{"operation":"document","citation":"CPF 220041005","title":"TENNESSEE GAS PIPELINE COMPANY — Notice of Probable Violation","source_type":"enforcement","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"historical","official":true,"published_on":"2004-04-30","effective_on":null,"summary":"CLOSED notice of probable violation citing 192.706(a).","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-220041005.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-220041005.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-220041005","source_url":"https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-data/case/220041005","body":"Notice of Probable Violation involving TENNESSEE GAS PIPELINE COMPANY. PHMSA's enforcement data identifies the cited regulation as 192.706(a). The case was opened on 2004-04-30 and is reported as closed as of 2009-01-06. Proposed civil penalty: $5,000. Assessed civil penalty: $5,000. Open the official case record for notices, responses, orders, and the latest status.\n\nOfficial case documents:\n\n220041005_FinalOrder_01062009.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/220041005/220041005_FinalOrder_01062009.pdf\n\n220041005_FinalOrder_01062009_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/220041005/220041005_FinalOrder_01062009_text.pdf\n\n220041005_FinalOrder_01062009_text.pdf\n\nMr. James C. Yardley\nPresident\nTennessee Gas Pipeline Company\n1001 Louisiana Street\nHouston, Texas 77002\nRE: CPF No. 2-2004-1005\nDear Mr. Yardley:\nEnclosed is the Final Order issued by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety\nAdministration in the above-referenced case. It makes a finding of violation and assesses a civil\npenalty of $5,000. I acknowledge receipt of Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company’s payment of\n$5,000 in satisfaction of the civil penalty assessed in the Final Order. This case is now closed.\nYour receipt 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: Linda Daugherty, Director, Southern Region, PHMSA\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 )\nTennessee Gas Pipeline Company, ) CPF No. 2-2004-1005\n)\n)\n)\nRespondent. )\n________________________________ )\nFINAL ORDER\nBetween May and August 2003, pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 60117, a representative of the Research\nand Special Programs Administration,1 Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS), conducted an on-site\npipeline safety inspection of Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company’s facilities and records in\nAlabama, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Mississippi. Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company (TGP or\nRespondent) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of El Paso Corporation, which owns a 42,000-mile\ninterstate natural gas pipeline system throughout the United States. TGP operates approximately\n13,700 miles of the El Paso system stretching from the Mexican border to Canada.\nAs a result of the inspection, the Director, Southern Region, OPS (Director), issued to\nRespondent, by letter dated April 30, 2004, a Notice of Probable Violation and Proposed Civil\nPenalty (Notice). In accordance with 49 C.F.R. § 190.207, the Notice proposed finding that TGP\nhad violated 49 C.F.R. § 192.706(a) and assessing a civil penalty of $5,000 for the alleged\nviolation.\nTGP responded to the Notice by letter dated June 4, 2004 (Response). Respondent did not\ncontest the charge giving rise to the civil penalty and sent a wire transfer in the amount of\n$5,000. In its Response, TGP also provided information regarding the corrective actions it had\ntaken. Respondent did not request a hearing and therefore has waived its right to one.\n1Effective February 20, 2005, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) was\ncreated to ensure safety in pipeline and hazardous materials transportation. See, Section 108 of the Norman Y.\nMineta Research and Special Programs Improvement Act (Public Law 108-426, 118 Stat. 2423-2429 (November 30,\n2004)). See also, 70 Fed. Reg. 8299 (February 18, 2005), redelegating the pipeline safety functions of the Research\nand Special Programs Administration to PHMSA.\n.\n\n\n\n2\nFINDING OF VIOLATION\nPursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 60122 and 49 C.F.R. §§ 190.209(a)(1) and 190.213, I find that\nRespondent violated 49 C.F.R. Part 192, as follows:\nItem 1: The Notice alleged that Respondent violated 49 C.F.R. § 192.706(a), which states:\n§ 192.706 Transmission lines: Leakage surveys.\nLeakage surveys of a transmission line must be conducted at\nintervals not exceeding 15 months, but at least once each calendar\nyear. However, in the case of a transmission line which transports\ngas in conformity with § 192.625 without an odor or odorant,\nleakage surveys using leak detector equipment must be conducted -\n(a) In Class 3 locations, at intervals not exceeding 7½ months,\nbut at least twice each calendar year. . . .\nThe Notice alleged that Respondent did not perform the required leakage surveys using leak\ndetector equipment in the following Class 3 areas: valve sections 564-1 (stations 163 + 18.2 to\n206 + 34.2); 564-2 (stations 163 + 59.7 to 206 + 42.7); and 865-1 (stations 163 + 57.7 to 206\n+93.9). On June 3, 2002, Respondent confirmed a class location change from Classes 1 and 2 to\nClass 3 for these areas. Respondent was required to either odorize this line in accordance with\n§ 192.625 or perform leakage surveys using leak detector equipment at the required 7½-month\nintervals. However, Respondent failed to perform these surveys between the date of the change\n(June 3, 2002) and July 1, 2003. At the time of the inspection, Respondent’s area manager\nadmitted that these locations had not been inspected using leak detector equipment. After\nconsidering all of the evidence, I find that Respondent violated 49 C.F.R. § 192.706(a) by failing\nto conduct leakage surveys of its transmission pipeline located in various Class 3 areas within\nthe required 7½-month interval, as set forth more fully in the Notice. This finding of violation\nwill be considered a prior offense in any subsequent enforcement action taken against\nRespondent.\nASSESSMENT OF PENALTY\nUnder 49 U.S.C. § 60122, Respondent is subject to a civil penalty not to exceed $100,000 per\nviolation for each day of the violation, up to a maximum of $1,000,000 for any related series of\nviolations.\n49 U.S.C. § 60122 and 49 C.F.R. §190.225 require that, in determining the amount of the civil\npenalty, I consider the following criteria: nature, circumstances, and gravity of the violation,\nincluding adverse impact on the environment; degree of Respondent's culpability, the history of\nRespondent's prior offenses, Respondent's ability to pay the penalty, and any effect that the\npenalty may have on its ability to continue doing business; and the good faith of Respondent in\nattempting to comply with pipeline safety regulations. In addition, I may consider the economic\nbenefit gained from the violation without any reduction because of subsequent damages, and\n\n\n\n3\nsuch other matters as justice may require.\nItem 1 of the Notice proposed a civil penalty of $5,000 for violation of 49 C.F.R. § 192.706(a),\nfor Respondent’s failure to conduct routine leakage surveys using leak detector equipment in the\nClass 3 areas listed above. Since leakage surveys are one of the principal means of detecting gas\nleaks in populated areas, this type of maintenance is critical to public safety. Accordingly,\nhaving reviewed the record and considered the assessment criteria, I assess Respondent a civil\npenalty of $5,000, which amount Respondent has already remitted to PHMSA.\nThe terms and conditions of this Final Order shall be effective upon receipt.\n___________________________________ __________________________\nJeffrey D. Wiese Date Issued\nAssociate Administrator\nfor Pipeline Safety","truncated":false,"body_characters":7373}