{"operation":"document","citation":"CPF 12022059NOA","title":"WOLVERINE PIPELINE CO — Notice of Amendment","source_type":"enforcement","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"historical","official":true,"published_on":"2022-08-18","effective_on":null,"summary":"CLOSED notice of amendment citing 195.446(e)(5).","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-12022059noa.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-12022059noa.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-12022059noa","source_url":"https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-data/case/12022059NOA","body":"Notice of Amendment involving WOLVERINE PIPELINE CO. PHMSA's enforcement data identifies the cited regulation as 195.446(e)(5). The case was opened on 2022-08-18 and is reported as closed as of 2022-11-22. Open the official case record for notices, responses, orders, and the latest status.\n\nOfficial case documents:\n\n12022059NOA_Closure Letter_11222022_(20-194651).pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/12022059NOA/12022059NOA_Closure%20Letter_11222022_(20-194651).pdf\n\n12022059NOA_Closure Letter_11222022_(20-194651)_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/12022059NOA/12022059NOA_Closure%20Letter_11222022_(20-194651)_text.pdf\n\n12022059NOA_Notice of Amendment_08182022_(20-194651).pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/12022059NOA/12022059NOA_Notice%20of%20Amendment_08182022_(20-194651).pdf\n\n12022059NOA_Notice of Amendment_08182022_(20-194651)_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/12022059NOA/12022059NOA_Notice%20of%20Amendment_08182022_(20-194651)_text.pdf\n\n12022059NOA_Notice of Amendment_08182022_(20-194651)_text.pdf\n\nNOTICE OF AMENDMENT\nOVERNIGHT EXPRESS DELIVERY\nAugust 18, 2022\nMr. Kurt Barclay\nPresident and Chief Executive Officer\nWolverine Pipe Line Company\n8075 Creekside Drive, Suite 210\nPortage, Michigan 49024\nCPF 1-2022-059-NOA\nDear Mr. Barclay:\nFrom November 16, 2020, to November 20, 2020, representatives of the Pipeline and Hazardous\nMaterials Safety Administration (PHMSA) pursuant to Chapter 601 of 49 United States Code\n(U.S.C.) inspected Wolverine Pipe Line Company’s (Wolverine) Control Room in Portage,\nMichigan that controls and monitors Wolverine Pipe Line facilities in Michigan.\nOn the basis of the inspection, PHMSA has identified the apparent inadequacy found within\nWolverine’s plans or procedures, as described below:\n1. § 195.446 Control room management.\n(a) …\n(e) Alarm management. Each operator using a SCADA system must\nhave a written alarm management plan to provide for effective\ncontroller response to alarms. An operator’s plan must include\nprovisions to:\n(1) …\n(5) Monitor the content and volume of general activity being\ndirected to and required of each controller at least once each calendar\nyear, but at intervals not exceeding 15 months, that will assure\ncontrollers have sufficient time to analyze and react to incoming\nalarms;\n\n\n\nWolverine failed to include in its written alarm management plan provisions to monitor the content\nand volume of general activity being directed to and required of each controller at least once each\ncalendar year, but at intervals not exceeding 15 months, to assure controllers have sufficient time\nto analyze and react to incoming alarms.\nDuring the inspection, PHMSA requested Wolverine’s procedures for monitoring the content and\nvolume of general activity being directed at the controllers to assure that the controllers have\nsufficient time to analyze and react to incoming alarms. Wolverine provided its WPLCO OCC\nControl Room Management Plan, Section 8.26 (CRM Section 8.26), which contained a one\nsentence recitation of the regulation. CRM Section 8.26 did not contain a process or methodology\ndescribing how to assure that the controller has sufficient time to analyze and react to incoming\nalarms.\nThe intent of the regulation is to assure that controllers have adequate time to respond to alarms\nand operational activity while still undertaking other activities, including but not limited to,\nmonitoring and observing pipeline operations, handling SCADA alarms, conducting shift change,\nresponding to abnormal operations, responding to calls from the public, administrative tasks,\nimpromptu requests, telephone calls, faxes, or other activities such as monitoring weather and\nnews reports, checking security and video surveillance systems, interacting with colleagues,\nsupervisors, and managers1. Best practices suggest a quantitative study of all the tasks undertaken\nby the controllers per season, per console, per shift and possibly on weekends. The regulation is\nalso intended to help the operator determine if additional controller shifts or consoles may be\nnecessary.