{"operation":"document","citation":"CPF 120185002","title":"SUNOCO PIPELINE L.P. — Notice of Probable Violation","source_type":"enforcement","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"historical","official":true,"published_on":"2018-01-11","effective_on":null,"summary":"CLOSED notice of probable violation citing 195.204.","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-120185002.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-120185002.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-120185002","source_url":"https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-data/case/120185002","body":"Notice of Probable Violation involving SUNOCO PIPELINE L.P.. PHMSA's enforcement data identifies the cited regulation as 195.204. The case was opened on 2018-01-11 and is reported as closed as of 2019-03-21. Open the official case record for notices, responses, orders, and the latest status.\n\nOfficial case documents:\n\n120185002_Closure Letter_03212019.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/120185002/120185002_Closure%20Letter_03212019.pdf\n\n120185002_Closure Letter_03212019_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/120185002/120185002_Closure%20Letter_03212019_text.pdf\n\n120185002_Final Order_10152018.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/120185002/120185002_Final%20Order_10152018.pdf\n\n120185002_Final Order_10152018_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/120185002/120185002_Final%20Order_10152018_text.pdf\n\n120185002_NOPV PCO_01112018.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/120185002/120185002_NOPV%20PCO_01112018.pdf\n\n120185002_NOPV PCO_01112018_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/120185002/120185002_NOPV%20PCO_01112018_text.pdf\n\n120185002_Operator Response To Notice_02092018.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/120185002/120185002_Operator%20Response%20To%20Notice_02092018.pdf\n\n120185002_Final Order_10152018_text.pdf\n\nOctober 15, 2018\nMr. Kelcy L. Warren\nChief Executive Officer\nEnergy Transfer Partners, LP\n8111 Westchester Drive\nDallas, Texas 75225\nRe: CPF No. 1-2018-5002\nDear Mr. Warren:\nEnclosed please find the Final Order issued in the above-referenced case to your subsidiary,\nSunoco Pipeline, LP. It makes one finding of violation and specifies actions that need to be\ntaken to comply with the pipeline safety regulations. When the terms of the compliance order\nhave been completed, as determined by the Director, Eastern Region, this enforcement action\nwill be closed. Service of the Final Order by certified mail is effective upon the date of mailing,\nas provided under 49 C.F.R. § 190.5.\nThank you for your cooperation in this matter.\nSincerely,\nAlan K. Mayberry\nAssociate Administrator\nfor Pipeline Safety\nEnclosure\ncc: Mr. Robert Burrough, Director, Eastern Region, Office of Pipeline Safety, PHMSA\nMr. Ryan Coffey, Executive Vice President, Operations, Sunoco Pipeline LP, Energy\nTransfer Partners, 800 East Sonterra Blvd., San Antonio, Texas 78258\nCERTIFIED MAIL - RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED\n\n\n\nU.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION\nPIPELINE AND HAZARDOUS MATERIALS SAFETY ADMINISTRATION\nOFFICE OF PIPELINE SAFETY\nWASHINGTON, D.C. 20590\n__________________________________________\nIn the Matter of )\nSunoco Pipeline, LP, ) CPF No. 1-2018-5002\na subsidiary of Energy Transfer Partners, LP, )\n)\n)\n)\nRespondent. )\n__________________________________________)\nFINAL ORDER\nFrom March 27 through 31, 2017, pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 60117, a representative of the Pipeline\nand Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS),\nconducted an on-site pipeline safety inspection of the facilities and records of Sunoco Pipeline,\nLP’s (Sunoco or Respondent) Mariner East 2 (ME2) pipeline project near Hopedale, Ohio. ME2\nis a project to expand takeaway capacity for the transportation of natural gas liquids (NGLs)\nfrom the Marcellus and Utica Shales areas in Western Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Eastern\nOhio to destinations in Pennsylvania, including the Marcus Hook Industrial Complex on the\nDelaware River, where they are processed, stored and distributed to local, domestic and\nwaterborne markets.1 Sunoco is a subsidiary of Energy Transfer Partners, LP (ETP).2\nAs a result of the inspection, the Director, Eastern Region, OPS (Director), issued to Respondent,\nby letter dated January 11, 2018, a Notice of Probable Violation and Proposed Compliance Order\n(Notice). In accordance with 49 C.F.R. § 190.207, the Notice proposed finding that Sunoco had\nviolated 49 C.F.R. § 195.204, and proposed ordering Respondent to take certain measures to\ncorrect the alleged violation.