# COLUMBIA GAS TRANSMISSION, LLC — Notice of Probable Violation

- **operation:** document
- **citation:** CPF 120101009
- **title:** COLUMBIA GAS TRANSMISSION, LLC — Notice of Probable Violation
- **source type:** enforcement
- **agency:** Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration
- **status:** historical
- **official:** true
- **published on:** 2010-11-01
- **effective on:** Not available
- **summary:** CLOSED notice of probable violation citing 192.605(a).
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- **app url:** https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-120101009
- **source url:** https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-data/case/120101009
**body:**

Notice of Probable Violation involving COLUMBIA GAS TRANSMISSION, LLC. PHMSA's enforcement data identifies the cited regulation as 192.605(a). The case was opened on 2010-11-01 and is reported as closed as of 2011-01-31. Proposed civil penalty: $29,600. Assessed civil penalty: $29,600. Open the official case record for notices, responses, orders, and the latest status.

Official case documents:

120101009_Final Order_01312011.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/120101009/120101009_Final%20Order_01312011.pdf

120101009_Final Order_01312011_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/120101009/120101009_Final%20Order_01312011_text.pdf

120101009_NOPV PCP_11012010.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/120101009/120101009_NOPV%20PCP_11012010.pdf

120101009_NOPV PCP_11012010_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/120101009/120101009_NOPV%20PCP_11012010_text.pdf

120101009_Operator_Response_Proof_of_Payment_11302010.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/120101009/120101009_Operator_Response_Proof_of_Payment_11302010.pdf

120101009_Final Order_01312011_text.pdf

JAN 31 2011
Mr. Victor Gaglio
Senior Vice President of Operations
Columbia Gas Transmission LLC
1700 MacCorkle Avenue, SE
Charleston, WV 25314
Re: CPF No. 1-2010-1009
Dear Mr. Gaglio:
Enclosed please find the Final Order issued in the above-referenced case. It makes a finding of
violation and assesses a civil penalty of $29,600. This letter acknowledges receipt of payment of
the full penalty amount, by wire transfer, dated November 23, 2010. 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: Byron Coy, P.E., Director, Eastern Region, PHMSA
CERTIFIED MAIL - RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED [7005 1160 0001 0041 3511]



U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
PIPELINE AND HAZARDOUS MATERIALS SAFETY ADMINISTRATION
OFFICE OF PIPELINE SAFETY
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20590
____________________________________
)
In the Matter of )
)
Columbia Gas Transmission LLC, ) CPF No. 1-2010-1009
)
Respondent. )
____________________________________)
FINAL ORDER
On September 20 and October 1, 2008, pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 60117, a representative of the
West Virginia Public Service Commission (WV PSC), as agent for 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 Columbia Gas Transmission LLC
(Columbia Gas or Respondent) in Marshall County, West Virginia. Columbia Gas transports
natural gas through a 12,000-mile pipeline network in 10 states.1
Columbia Gas is owned and
operated by NiSource, Inc., an energy company engaged in natural gas transmission, storage, and
distribution.
As a result of the inspection, the Director, Eastern Region, OPS (Director), issued to Respondent,
by letter dated November 1, 2010, a Notice of Probable Violation and Proposed Civil Penalty
(Notice). In accordance with 49 C.F.R. § 190.207, the Notice proposed finding that Columbia
Gas had violated 49 C.F.R. § 192.605(a) and proposed assessing a civil penalty of $29,600 for
the alleged violation.
Columbia Gas responded to the Notice by letter dated November 30, 2010 (Response). The
company did not contest the allegations of violation and paid the proposed civil penalty of
$29,600 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, Columbia Gas did not contest the allegations in the Notice that it violated 49
C.F.R. Part 192, as follows:
Item 1: The Notice alleged that Respondent violated 49 C.F.R. § 192.605(a), which states in
relevant part:
1 http://www.ngts.com/ (last accessed on December 28, 2010).



