{"operation":"document","citation":"CPF 220112002","title":"DCP MIDSTREAM — Notice of Probable Violation","source_type":"enforcement","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"historical","official":true,"published_on":"2011-03-04","effective_on":null,"summary":"CLOSED notice of probable violation citing 192.491(c).","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-220112002.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-220112002.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-220112002","source_url":"https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-data/case/220112002","body":"Notice of Probable Violation involving DCP MIDSTREAM. PHMSA's enforcement data identifies the cited regulation as 192.491(c). The case was opened on 2011-03-04 and is reported as closed as of 2011-06-13. Proposed civil penalty: $8,000. Assessed civil penalty: $8,000. Open the official case record for notices, responses, orders, and the latest status.\n\nOfficial case documents:\n\n220112002_Final Order_06132011.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/220112002/220112002_Final%20Order_06132011.pdf\n\n220112002_Final Order_06132011_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/220112002/220112002_Final%20Order_06132011_text.pdf\n\n220112002_NOPV_PCP_03042011.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/220112002/220112002_NOPV_PCP_03042011.pdf\n\n220112002_NOPV_PCP_03042011_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/220112002/220112002_NOPV_PCP_03042011_text.pdf\n\n220112002_Operator Response_03312011.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/220112002/220112002_Operator%20Response_03312011.pdf\n\n220112002_Final Order_06132011_text.pdf\n\nJUN 13 2011\nMr. Brent Backes\nGroup Vice President, General Counsel\nDCP Midstream\n370 17th Street, Suite 2500\nDenver, CO 80202\nRe: CPF No. 2-2011-2002\nDear Mr. Backes:\nEnclosed please find the Final Order issued in the above-referenced case. It makes a finding of\nviolation and assesses a civil penalty of $8,000. This is to acknowledge receipt of payment of\nthe full penalty amount, by wire transfer, dated April 1, 2011. This enforcement action is now\nclosed. Service of the Final Order by certified mail is deemed effective upon the date of mailing,\nor as otherwise provided 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: Mr. Alan Mayberry, Deputy Associate Administrator for Field Operations, Pipeline Safety\nMr. Wayne T. Lemoi, Director, Southern Region, PHMSA\nMs. Alison E. Barry, Assistant General Counsel, DCP Midstream\nMr. Mark Falkenhagen, Area Supervisor, Spectra Energy Transmission\nCERTIFIED MAIL - RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED [7005 1160 0001 0075 9480]\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 )\nDCP Midstream, ) CPF No. 2-2011-2002\n)\n)\n)\nRespondent. )\n___________________________________ )\nFINAL ORDER\nOn October 18-21, 2010, pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 60117, a representative of the Pipeline and\nHazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS),\nconducted an on-site pipeline safety inspection of the facilities and records of DCP Midstream\n(DCP or Respondent) Dauphin Island offshore pipeline in the Gulf of Mexico and Coden, AL.\nThe offshore pipelines consist of the Deepwater and Shallow water systems. DCP Midstream\noperates in 18 states and gathers raw natural gas through 60,000 miles of gathering pipe and\nprocesses it through 60 owned or operated plants.\n1\nAs a result of the inspection, the Director, Southern Region, OPS (Director), issued to\nRespondent, by letter dated March 4, 2011, a Notice of Probable Violation and Proposed Civil\nPenalty (Notice). In accordance with 49 C.F.R. § 190.207, the Notice proposed finding that\nRespondent had violated 49 C.F.R. §192.491(c) and proposed assessing a civil penalty of $8,000\nfor the alleged violation.\nDCP responded to the Notice by letter dated March 31, 2011 (Response). The company did not\ncontest the allegations of violation and expressed its intention to pay the proposed civil penalty\nof $8,000, as provided in 49 C.F.R. § 190.227. Payment of the penalty by wire transfer, dated\nApril 1, 2011, serves to close the case with prejudice to Respondent.\nFINDING OF VIOLATION\nIn its Response, DCP did not contest the allegation in the Notice that it violated 49 C.F.R. Part\n192, as follows:\n1 DCP Midstream is a 50-50 joint venture between Spectra Energy and ConocoPhillips.\nhttp://www.spectraenergy.com/Operations/DCP-Midstream (last visited 5/31/2011).\n\n\n\n2\nItem 1: The Notice alleged that Respondent violated 49 C.F.R. § 192.491(c), which states in\nrelevant part:\n§ 192.491 Corrosion control records.\n(a) . . . .\n(c) Each operator shall maintain a record of each test, survey, or inspection required\nby this subpart in sufficient detail to demonstrate the adequacy of corrosion control\nmeasures or that a corrosive condition does not exist. These records must be retained for\nat least 5 years, except that records related to §§192.465(a) and (e) and 192.475(b) must\nbe retained for as long as the pipeline remains in service.\nThe Notice alleged that Respondent violated 49 C.F.R. § 192.491(c) by failing to maintain\ninternal corrosion coupon monitoring records in sufficient detail to demonstrate the adequacy of\nthis internal corrosion control measures. The Notice also alleged that DCP failed to provide\nrecords justifying an approximate 6-month time gap during which no coupons were monitored.\nAs a result of the ten unexplained 6-month time gaps, as detailed in the Notice, the Company\nwas unable to confirm that it had monitored each coupon two times per calendar year, in\naccordance with § 192.477.2\nRespondent did not contest this allegation of violation. Accordingly, based upon a review of all\nof the evidence, I find that Respondent violated 49 C.F.R. § 192.491(c) by failing to maintain\ninternal corrosion coupon monitoring records in sufficient detail to demonstrate the adequacy of\nthis internal corrosion control measures.\nASSESSMENT OF PENALTY\nUnder 49 U.S.C. § 60122, Respondent is subject to an administrative civil penalty not to exceed\n$100,000 per violation for each day of the violation, up to a maximum of $1,000,000 for any\nrelated series of violations.\n49 U.S.C. § 60122 and 49 C.F.R. § 190.225 require that, in determining the amount of a civil\npenalty, I consider the following criteria: the nature, circumstances, and gravity of the violation,\nincluding adverse impact on the environment; the degree of Respondent’s culpability; the history\nof Respondent’s prior offenses; the Respondent’s ability to pay the penalty and any effect that\nthe penalty may have on its ability to continue doing business; and the good faith of Respondent\nin attempting to comply with the pipeline safety regulations. In addition, I may consider the\neconomic benefit gained from the violation without any reduction because of subsequent\ndamages, and such other matters as justice may require.\n2 49 C.F.R. §192.477 requires that if corrosive gas is being transported, coupons or other suitable means must be\nused to determine the effectiveness of the steps taken to minimize internal corrosion. Each coupon or other means of\nmonitoring internal corrosion must be checked two times each calendar year, but with intervals not exceeding 7 ½\nmonths.\n\n\n\n3\nHaving reviewed the record and considered the assessment criteria, I assess Respondent a civil\npenalty of $8,000, already paid by Respondent.\nThe terms and conditions of this Final Order are effective upon service in accordance with 49\nC.F.R. § 190.5.\n___________________________________ __________________________\nJeffrey D. Wiese Date Issued\nAssociate Administrator\nfor Pipeline Safety","truncated":false,"body_characters":7323}