\nSunoco responded to the Notice by letter dated February 12, 2018 (Response). The company did\nnot contest the allegation of violation but provided information concerning the corrective actions\nit was taking. Respondent did not request a hearing and therefore has waived its right to one.\nFINDING OF VIOLATION\nIn its Response, Sunoco did not contest the allegation in the Notice that it violated 49 C.F.R. Part\n195, as follows:\n1 https://www.energytransfer.com/ops mariner east 2.aspx (last accessed July 26, 2018).\n2 See http://www.sunocologistics.com/ (last visited July 31, 2018).\n\n\n\nCPF No. 1-2018-5002\nPage 2\nItem 1: The Notice alleged that Respondent violated 49 C.F.R. § 195.204, which states:\n§ 195.204 Inspection—general.\nInspection must be provided to ensure that the installation of\npipe or pipeline systems is in accordance with the requirements of\nthis subpart. Any operator personnel used to perform the inspection\nmust be trained and qualified in the phase of construction to be\ninspected. An operator must not use operator personnel to perform\na required inspection if the operator personnel performed the\nconstruction task requiring inspection. Nothing in this section\nprohibits the operator from inspecting construction tasks with\noperator personnel who are involved in other construction tasks.\nThe Notice alleged that Respondent violated 49 C.F.R. § 195.204 by failing to conduct\ninspections to ensure that the installation of pipe or pipeline systems was in accordance with the\nrequirements of Subpart D of Part 195. Specifically, the Notice alleged that Sunoco failed to\nprovide adequate inspection of pipe-bending activities during the ME2 project to ensure each\nfield bend complied with § 195.212(b), “Bending of pipe.”\nDuring the inspection, the OPS inspector observed numerous coating scrapes on at least five\nsegments of pipe that were strung out in a linear fashion to the right-of-way, east of the pipeline\ninstallation near Markets Hopedale Cryogenic Plant in Hopedale, Ohio. Several segments of the\npipe had severe coating damage, and at least one joint of pipe had a gouge that extended into the\nwall of the pipe. Markings on the pipe indicated that the segments had been subject to field\nbending.\nWhen the OPS inspector inquired about the cause of the damaged segments and whether the\ngouged segment was serviceable, Sunoco responded that a bending machine was the cause of the\ndamage and the bending machine had been repaired on November 18, 2016, the same day the\ngouged segment was subject to field testing.3 Sunoco also provided a report titled\n“Bending_Layout/D02.07,” dated November 18, 2016, which documented the company’s\ninspection of pipe for that day. The report indicated that that pipe number 9567161903,\nidentified by Sunoco as the gouged segment of pipe, was subjected to field bending which\nresulted in damage to the outside wall of the pipe; however, the segment was not marked by the\nSunoco inspector, as no notations were made in the “Rejects” column of the report.4\nAdditionally, the OPS inspector requested a copy of Sunoco’s pipe-bending procedures and\nspecifications. In its Response, Sunoco provided its Scope of Work documents for the ME2\nproject, DOT 195 Maintenance Manual, SEC. 195.212: Bending of Pipe (last revised 04/03/04),\nand its Inspector Manual (revision 2, dated 2/17/14). The OPS inspector reviewed these\ndocuments and found that they did not include either a process for inspection of field bending or\n3 Exhibit A-03 to the Pipeline Safety Violation Report (Violation Report) (on file with PHMSA).\n4 Exhibit A-02 to the Violation Report.\n\n\n\nCPF No. 1-2018-5002\nPage 3\ncriteria for the rejection of field bends. In fact, field bends are only mentioned in Sunoco’s DOT\n195 Maintenance Manual, which states:\n4. No pipe shall be permitted in the pipeline with buckles, wrinkles,\ndistortion, denting, flattening, gouging, grooves, or notches. Any\nbend rejected by the Owner’s Representatives shall be removed\nfrom the line at the Contractor’s expense, and the pipe thus removed\nwill be charged to the Contractor as damaged material.\nAccording to the Notice, it was not until the OPS inspector had inquired about the cause of the\ndamaged segments did Sunoco adequately inspect the pipe segment at issue and remove it from\nservice.\nRespondent did not contest this allegation of violation. Additionally, Sunoco stated that ETP\nwas in the process of integrating specifications, standards and procedures with Respondent, and\nas a part of this integration, ETP will implement the recommended provisions for inspection,\nacceptance and/or rejection of field bending during construction projects.