{"operation":"document","citation":"CPF 320081004","title":"ANR PIPELINE CO — Notice of Probable Violation","source_type":"enforcement","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"historical","official":true,"published_on":"2008-08-15","effective_on":null,"summary":"CLOSED notice of probable violation citing 192.731(a), 192.745(a).","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-320081004.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-320081004.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-320081004","source_url":"https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-data/case/320081004","body":"Notice of Probable Violation involving ANR PIPELINE CO. PHMSA's enforcement data identifies the cited regulations as 192.731(a),  192.745(a). The case was opened on 2008-08-15 and is reported as closed as of 2011-01-31. Proposed civil penalty: $41,000. Assessed civil penalty: $41,000. Open the official case record for notices, responses, orders, and the latest status.\n\nOfficial case documents:\n\n320081004_Final Order_01312011.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/320081004/320081004_Final%20Order_01312011.pdf\n\n320081004_Final Order_01312011_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/320081004/320081004_Final%20Order_01312011_text.pdf\n\n320081004_Final Order_01312011_text.pdf\n\nJAN 31 2011\nMr. Vern Meier\nVice President, Field Operations\nTransCanada U.S. Pipelines\n717 Texas Street, Suite 2400\nHouston, TX 77002-2661\nRe: CPF No. 3-2008-1004\nDear Mr. Meier:\nEnclosed please find the Final Order issued in the above-referenced case. It makes a finding of\nviolation and assesses a civil penalty of $41,000. This letter acknowledges receipt of payment of\nthe full penalty amount, by wire transfer, dated September 22, 2008. This enforcement action is\nnow closed. Service of the Final Order by certified mail is deemed effective upon the date of\nmailing, or 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: David Barrett, Director, Central Region, PHMSA\nCERTIFIED MAIL - RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED [7005 1160 0001 0041 3498\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)\nTransCanada U.S. Pipelines, ) CPF No. 3-2008-1004\n)\nRespondent. )\n____________________________________)\nFINAL ORDER\nOn December 4-6, 2007, 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 TransCanada U.S.\nPipelines (TransCanada or Respondent) facilities operated by ANR Pipeline Company (ANR) in\nPortland and Sulphur Springs, Indiana. TransCanada’s ANR pipeline system transports natural\ngas from Louisiana, Texas, and Oklahoma to destinations throughout the Midwest through a\n10,000-mile pipeline network.1\nAs a result of the inspection, the Director, Central Region, OPS (Director), issued to Respondent,\nby letter dated August 15, 2008, a Notice of Probable Violation and Proposed Civil Penalty\n(Notice). In accordance with 49 C.F.R. § 190.207, the Notice proposed finding that\nTransCanada had violated 49 C.F.R. § 192.745(a) and proposed assessing a civil penalty of\n$41,000 for the alleged violation. The Notice also proposed finding that Respondent had\ncommitted a probable violation of 49 C.F.R. § 192.731(a) and warning Respondent to take\nappropriate corrective action or be subject to future enforcement action.\nTransCanada responded to the Notice by letter dated September 9, 2008 (Response). The\ncompany did not contest the allegations of violation and paid the proposed civil penalty of\n$41,000 as provided in 49 C.F.R. § 190.227. Payment of the penalty serves to close the case\nwith prejudice to Respondent.\nFINDING OF VIOLATION\nIn its Response, TransCanada did not contest the allegation in the Notice that it violated 49\nC.F.R. Part 192, as follows:\nItem 1: The Notice alleged that Respondent violated 49 C.F.R. § 192.745(a), which states:\n1 http://www.ngts.com/ (last accessed on December 28, 2010).\n\n\n\n2\n§ 192.745—Valve maintenance: Transmission lines.\n(a) Each transmission line valve that might be required during any\nemergency must be inspected and partially operated at intervals not\nexceeding 15 months, but at least once each calendar year.\nThe Notice alleged that Respondent violated 49 C.F.R. § 192.745(a) by failing to partially\noperate 97 transmission line valves on mainlines, laterals, meter stations, and at compressor\nstations in 2004, 2005, and 2006. The specified valves that were not operated included:\n• two 501/502 line meter station valves in 2004\n• 58 Portland compressor station valves, 14 Sulphur Springs compressor station valves;\nfive 501/502 line meter station valves, four 501/502 mainline valves, four Pennville\nlateral valves, five St. Henry lateral valves, two Winchester lateral valves, and one\nLebanon lateral valve in 2005\n• One 501/502 line meter station valve and one Pennville lateral valve in 2006\nRespondent did not contest this allegation of violation and acknowledged that the specified\nvalves were not partially operated at the required interval. Accordingly, based upon a review of\nall of the evidence, I find that Respondent violated 49 C.F.R. § 192.745(a) by failing to partially\noperate 97 transmission line valves on mainlines, laterals, meter stations, and at compressor\nstations in 2004, 2005, and 2006.\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. In determining the amount of a civil penalty under 49 U.S.C.\n§ 60122 and 49 C.F.R. § 190.225, I must consider the following criteria: the nature,\ncircumstances, and gravity of the violation, including adverse impact on the environment; the\ndegree of Respondent’s culpability; the history of Respondent’s prior offenses; the Respondent’s\nability to pay the penalty and any effect that the penalty may have on its ability to continue doing\nbusiness; and the good faith of Respondent in attempting to comply with the pipeline safety\nregulations. In addition, I may consider the economic benefit gained from the violation without\nany reduction because of subsequent damages, and such other matters as justice may require.\nThe Notice proposed a civil penalty of $41,000 for the violation cited above.\nItem 1: The Notice proposed a civil penalty of $41,000 for Respondent’s violation of 49 C.F.R.\n§ 192.745(a) for failing to partially operate 97 transmission line valves on mainlines, laterals,\nmeter stations, and at compressor stations in 2004, 2005, and 2006. TransCanada did not contest\nthe allegation. Accordingly, having reviewed the record and considered the assessment criteria, I\nassess Respondent a civil penalty of $41,000, which TransCanada has already remitted to\nPHMSA.\n\n\n\n3\nWARNING ITEM\nWith respect to Item 2, the Notice alleged a probable violation of Part 192 but did not propose a\ncivil penalty or compliance order for this item. Therefore, this is considered to be a warning\nitem. The warning was for:\n49 C.F.R. § 192.731(a) (Item 2) ─ Respondent’s alleged failure to set relief valve\nand monitor regulator settings at the Sulphur Springs and Portland compressor\nstations in 2007 to ensure that maximum allowable overpressure did not exceed\n110% of MAOP.\nTransCanada presented information in its Response showing that it had taken certain actions to\naddress the cited item. Accordingly, having considered such information, I find, pursuant to 49\nC.F.R. § 190.205, that a probable violation of 49 C.F.R. § 192.731(a) (Notice Item 2) occurred\nand Respondent is hereby advised to correct such condition. In the event that OPS finds a\nviolation of this provision in a subsequent inspection, Respondent may be subject to future\nenforcement action.\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":7785}