005\nFINAL ORDER\nOn March 5-7, 2002, pursuant to 49 U S C ) 60117, representatives of the Eastern and Southwest\nRegions, Office of Pipehne Safety (OPS) inspected Sunoco Pipeline L P 's (Respondent's) integri y\nmanagement program at Respondent's facility in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania As a result of the\ninspection, the Director, Eastern Region, OPS, issued to Respondent, by letter dated July 3, 2002,\na Notice of Probable Violation, Proposed Civil Penalty, Proposed Comphance Order, and Notice of\nAmendment (Notice) In accordance with 49 C F R tJ 190 207, the Notice proposed finding that\nRespondent had violated 49 C F R tJ 195 452(b), proposed assessing a civil penalty of $10, 000 for\nthe alleged violation, and proposed that Respondent take certain measures to correct the alleged\nviolation The Notice also proposed, in accordance with 49 C F R tJ 190 237, that Respon ent\namend its integrity management program procedures\nRespondent responded to the Notice by letters dated August 2 and 10, 2002 (Response) Respondent\nimtially contested the allegation of violation, offered an explanation, and requested a heanng By\nd edJanu 16 2003, Respondentdemonstratedthatithadcompletedthemeasurestocorrect\nthe alleged violation that was proposed in the Notice By letter dated February 12, 2003, espon en\nprovided information in mitigation of the proposed civil penalty for the alleged violation, an\nmformation outhning certain modifications it made to its integrity management procedures after\nreceiving the Notice y et er a e e ru\nB I t d t dF b ary28 2003 Respondentprovidedfurtherinformation\nin mitigation of the proposed civil penalty and informed OPS that it was no longer contesting the\nallegation of violation y et er\nB I t dated March 5 2003 Respondent withdrew its request for a\nheanng\nFINDING OF VIOLATION\nIn R its esponse, as\nsupplemented, Respondent did not contest the alleged violation in the Notice\nAccordingly I find that Respondent violated the following section of 49\nfully described in the Notice\n\n\n\n49 C F R tJ 195 452(b) — failing to identify all of its pipeline segments that could affect a\nlugh consequence area (HCA) by the December 31, 2001 deadline\nThis finding of violation will be considered a pnor offense m any subsequent enforcement action\ntaken against Respondent\nASSESSMENT OF PENALTY\nUnder 49 U S C tJ 60122, Respondent is sub)ect to a civil penalty not to exceed $100, 000 per\nviolation for each day of the violation up to a maximum of $1, 000, 000 for any related senes of\nviolations\n49 U S C tJ 60122 and 49 C F R ) 190 225 require that, in determining the amount of the civil\npenalty I consider the following criteria nature, circumstances, and gravity of the violation, degree\nof Respondent's culpability, history of Respondent's pnor offenses, Respondent's abihty to pay the\npenalty, good faith by Respondent m attemptmg to achieve comphance, the effect on Respondent's\nability to connnue in business, and such other matters as Justice may require\nThe Notice proposed a total civil penalty of $10, 000 for violation of tJ 195 452(b), Respondent's\nfailure to identify drinking water and ecological HCAs in seven states and resulting failure to identify\nall of its pipeline segments that could affect those HCAs by the December 31, 2001 deadline A full\nand accurate identification of all pipeline segments that could affect HCAs is a crucial first step in\nthe integnty management process Determining which pipehne segments are located in or near\nHCAs requires first identifying the HCAs themselves Under ) 195 452(b), Respondent was\nobhgated to do so, even where areas meetmg the defimtion of a HCA were not yet designated as such\nm the Department of Transportation's National Pipeline Mapping System After receiving the\nNotice, however, Respondent demonstrated good faith in attempting to come into compliance In\nits response letters, Respondent acknowledged that it failed to identify its pipelme segments that\ncould affect the referenced dnnking water and ecological HCAs prior to the deadhne Notably,\nRespondent took timely corrective action and has now identified additional pipeline segments that\ncould affect HCAs after incorporating drmktng water and ecological HCAs in Arkansas, Kentucky,\nTennessee, Michigan, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, and has submitted a revised list\nof its pipeline segments that could affect HCAs to OPS Respondent has also expressed its intent\nto bnng its integrity management procedures mto comphance m accordance with the Notice\nAccordingly, having reviewed the record and consideredthe assessment criteria, I assess Respondent\na total civd penalty of $5, 000 for the violation\nPayment of the civil penalty must be made witlun 20 days of service Payment may be made by\nsendm a certified check or money order (containing the CPF Number for this case) payable to \"U S\nDepartment of Transportation\" to the Federal Aviation Administration, Mike Monroney Aeronautical\nCenter Financial Operations Division (AMZ-120), P 0 Box 25770, Oklahoma City, OK 73125\n)\n\n\n\nFederal regulations (49 C F R $ 89 21(b)(3)) also permit this payment to be made by wire transfer,\nthrough the Federal Reserve Commumcations System (Fedwire), to the account o f the U S