\nWolverine’s procedure failed to identify the functional responsibility for undertaking the workload\nstudy, analyzing the results, and determining if they are satisfactory. It also did not describe who\nwill identify and approve potential corrective actions from the findings of the study. A workload\ntarget for determining whether a controller's workload was balanced, overloaded or underloaded\nneeds to be established. Finally, the procedures failed to identify what records will be maintained\nand what the record retention schedule is for the study documentation.\nTherefore, Wolverine failed to include in its written alarm management plan provisions to monitor\nthe content and volume of general activity being directed to and required of each controller to\nassure controllers have sufficient time to analyze and react to incoming alarms.\nResponse to this Notice\nThis Notice is provided pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 60108(a) and 49 C.F.R. § 190.206. Enclosed as\npart of this Notice is a document entitled Response Options for Pipeline Operators in Enforcement\nProceedings.\nPlease refer to this document and note the response options. Be advised that all material you\nsubmit in response to this enforcement action is subject to being made publicly available. If you\nbelieve that any portion of your responsive material qualifies for confidential treatment under 5\nU.S.C. 552(b), along with the complete original document you must provide a second copy of the\n1 See PHMSA’s Control Room Management Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), Revised 1/16/2018 – FAQ E.10\n\n\n\ndocument with the portions you believe qualify for confidential treatment redacted and an\nexplanation of why you believe the redacted information qualifies for confidential treatment under\n5 U.S.C. 552(b).\nFollowing the receipt of this Notice, you have 30 days to submit written comments, revised\nprocedures, or a request for a hearing under §190.211. If you do not respond within 30 days of\nreceipt of this Notice, this constitutes a waiver of your right to contest the allegations in this Notice\nand authorizes the Associate Administrator for Pipeline Safety to find facts as alleged in this Notice\nwithout further notice to you and to issue an Order Directing Amendment. If your plans or\nprocedures are found inadequate as alleged in this Notice, you may be ordered to amend your plans\nor procedures to correct the inadequacies (49 C.F.R. § 190.206). If you are not contesting this\nNotice, we propose that you submit your amended procedures to my office within 30 days of\nreceipt of this Notice. This period may be extended by written request for good cause. Once the\ninadequacies identified herein have been addressed in your amended procedures, this enforcement\naction will be closed.\nIt is requested (not mandated) that Wolverine Pipe Line Company maintain documentation of the\nsafety improvement costs associated with fulfilling this Notice of Amendment\n(preparation/revision of plans, procedures) and submit the total to Robert Burrough, Director,\nEastern Region, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, 840 Bear Tavern Road,\nSuite 300, West Trenton, NJ 08628. In correspondence concerning this matter, please refer to CPF\n1-2022-059-NOA and, for each document you submit, please provide a copy in electronic format\nwhenever possible. Smaller files may be emailed to robert.burrough@dot.gov. Larger files should\nbe sent on USB flash drive accompanied by the original paper copy to the Eastern Region Office.\nSincerely,\nRobert Burrough\nDirector, Eastern Region\nPipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration\nEnclosure: Response Options for Pipeline Operators in Enforcement Proceedings\n\n12022059NOA_Closure Letter_11222022_(20-194651)_text.pdf\n\nOVERNIGHT EXPRESS DELIVERY\nNovember 22, 2022\nMr. Kurt Barclay\nPresident and Chief Executive Officer\nWolverine Pipe Line Company\n8075 Creekside Drive, Suite 210\nPortage, Michigan 49024\nCPF 1-2022-059-NOA\nDear Mr. Barclay:\nFrom November 16 to November 20, 2020, a representative from the Pipeline and Hazardous\nMaterials Safety Administration (PHMSA), pursuant to chapter 601 of 49 United States Code,\nconducted an on-site pipeline safety inspection of Wolverine’s Pipe Line Company’s (Wolverine)\nprocedures regarding the Control Room in Portage, Michigan. As a result of the inspection,\nWolverine was issued a Notice of Amendment on August 18, 2022, which proposed amendment\nof your procedures.\nWolverine submitted its amended procedures on September 16, 2022. My staff reviewed the\namended procedures, and it appears that the inadequacies outlined in this Notice of Amendment\nhave been corrected.\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":9009}