{"operation":"document","citation":"CPF 120181024W","title":"TEXAS EASTERN TRANSMISSION, LP (SPECTRA ENERGY PARTNERS, LP) — Warning Letter","source_type":"enforcement","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"historical","official":true,"published_on":"2018-12-12","effective_on":null,"summary":"CLOSED warning letter citing 192.481(a), 192.605(a), 192.615(c), 192.805(a).","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-120181024w.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-120181024w.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-120181024w","source_url":"https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-data/case/120181024W","body":"Warning Letter involving TEXAS EASTERN TRANSMISSION, LP (SPECTRA ENERGY PARTNERS, LP). PHMSA's enforcement data identifies the cited regulations as 192.481(a),  192.605(a),  192.615(c),  192.805(a). The case was opened on 2018-12-12 and is reported as closed as of 2018-12-12. Open the official case record for notices, responses, orders, and the latest status.\n\nOfficial case documents:\n\n120181024W_Warning Letter_12122018.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/120181024W/120181024W_Warning%20Letter_12122018.pdf\n\n120181024W_Warning Letter_12122018_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/120181024W/120181024W_Warning%20Letter_12122018_text.pdf\n\n120181024W_Warning Letter_12122018_text.pdf\n\nWARNING LETTER\nOVERNIGHT EXPRESS DELIVERY\nDecember 12, 2018\nMichele Harradence\nVP Gas Transmission & Midstream Operations\nTexas Eastern Transmission, LP\n5400 Westheimer Court\nHouston, TX 77251-1642\nCPF 1-2018-1024W\nDear Ms. Harradence:\nFrom January 22, 2018 to August 28, 2018, representatives of the Pipeline and Hazardous\nMaterials Safety Administration (PHMSA) pursuant to Chapter 601 of 49 United States Code\n(U.S.C.) inspected Texas Eastern Transmission, LP’s (Texas Eastern) “Spectra TX Eastern North”\nsystem located throughout New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, Ohio and New\nYork.\nAs a result of the inspection, it is alleged that you have committed probable violations of the\nPipeline Safety Regulations, Title 49, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). The items inspected\nand the probable violations are:\n1. § 192.481 Atmospheric Corrosion Control: Monitoring\n(a) Each operator must inspect each pipeline or portion of pipeline that is exposed to\nthe atmosphere for evidence of atmospheric corrosion, as follows:\nIf the pipeline is located: Then the frequency of inspection is:\nOnshore At least once every 3 calendar years, but\nwith intervals not exceeding 39 months\nOffshore At least once each calendar year, but with\nintervals not exceeding 15 months\n\n\n\nCPF 1-2018-1024W\nTexas Eastern failed to inspect each pipeline or portion of pipeline that is exposed to the\natmosphere for evidence of atmospheric corrosion at a frequency of at least once every 3 calendar\nyears, but with intervals not exceeding 39 months, at 46 inspection locations within its\nDelmont Station.\nDuring the inspection, the PHMSA inspector reviewed atmospheric corrosion inspection records\nfrom 2012 – 2016 for Texas Eastern’s pipelines located in the North-East System.\nThe records demonstrated that Texas Eastern failed to inspect 46 atmospheric corrosion evaluation\nlocations within the Delmont Station at least once every 3 calendar years. Atmospheric corrosion\nevaluations were performed on 11/14/2012, with next inspections due by 12/31/15. The next\natmospheric corrosion evaluations were performed on 3/9/2016.\nTherefore, Texas Eastern failed to inspect portions of its pipelines exposed to the atmosphere for\nevidence of atmospheric corrosion at least once every 3 calendar years at its Delmont Station.\n2. § 192.605 Procedural manual for operations, maintenance, and emergencies.