{"operation":"document","citation":"CPF 220146003","title":"IMTT EPIC LLC — Notice of Probable Violation","source_type":"enforcement","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"historical","official":true,"published_on":"2014-03-10","effective_on":null,"summary":"CLOSED notice of probable violation citing 195.452(j), 195.452(l)(1), 195.588(b)(1).","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-220146003.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-220146003.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-220146003","source_url":"https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-data/case/220146003","body":"Notice of Probable Violation involving IMTT EPIC LLC. PHMSA's enforcement data identifies the cited regulations as 195.452(j),  195.452(l)(1),  195.588(b)(1). The case was opened on 2014-03-10 and is reported as closed as of 2014-09-04. Open the official case record for notices, responses, orders, and the latest status.\n\nOfficial case documents:\n\n220146003_closure letter_09042014.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/220146003/220146003_closure%20letter_09042014.pdf\n\n220146003_closure Letter_09042014_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/220146003/220146003_closure%20Letter_09042014_text.pdf\n\n220146003_Final Order_08272014.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/220146003/220146003_Final%20Order_08272014.pdf\n\n220146003_Final Order_08272014_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/220146003/220146003_Final%20Order_08272014_text.pdf\n\n220146003_NOPV PCO_03102014.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/220146003/220146003_NOPV%20PCO_03102014.pdf\n\n220146003_NOPV PCO_03102014_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/220146003/220146003_NOPV%20PCO_03102014_text.pdf\n\n220146003_Final Order_08272014_text.pdf\n\nAUGUST 27, 2014\nMr. David Vattimo\nPresident & CEO\nEpic Midstream, LLC\n2100 West Loop South, Suite 900\nHouston, TX 77027\nRe: CPF No. 2-2014-6003\nDear Mr. Vattimo:\nEnclosed please find the Final Order issued in the above-referenced case. It makes one finding\nof violation and specifies actions that need to be taken by Epic Midstream, LLC, to comply with\nthe pipeline safety regulations. When the terms of the compliance order have been completed, as\ndetermined by the Director, Southern Region, this enforcement action will be closed. Service of\nthe Final Order by certified mail is deemed effective upon the date of mailing, or as otherwise\nprovided 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. Wayne T. Lemoi, Region Director, Southern Region, OPS\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____________________________________\n)\nIn the Matter of )\n)\nEpic Midstream, LLC, ) CPF No. 2-2014-6003\n)\nRespondent. )\n____________________________________)\nFINAL ORDER\nOn May 31, 2013, pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 60117, a representative of the Pipeline and Hazardous\nMaterials Safety Administration (PHMSA), Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS), conducted an on-\nsite pipeline safety inspection of the facilities and records of Epic Midstream, LLC (Epic or\nRespondent), in Macon, Georgia. Epic operates four oil and gas bulk storage facilities and\nrelated pipelines, with 65 tanks and over 1.5 million barrels of active storage based in Georgia\nand Alabama.1\nAs a result of the inspection, the Director, Southern Region, OPS (Director), issued to\nRespondent, by letter dated March 10, 2014, a Notice of Probable Violation and Proposed\nCompliance Order (Notice), which also included a warning pursuant to 49 C.F.R. § 190.205. In\naccordance with 49 C.F.R. § 190.207, the Notice proposed finding that Epic had violated\n49 C.F.R. § 195.452 and ordering Respondent to take certain measures to correct the alleged\nviolation. The warning items required no further action but warned the operator to correct the\nprobable violations or face possible enforcement action.\nEpic responded to the Notice by e-mail dated April 14, 2014 (Response). The company did not\ncontest the allegation of violation but explained that it was taking steps to comply with the\nproposed compliance order. Respondent did not request a hearing and therefore has waived its\nright to one.\nFINDING OF VIOLATION\nIn its Response, Epic did not contest the allegation in the Notice that it violated 49 C.F.R. Part\n195, as follows:\nItem 1: The Notice alleged that Respondent violated 49 C.F.R. § 195.452(j), which states, in\nrelevant part:\n1 See http://www.epic-midstream.com/#/assets.php. (Current as of June 10, 2014).\n\n\n\n2\n§ 195.452 Pipeline integrity management in high consequence areas.\n(a) …\n(j) What is a continual process of evaluation and assessment to\nmaintain a pipeline’s integrity?- (1) General. After completing the\nbaseline integrity assessment, an operator must continue to assess the line\npipe at specified intervals and periodically evaluate the integrity of each\npipeline segment that could affect a high consequence area. . .\n2\n(3) Assessment intervals. An operator must establish five-year\nintervals, not to exceed 68 months, for continually assessing the line\npipe’s integrity. An operator must base the assessment intervals on the\nrisk the line pipe poses to the high consequence area to determine the\npriority for assessing the pipeline segments. . . .\nThe Notice alleged that Respondent violated 49 C.F.R. § 195.452(j) by failing to continue\nassessing its line pipe at specified intervals and periodically evaluating the integrity of each pipe\nsegment that could affect a high consequence area. Specifically, the Notice alleged that Epic\ncompleted a proper Integrity Management baseline assessment of its pipeline serving the Robins\nAir Force Base (Robins Pipeline) through hydrostatic pressure testing in 2007, but subsequently\nfailed to properly reassess the line at periodic intervals, as required by the regulation. According\nto the Notice, Epic attempted to use a different procedure for its periodic reassessment (i.e.,\nExternal Corrosion Direct Assessment (ECDA)), but failed to use that method correctly along the\nentire pipeline within the required reassessment interval.