Treasury\nDetailed instructions are contamed in the enclosure Questions concerning wire transfers should be\ndirected to Financial Operations Division (AMZ-120), Federal Aviation Admiiustration, Mike\nMonroney Aeronautical Center, P 0 Box 25770, Oklahoma City, OK 73125, (405) 954-4719\nFailure to pay the $5, 000 civil penalty will result in accrual of interest at the current annual rate in\naccordance with 31 U S C ) 3717, 31 C F R $ 901 9 and 49 C F R IJ 89 23 Pursuant to those same\nauthonties, a late penalty charge of six percent (65') per annum will be charged if payment is not\nmade within 110 days of service Furthermore, failure to pay the civil penalty may result in referral\nof the matter to the Attorney General for appropnate action in a United States Distnct Court\nCOMPLIANCE ORDER\nThe Notice proposed a Compliance Order in connection with the above-referenced violation of\n49 C F R ) 195 452(b) Respondent subsequently demonstrated corrective action meeting the\nrequirements of the proposed Compliance Order Respondent has now identified additional pipehne\nsegments that could affect HCAs after incorporating dnnking water and ecological HCAs in\nArkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, Michigan, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, and has\nsubmitted a revised hst of its pipehne segments that could affect HCAs Because Respondent's\nactions satisfy the terms of the proposed Compliance Order, issuance of a Comp hance Order is not\nnecessary\nAMENDMENT OF PROCEDURES\nThe Notice alleged inadequacies in Respondent's inte~ty management program procedures and\nproposed to require amendment of Respondent's segment identification procedures to comply with\nthe requirements of 49 C F R ) 195 452 In its response letters, Respondent indicated that it had\nrevised several elements of its segment identification procedures Although these revisions were\nsummanzed in the response letters, the revised procedures themselves were not appended\nTherefore, there is insufficient information to determine whether the revisions address all of the\ninadequacies descnbed in the Notice\nAccordmgly, I find that Respondent's procedures are inadequate to assure the safe operation of its\npipehne system Pursuant to 49 U S C IJ 60108(a) and 49 C F R tJ 190 237, Respondent is ordered\nto make the following changes to its integnty management program procedures\nI Amend the procedures to provide adequate techmcal Justification for determining the extent\nof the air dispersion buffer zones used to identify pipeline segments that could affect HCAs\nby includmg an accepted, technically sound vapor cloud dispersion analysis for highly\nvolatile liquid (HVL) pipeline segments\n2 Am d th dures to provide adequate technical ]ustification for determining the extent\nen e proce e b full\nof the buffer zones used to identify pipeline segments that could affect HCAs y u y\naccounting for the flow charactenstics of commercially navigable waterways and minor\nstreams in the vicimty of its pipelines that can transport releases of commodity to HCAs\n\n\n\n3 Amend the procedures to provide adequate techmcal Iustification for determining the extent\nof the buffer zones used to identify pipeline segments that could affect HCAs by including\nan accepted, technically sound land flow analysis using site-specific spill modeling that\nincorporates factors such as topological and hydraulic gradients that could stretch the spi\npool footpnnt, or alternatively, provide adequate techmcal lusti fications demonstrating that\nthe overland flow assumptions being used are consistent with conservative or worst case\ndischarge scenarios\n4 Amend the procedures to include a field vahdation and quality assurance review of the\nresults of the segment identification process to ensure that all pipeline segments that could\naffect a HCA have been identified\n5 Withm 30 days following receipt of this Fmal Order, submit the amended procedures and all\ntechnical Iustifications demonstrating compliance with this Order to the Director, Eastern\nRegion Office ofPipehne Safety, 400 7 Street, SW, Room 7128, Washington, DC 20590\ng\nThe Director, Eastern Region, OPS, may grant an extension of time to comply with any of the\nrequired items upon a wntten request by the Respondent demonstratmg good cause for an extension\nFailure to comply with this Order may result in the assessment of civil penalties of up to $100, 000\nper violation per day, or in the referral of the case for Iudhcial enforcement\nUnder 49 C F R $ 190 215, Respondent has a nght to petition for reconsideration of this Final\nOrder However, if the civil penalty is paid, Respondent waives the nght to petition or\nreconsideration The filing of a pehtion for reconsideration automahcally stays the payment of any\ncivil penalty assessed The petition must be received within 20 days of Respondettt's recept of thts\nFinal Order and must contain a brief statement of the issue(s) All other terms of the order, including\nany required corrective action, remain in full effect unless the Associate Admmistrator, upon written\nrequest, grants a stay The terms and conditions of this Final Order are effective on receipt\nJLIN 23 2933\nDate Issued\nStacey Gerard\nAssociate Admuustrator\nfor Pipehne Safety","truncated":false,"body_characters":12649}