\n(a) General. Each operator shall prepare and follow for each pipeline, a manual of\nwritten procedures for conducting operations and maintenance activities and for\nemergency response. For transmission lines, the manual must also include\nprocedures for handling abnormal operations. This manual must be reviewed and\nupdated by the operator at intervals not exceeding 15 months, but at least one\neach calendar year. This manual must be prepared before operations of a pipeline\nsystem commence. Appropriate parts of the manual must be kept at locations\nwhere operations and maintenance activities are conducted.\nTexas Eastern failed to follow for each pipeline, a manual of written procedures for conducting\noperations and maintenance activities. Specifically, Texas Eastern failed in 7 instances to take\nremedial action in accordance with its procedure 2-5020 Atmospheric Pipe Inspection, versions\ndated 1/2/12 and 10/7/14 (AC Procedures), on poor coating conditions requiring remedial action\nwithin one year of the atmospheric corrosion inspections.\nTexas Eastern’s AC Procedures each stated, “Sites identified as being of poor condition will be\nevaluated by the Regional Technical staff to determine the appropriate follow-up action. Those\ndetermined to require remedial action shall be completed within one year.”\nDuring the inspection, the PHMSA inspector reviewed Texas Eastern’s atmospheric corrosion\ninspection records from 2012 to 2015. The records revealed that Texas Eastern personnel became\naware of poor conditions of the coating, with remedial action required, but action was not taken\nby Texas Eastern to remediate the conditions within one year. The following table outlines specific\nlocations where remedial actions were missed.\n120181024W_Warning Letter_12122018_text Page 2 of 6\n\n\n\nCPF 1-2018-1024W\nAtmospheric Report\nLocation Description Inspection Date Coating Condition Remedial Action Required Corrosion Date Action Taken\nDate Action Should have been\ntaken according to 2‐2050\n7/2/2013 Poor Blank Surface Rust 6/1/2016 on or before 7/2/2014\n19‐insertion meter 19‐779\n8/3/2015 Poor Yes General Corosion 6/1/2016 on or before 8/3/2016\n7/2/2013 Poor Blank Surface Rust 6/1/2016 on or before 7/2/2014\n27‐insertion meter 27‐717\n8/3/2015 Poor Yes General Corosion 6/1/2016 on or before 8/3/2016\n5/6/2014 Poor Yes Blank 10/19/2016 on or before 5/6/2015\nESD by Main Gate\n8/4/2015 Poor Yes Pitting <20% 10/19/2016 on or before 8/4/2016\nESD by rectifier at office\nand ESD Nort\n5/6/2014 Poor Yes Blank 10/19/2016 on or before 5/6/2015\n8/4/2015 Poor Yes Pitting <20% 10/19/2016 on or before 8/4/2016\nBasement Westinghouse\nbuilding\n5/6/2014 Poor Yes Blank ? on or before 5/6/2015\n8/4/2015 Poor Yes Pitting <20% ? on or before 8/4/2016\n6/20/2012 Poor Yes General Corosion 10/17/2015 on or before 6/20/2013\nTomer X‐Over V#29‐94\n4/17/2015 Poor No Surface Rust 10/17/2015 on or before 4/17/2016\nTomer Line #39 MLV\n#39066\n6/20/2012 Poor Yes General Corosion 10/17/2015 on or before 6/20/2013\n4/17/2015 Poor No Surface Rust 10/17/2015 on or before 4/17/2016\nTherefore, Texas Eastern failed to follow its written procedure regarding Atmospheric Pipe\nInspection remedial actions.\n3. § 192.605 Procedural Manual for operations, maintenance, and emergencies.\n(a) General. Each operator shall prepare and follow for each pipeline, a manual of\nwritten procedures for conducting operations and maintenance activities and for\nemergency response. For transmission lines, the manual must also include\nprocedures for handling abnormal operations. This manual must be reviewed and\nupdated by the operator at intervals not exceeding 15 months, but at least one\neach calendar year. This manual must be prepared before operations of a pipeline\nsystem commence. Appropriate parts of the manual must be kept at locations\nwhere operations and maintenance activities are conducted.\nTexas Eastern failed to follow its manual of written procedures for conducting emergency\nresponse. Specifically, Texas Eastern failed to follow its Procedure Number 5-2010, Area\nEmergency Response Procedures, dated 4/30/2014 (Procedure), which required personnel to be\ntrained annually on the Area Emergency Response Plan, pursuant to § 192.615(b)(2).