{"operation":"document","citation":"CPF 120071010","title":"EQUITRANS INC — Notice of Probable Violation","source_type":"enforcement","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"historical","official":true,"published_on":"2007-10-22","effective_on":null,"summary":"CLOSED notice of probable violation citing 192.163(e).","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-120071010.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-120071010.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-120071010","source_url":"https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-data/case/120071010","body":"Notice of Probable Violation involving EQUITRANS INC. PHMSA's enforcement data identifies the cited regulation as 192.163(e). The case was opened on 2007-10-22 and is reported as closed as of 2009-12-28. Proposed civil penalty: $44,000. Assessed civil penalty: $0. Open the official case record for notices, responses, orders, and the latest status.\n\nOfficial case documents:\n\n120071010_Final Order_12282009.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/120071010/120071010_Final%20Order_12282009.pdf\n\n120071010_Final Order_12282009_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/120071010/120071010_Final%20Order_12282009_text.pdf\n\n120071010_NOPV PCP_10222007.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/120071010/120071010_NOPV%20PCP_10222007.pdf\n\n120071010_nopv pcp_10222007_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/120071010/120071010_nopv%20pcp_10222007_text.pdf\n\n120071010_Final Order_12282009_text.pdf\n\nDEC 28 2009\nMr. Randall L. Crawford\nPresident\nEquitrans, L.P.\n225 North Shore Drive\nPittsburgh, PA 15212-5861\nRe: CPF No. 1-2007-1010\nDear Mr. Crawford:\nEnclosed is the Final Order issued in the above-referenced case. It withdraws the allegation of\nviolation and associated proposed penalty. PHMSA now considers this matter closed. Your\nreceipt of the Final Order constitutes service of that document under 49 C.F.R. § 190.5.\nThank you for your cooperation in this matter.\nSincerely,\nJeffrey D. Wiese\nAssociate Administrator\nfor Pipeline Safety\nEnclosure\ncc: Byron Coy, Director, Eastern Region, PHMSA\nRenita Bivins, Esq., Senior Attorney, PHMSA\nJoseph M. Dawley, Esq., Counsel for Equitrans, L.P.\nJessica A. Fore, Esq., Counsel for Equitrans, L.P.\nCERTIFIED MAIL – RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED [7009 1410 0000 2464 5713]\n\n\n\nU.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION\nPIPELINE AND HAZARDOUS MATERIALS SAFETY ADMINISTRATION\nOFFICE OF PIPELINE SAFETY\nWASHINGTON, D.C. 20590\n______________________________\n)\nIn the Matter of )\n)\nEquitrans, L.P., ) CPF No. 1-2007-1010\n)\nRespondent. )\n______________________________)\nFINAL ORDER\nFrom July 19 to September 8, 2006, pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 60117, a representative of the\nWest Virginia Public Service Commission (WVPSC), as agent for the Pipeline and Hazardous\nMaterials Safety Administration (PHMSA), Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS), conducted an on-\nsite pipeline safety inspection of the natural gas transmission pipeline facilities and records of\nEquitrans, L.P. (Equitrans or Respondent) in West Virginia. Equitrans operates transmission\npipelines and gas storage fields in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Kentucky.\nincluded a field review of Respondent’s Curtisville compressor station.\n1 The inspection\nAs a result of the inspection, the Director, Eastern Region, OPS, issued to Equitrans, by letter\ndated October 22, 2007, a Notice of Probable Violation and Proposed Civil Penalty (Notice).\nIn accordance with 49 C.F.R. § 190.207, the Notice proposed finding that Respondent had\nviolated 49 C.F.R. § 192.163(e) and proposed assessing a civil penalty of $44,000 for the\nalleged violation.\nBy letter dated November 28, 2007, Respondent requested additional time to respond to the\nNotice. By letter dated November 29, 2007, OPS granted Respondent’s request. Equitrans\nresponded to the Notice by letter dated January 25, 2008 (Response) and requested a hearing.\nA hearing via telephone conference was held on August 19, 2008, with Jim Curry, Office of\nChief Counsel, PHMSA, presiding. By letter dated August 20, 2008, pursuant to the West\nVirginia Freedom of Information Act (WV FOIA), Respondent requested certain documents\nfrom the WVPSC relating to the 2006 pipeline inspection. By letter dated August 22, 2008,\nRespondent requested that the Presiding Official in this proceeding issue a subpoena to the\nWVPSC inspector, requiring the production of certain documentary evidence. By email dated\nSeptember\n16, 2008, the Presiding Official found Respondent’s subpoena request to be moot, based upon\nhis review of a portion of the materials that the WVPSC had released pursuant to the WV FOIA\nrequest. By letter dated September 16, 2008, Respondent provided a post-hearing closing\nstatement.\n1 Equitrans L.P. is part of EQT Corporation, which owns various natural gas production, gathering, storage,\ntransmission and distribution assets in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Kentucky.\n\n\n\n2\nWITHDRAWAL OF ALLEGATION\nItem 1: The Notice alleged that Respondent violated 49 C.F.R. § 192.163(e), which states:\n§ 192.163 Compressor stations: Design and construction.\n(a) ….\n(e) Electrical facilities. Electrical equipment and wiring\ninstalled in compressor stations must conform to the National\nElectrical Code, [American National Standards Institute]/[National\nFire Protection Association] 70, so far as that code is applicable.\nThe Notice alleged that Respondent failed to install electrical equipment and wiring in a\ncompressor station that conformed to the electrical code requirements set forth in 49 C.F.R.\n§ 192.163(e). Specifically, it alleged that Equitrans failed to provide proper grounding for the\nAltronic ignition system installed at the company’s Curtisville compressor station, in accordance\nwith Article 250.42(d) of the National Electrical Code (NEC), ANSI/NFPA 70.\nDuring the September 7 and 8, 2006 inspection of the Curtisville compressor station, the\nWVPSC inspector requested that Equitrans perform impedance testing of the ignition system to\nindicate whether it was properly grounded. Equitrans performed this testing after the inspection\nand provided the results to the WVPSC on September 25, 2006. The OPS Violation Report\nindicated that the test results showed that the ignition system was properly grounded.\nDuring the hearing, OPS explained that the allegation was based upon Equitrans’ failure to\nimmediately conduct electrical tests of the ignition system requested during the inspection.\nHowever, documents provided to Equitrans by the WVPSC show that the WVPSC inspector had\nnot requested that Equitrans perform the tests immediately. Moreover, during an inspection for\ncompliance with § 192.163(e), it may be appropriate to provide a pipeline operator with a\nreasonable amount of time after the inspection in which to conduct electrical impedance testing.\nThis is particularly true if an inspector has not requested such testing in advance of the\ninspection, if safety concerns at the inspection justify a delay, or if necessary testing equipment\nis not readily available at the inspection. In this case, Equitrans conducted the testing as\nrequested and provided the results soon after the inspection. The test results indicated that the\nsystem was properly grounded and there is no evidence that Respondent made changes to the\nignition system after the inspection but before the impedance tests.\nBased upon the foregoing, I order that the allegation of violation for this Item be withdrawn.\nWITHDRAWAL OF PROPOSED CIVIL PENALTY\nOn the basis of my withdrawal of the allegation of violation, I also withdraw the proposed\n$44,000 civil penalty associated with this Item.\n\n\n\n3\nThe terms and conditions of this Final Order are effective upon receipt. PHMSA now considers\nthis matter closed.\n___________________________________ __________________________\nJeffrey D. Wiese Date Issued\nAssociate Administrator\nfor Pipeline Safety","truncated":false,"body_characters":7346}