2
§ 192.605--Procedural manual for operations, maintenance, and
emergencies.
(a) General. Each operator shall prepare and follow for each
pipeline, a manual of written procedures for conducting operations and
maintenance activities and for emergency response. For transmission
lines, the manual must also include procedures for handling abnormal
operations. This manual must be reviewed and updated by the
operator at intervals not exceeding 15 months, but at least once each
calendar year. This manual must be prepared before operations of a
pipeline system commence. Appropriate parts of the manual must be
kept at locations where operations and maintenance activities are
conducted….
The Notice alleged that Respondent violated 49 C.F.R. § 192.605(a) by failing to follow its plan
for protecting the coating of its pipelines from exposure to sunlight and weather and from ground
movement as outlined in the project-specific procedures. Specifically, the Notice alleged that
Columbia Gas failed to follow its written procedures requiring that pipe coatings exposed for
more than two months be painted with white, latex paint to protect the pipe from UV and
weather and that the pipe and coating be protected from movement by placing the pipe on sand
bags.
2
In October 2007, in anticipation of surface subsidence activities, Columbia’s personnel
completed the stripping of cover and exposure of lines 1758 and 10100. After the mining
activities were concluded, in September 2008, Columbia Gas planned to recoat and backfill the
pipeline and restore the right-of-way. WV PSC performed an inspection during this time period
and discovered that portions of the exposed pipeline were not painted with white, latex paint as
required by Respondent’s procedures. Specifically, paragraph 2 of Section III of the Corrosion
Control Plan for Long-Wall Mining, required that “pipe coatings that are going to be exposed for
more than 2 months will be painted with a white, latex paint from a hardware store for protection
from UV and weather.”3 Columbia Gas failed to follow its procedures for this project. The
record includes photographs of the unpainted, exposed lines dated September 30, 2008 and
October 1, 2008 taken by the inspector as evidence of this allegation of violation.4
In addition, the Respondent’s project plan also required that “[t]he pipe and coatings shall be
protected from movement by placing the pipe on sandbags.”5 During the inspection, the
inspector observed that several sections of the pipe were lying directly on the bottom of the
trench and that the pipe was not placed on sandbags.6 Respondent did not contest this allegation
of violation and explained that the condition was addressed subsequent to the WV PSC
2 Corrosion Control Plan for Long-Wall Mining, Section III, Field Coating, paragraphs 1 & 2.
3 Id.
4 See Exhibit A, Pipeline Safety Violation Report (Violation Report), November 1, 2010, (on file with PHMSA).
5 Corrosion Control Plan for Long-Wall Mining, Section III, Field Coating, paragraph 1.
6 Violation Report at 3.



3
inspection and the pipe is no longer exposed. Accordingly, based upon a review of all of the
evidence, I find that Respondent violated 49 C.F.R. § 192.605(a) by failing to follow its project-
specific plan and procedures.
ASSESSMENT OF PENALTY
Under 49 U.S.C. § 60122, Respondent is subject to an administrative civil penalty not to exceed
$100,000 per violation for each day of the violation, up to a maximum of $1,000,000 for any
related series of violations. In determining the amount of a civil penalty under 49 U.S.C.
§ 60122 and 49 C.F.R. § 190.225, I must consider the following criteria: the nature,
circumstances, and gravity of the violation, including adverse impact on the environment; the
degree of Respondent’s culpability; the history of Respondent’s prior offenses; the Respondent’s
ability to pay the penalty and any effect that the penalty may have on its ability to continue doing
business; and the good faith of Respondent in attempting to comply with the pipeline safety
regulations. In addition, I may consider the economic benefit gained from the violation without
any reduction because of subsequent damages, and such other matters as justice may require.
The Notice proposed a total civil penalty of $29,600 for the violation cited above.
Item 1: The Notice proposed a civil penalty of $29,600 for Respondent’s violation of 49 C.F.R.
§ 192.605(a), for failing to follow its project-specific plan and procedures. Columbia Gas did
not contest the allegation but confirmed that it addressed the concerns after the WV PSC
inspection and the pipeline is no longer exposed or in an active mining area. Accordingly,
having reviewed the record and considered the assessment criteria, I assess Respondent a civil
penalty of $29,600, which Columbia Gas has already remitted to PHMSA.
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
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