\nSection 192.615(b)(2) states:\n(b) Each operator shall:\n…\n(2) Train the appropriate operating personnel to assure that they are knowledgeable of the\nemergency procedures and verify that the training is effective.\nTexas Eastern’s Procedure, section 7.2 - Training of the Emergency Response Procedures states\n(emphasis added):\n7.2 An Emergency Response Plan training session with area personnel shall be\nconducted once each calendar year, but not to exceed fifteen (15) months. Area\npersonnel are responsible to review the Area Emergency Response Plan. The review is to\nbe documented on Form #7T-9.\nDuring the field inspection at the Marietta Compressor Station, the PHMSA inspector reviewed\ntwo #7T-9 Forms for the Marietta Compressor Station Emergency Response Plan training. The\n#7T-9 Forms provided confirmed the annual training and attendance for 2015 and 2017. Texas\n120181024W_Warning Letter_12122018_text Page 3 of 6\n\n\n\nCPF 1-2018-1024W\nEastern could not provide the #7T-9 Form for the 2016 Marietta Compressor Station Emergency\nResponse Plan training, nor did they provide any other documentation to show the 2016 annual\ntraining for the Marietta Compressor Station had taken place.\nAdditionally, Marietta’s pre-printed Emergency Response Plan training verification form #7T-9\nfor 2015 and 2017 was prepopulated with the names of personnel scheduled to attend the training,\nwith handwritten initials provided by the attendees. The 2015 and 2017 year’s #7T-9 training\nattendance forms showed five personnel for each year had not initialed reflecting their attendance\nat the training. The #7T-9 forms indicated that two of the personnel who did not have the training\nin 2015 were also not trained in 2017.\nTexas Eastern stated they did not have a process in place currently for either tracking personnel\nwho missed the required yearly Emergency Response Plan training, or for providing a make-up\ntraining session to those who missed the training.\nTherefore, Texas Eastern failed to follow its manual of written procedures for emergency response\nby not training the Marietta staff annually on the Area Emergency Response Plan.\n4. § 192.615 Emergency Plans\n(c) Each operator shall establish and maintain liaison with appropriate fire, police\nand other public officials to:\n(1) Learn the responsibility and resources of each government organization that\nmay respond to a gas pipeline emergency;\n(2) Acquaint the officials with the operator’s ability in responding to a gas pipeline\nemergency;\n(3) Identify the types of gas pipeline emergencies of which the operator notified\nthe officials; and\n(4) Plan how the operator and officials can engage in mutual assistance to\nminimize hazards to life or property.\nTexas Eastern failed to establish and maintain liaison with appropriate fire officials to learn their\nresponsibilities and resources for responding to a gas pipeline emergency; to acquaint the fire\nofficials with Texas Eastern’s ability in responding to a gas pipeline emergency; to identify the\ntypes of gas pipeline emergencies which Texas Eastern notices the fire officials of; and to plan\nhow Texas Eastern and the fire officials can engage in mutual assistance to minimize hazards to\nlife or property.\nDuring the field inspection at the Eagle Compressor Station, the PHMSA inspector reviewed the\narea Emergency Response Binder. Emergency Response contact numbers were listed for various\nlocations where Texas Eastern pipelines are located. Texas Eastern identified the Philadelphia\n[International] Airport as an Emergency Contact for their 1-A pipeline. As indicated in the National\nPipeline Mapping System (NPMS), Texas Eastern’s 16” South Line 1-A pipeline is located within\na few hundred feet from a prominent active runway (#17/35) at the Philadelphia International\nAirport (PHL). PHL serves as a large hub for a major airline and the airport can service over a\nhundred thousand passengers daily.