\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. § 195.452(j) by failing to continue\nassessing the Robins Pipeline at specified intervals and periodically evaluating the integrity of\neach pipe segment that could affect a high consequence area.\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 violations of\n49 C.F.R. §§ 195.452. Under 49 U.S.C. § 60118(a), each person who engages in the\ntransportation of hazardous liquids or who owns or operates a pipeline facility is required to\ncomply with the applicable safety standards established under chapter 601. Pursuant to the\nauthority of 49 U.S.C. § 60118(b) and 49 C.F.R. § 190.217, Respondent is ordered to take the\nfollowing actions to ensure compliance with the pipeline safety regulations applicable to its\noperations:\n1.With respect to the violation of § 195.452(j) (Item 1), Respondent must:\n2 “High Consequence Area” is defined as a commercially navigable waterway, a high population area, other\npopulated areas or an unusually sensitive area. See 49 C.F.R. § 195.450.\n\n\n\n3\na. Assess the line pipe in accordance with 49 C.F.R. § 195.452(j)(5) within 120\ndays of receipt of this Final Order;\nb. At least 30 days prior to assessing the line pipe, notify the OPS Southern\nRegion of the planned dates for performing the assessment, the assessment\nmethods to be used, and the procedures for performing the assessment;\nc. Notify the OPS Southern Region when the assessment has been completed;\nand\nd. Within 30 days of completion of the assessment, Epic must make available for\nOPS inspection all records and documentation showing the completion of\nthe assessment.\n2.It is requested (not mandated) that Epic maintain the documentation of the safety\nimprovement costs associated with fulfilling this Compliance Order and submit\nthe total to Wayne T. Lemoi, Director, Southern Region – Office of Pipeline\nSafety, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. It is requested\nthat these costs be reported in two categories: 1) total cost associated with\npreparation/revision of plans, procedures, studies and analyses; and 2) total cost\nassociated with replacements, additions and other changes to pipeline\ninfrastructure.\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.\nFailure to comply with this Order may result in administrative assessment of civil penalties not\nto exceed $200,000 for each violation for each day the violation continues or in referral to the\nAttorney General for appropriate relief in a district court of the United States.\nWARNING ITEMS\nWith respect to Items 2 and 3, the Notice alleged probable violations of 49 C.F.R. §§ 195.452\nand 195.588, but did not propose a civil penalty or compliance order for these items. Therefore,\nthese are considered to be warning items. The warnings were for:\n49 C.F.R. § 195.452(l)(1) (Item 2) ─ Respondent’s alleged failure to properly\ndocument the analyses and actions it took to implement and evaluate each element\nof its integrity management program before selecting ECDA as its reassessment\nmethod for the Robins Pipeline; and\n49 C.F.R. § 195.588(b)(1) (Item 3) ─ Respondent’s alleged failure to develop and\nimplement a comprehensive plan (including procedures, examination protocols,\netc.) for using ECDA as its reassessment method.\nEpic presented information in its Response showing that it had taken certain actions to address\nthe cited items. If OPS finds a violation of any of these items in a subsequent inspection,\nRespondent may be subject to future enforcement action.\n\n\n\n4\nThe terms and conditions of this Final Order [CPF No. 2-2014-6003] are effective upon service\nin accordance with 49 C.F.R. § 190.5.\n___________________________________ __________________________\nJeffrey D. Wiese Date Issued\nAssociate Administrator\nfor Pipeline Safety\n\n220146003_closure Letter_09042014_text.pdf\n\nCERTIFIED MAIL - RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED\nSeptember 4, 2014\nMr. David Vattimo\nPresident & CEO\nEpic Midstream, LLC\n2100 West Loop South, Suite 900\nHouston, TX 77027\nCPF 2-2014-6003\nDear Mr. Vattimo:\nOn August 27, 2014, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA),\nOffice of Pipeline Safety (OPS) issued Epic Midstream, LLC (Epic) a Final Order with an\nattached Compliance Order (CO) in the above-referenced case. The CO required Epic to\nundertake certain actions to ensure compliance with the federal pipeline safety regulations.\nThe actions in the CO were the same as those in a proposed CO issued to EPIC by the OPS\nSouthern Region on March 10, 2014.\nOn June 20, 2014, prior to issuance of the Final Order, Epic notified the OPS Southern\nRegion that it had completed the actions in the proposed CO. Moreover, on July 22, 2014, an\nengineer from the OPS Southern Region met with Epic personnel at Epic’s Macon Terminal\noffice to review the actions Epic had taken to comply with the proposed CO as well as the\ndocumentation to support those actions.\nBased on our review of the actions taken by Epic and the supporting documentation we have\ndetermined that Epic has complied with the terms of the CO and the Final Order. This case is\nnow closed and no further action is necessary with respect to the matters involved in this case.\nPlease be advised that this letter refers only to the above referenced order (CPF 2-2014-6003)\nand not to any other PHMSA cases, if any.\nSincerely,\nWayne T. Lemoi\nDirector, Office of Pipeline Safety\nPHMSA Southern Region","truncated":false,"body_characters":11544}