\nAccordingly, based upon a review of all of the evidence, I find that Respondent violated\n49 C.F.R. § 195.204 by failing to adequately inspect the pipe bending during the installation of\npipe for the ME2 project in accordance with the requirements of Subpart D of Part 195, in\nparticular § 195.212.\nThis finding of violation will be considered a prior offense in any subsequent enforcement action\ntaken against Respondent.\nCOMPLIANCE ORDER\nThe Notice proposed a compliance order with respect to Item 1 in the Notice for a violation of 49\nC.F.R. § 195.204. Under 49 U.S.C. § 60118(a), each person who engages in the transportation\nof hazardous liquids or who owns or operates a pipeline facility is required to comply with the\napplicable safety standards established under chapter 601. Pursuant to the authority of 49 U.S.C.\n§ 60118(b) and 49 C.F.R. § 190.217, Respondent is ordered to take the following actions to\nensure compliance with the pipeline safety regulations applicable to its operations:\n1. With respect to the violation of § 195.204 (Item 1), Respondent must revise its\nprocedures and/or specifications to include adequate provisions for the inspection and\nacceptance and/or rejection of field bending during construction projects. Sunoco\nshall provide these amended procedures and/or specifications within 60 days of\nreceipt of the Final Order.\nThe Director may grant an extension of time to comply with any of the required items upon a\nwritten request timely submitted by the Respondent and demonstrating good cause for an\nextension.\nIt is requested that Respondent maintain documentation of the safety improvement costs\n\n\n\nCPF No. 1-2018-5002\nPage 4\nassociated with fulfilling this Compliance Order and submit the total to the Director. It is\nrequested that these costs be reported in two categories: (1) total cost associated with\npreparation/revision of plans, procedures, studies and analyses; and (2) total cost associated with\nreplacements, additions and other changes to pipeline infrastructure.\nFailure to comply with this Order may result in the administrative assessment of civil penalties\nnot to exceed $200,000, as adjusted for inflation (49 C.F.R. § 190.223), for each violation for\neach day the violation continues or in referral to the Attorney General for appropriate relief in a\ndistrict court of the United States.\nUnder 49 C.F.R. § 190.243, Respondent may submit a Petition for Reconsideration of this Final\nOrder to the Associate Administrator, Office of Pipeline Safety, PHMSA, 1200 New Jersey\nAvenue, SE, East Building, 2nd Floor, Washington, DC 20590, with a copy sent to the Office of\nChief Counsel, PHMSA, at the same address, no later than 20 days after receipt of service of this\nFinal Order by Respondent. Any petition submitted must contain a statement of the issue(s) and\nmeet all other requirements of 49 C.F.R. § 190.243. The terms of the order, including corrective\naction, remain in effect unless the Associate Administrator, upon request, grants a stay.\nThe terms and conditions of this Final Order are effective upon service in accordance with\n49 C.F.R. § 190.5.\nOctober 15, 2018\n___________________________________ __________________________\nAlan K. Mayberry Date Issued\nAssociate Administrator\nfor Pipeline Safety\n\n120185002_Closure Letter_03212019_text.pdf\n\nOVERNIGHT EXPRESS DELIVERY\nMarch 21, 2019\nGreg McIlwain\nSenior Vice President, Operations\nSunoco Pipeline LP\n1300 Main Street\nHouston, TX 77002\nCPF 1-2018-5002\nDear Mr. McIlwain:\nFrom March 27 to 31 of 2017, a representative from the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety\nAdministration (PHMSA), pursuant to chapter 601 of Title 49 of the United States Code,\nconducted an on-site pipeline safety inspection of Sunoco Pipeline L.P.’s procedures in Hopedale,\nOhio. As a result of the inspection, Sunoco Pipeline L.P. was issued a Notice of Probable Violation\n(NOPV) and Proposed Compliance Order (PCO) on January 11, 2018, which proposed amendment\nof your procedures.\nSunoco Pipeline L.P. submitted its amended procedures on December 7, 2018. My staff reviewed\nthe amended procedures, and it appears that the inadequacies outlined in this Notice have been\ncorrected.\nThis letter is to inform you no further action is necessary and this case is now closed. Thank you\nfor your cooperation.\nSincerely,\nRobert Burrough\nDirector, Eastern Region\nPipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","truncated":false,"body_characters":13121}