\n120181024W_Warning Letter_12122018_text Page 4 of 6\n\n\n\nCPF 1-2018-1024W\nWhen requested by the PHMSA inspector, Texas Eastern failed to provide any records or evidence\nof joint communication between Texas Eastern and PHL Officials or PHL Fire/Rescue Department\n- Engine 78 (PHL Fire). No records were provided showing PHL or PHL Fire representatives had\nattended any of the Paradigm Pipeline liaison meetings, showing that Texas Eastern had\ninformation on the type of resources available at the PHL or PHL Fire department that would be\nneeded during a pipeline emergency for the airport location, or showing any joint communication\nbetween Texas Eastern and PHL or PHL Fire officials.\nThus, Texas Eastern failed to establish and maintain liaison with appropriate fire, police, and other\npublic officials as required by § 192.615(c).\n5. § 192.805 Qualification Program\nEach operator shall have and follow a written qualification program. The program\nshall include provisions to:\n(a) Ensure through evaluation that individuals performing covered tasks are\nqualified;\nTexas Eastern failed to ensure through evaluation that individuals performing covered tasks are\nqualified.\nDuring the inspection, the PHMSA inspector reviewed Enbridge Compliance Atmospheric\nReports as well as Veriforce Field Verification Reports.\nTexas Eastern Technician Candidate ID: tf-613037-01 did not have Task ID: 417OP: Atmospheric\nCorrosion Monitoring, qualifying them to inspect for Atmospheric Corrosion. Candidate ID: tf-\n613037-01 is listed on Enbridge Compliance Atmospheric Report as the technician who performed\nthis task in 76 instances on the Northeast System: Uniontown-Delmont.\nWhen questioned, Texas Eastern stated that Candidate ID: tf-613037-01 was observed by another\ntechnician that is qualified under Task ID: 417OP. However, Texas Eastern could not produce any\ndocumentation to demonstrate that the individual was observed by a qualified individual when\nperforming the task.\nUnder 49 U.S.C. § 60122 and 49 CFR § 190.223, you are subject to a civil penalty not to exceed\n$209,002 per violation per day the violation persists, up to a maximum of $2,090,022 for a related\nseries of violations. For violations occurring prior to November 2, 2015, the maximum penalty\nmay not exceed $200,000 per violation per day, with a maximum penalty not to exceed $2,000,000\nfor a related series of violations. We have reviewed the circumstances and supporting documents\ninvolved in this case, and have decided not to conduct additional enforcement action or penalty\nassessment proceedings at this time. We advise you to correct the item(s) identified in this letter.\nFailure to do so will result in Texas Eastern Transmission, LP being subject to additional\nenforcement action.\nPlease be advised that all material you submit in response to this enforcement action is subject to\nbeing made publicly available. If you believe that any portion of your responsive material qualifies\nfor confidential treatment under 5 U.S.C. 552(b), along with the complete original document you\nmust provide a second copy of the document with the portions you believe qualify for confidential\n120181024W_Warning Letter_12122018_text Page 5 of 6\n\n\n\nCPF 1-2018-1024W\ntreatment redacted and an explanation of why you believe the redacted information qualifies for\nconfidential treatment under 5 U.S.C. 552(b).\nNo reply to this letter is required. If you choose to reply, please submit all correspondence in this\nmatter to Robert Burrough, Director, PHMSA Eastern Region, 840 Bear Tavern Road, Suite 300,\nWest Trenton, NJ 08628. Please refer to CPF 1-2018-1024W on each document you submit, and\nwhenever possible provide a signed PDF copy in electronic format. Smaller files may be emailed\nto robert.burrough@dot.gov. Larger files should be sent on a CD accompanied by the original\npaper copy to the Eastern Region Office.\nSincerely,\nRobert Burrough\nDirector, Eastern Region\nPipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration\n120181024W_Warning Letter_12122018_text Page 6 of 6","truncated":false,"body_characters":15277}