{"operation":"document","citation":"CPF 320181004M","title":"BLUEWATER GAS STORAGE, LLC — Notice of Amendment","source_type":"enforcement","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"historical","official":true,"published_on":"2018-11-06","effective_on":null,"summary":"CLOSED notice of amendment citing 192.605(b)(1), 192.605(c)(1)(iii), 192.631(a)(1), 192.631(c)(4), 192.631(e)(2), 192.631(f)(2), 192.631(g)(2), 192.631(h), 192.631(i), 192.631(j)(1), 192.745(a).","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-320181004m.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-320181004m.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-320181004m","source_url":"https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-data/case/320181004M","body":"Notice of Amendment involving BLUEWATER GAS STORAGE, LLC. PHMSA's enforcement data identifies the cited regulations as 192.605(b)(1),  192.605(c)(1)(iii),  192.631(a)(1),  192.631(c)(4),  192.631(e)(2),  192.631(f)(2),  192.631(g)(2),  192.631(h),  192.631(i),  192.631(j)(1),  192.745(a). The case was opened on 2018-11-06 and is reported as closed as of 2019-03-04. Open the official case record for notices, responses, orders, and the latest status.\n\nOfficial case documents:\n\n320181004M_Closure Letter_03042019.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/320181004M/320181004M_Closure%20Letter_03042019.pdf\n\n320181004M_Closure Letter_03042019_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/320181004M/320181004M_Closure%20Letter_03042019_text.pdf\n\n320181004M_Notice of Amendment_11062018.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/320181004M/320181004M_Notice%20of%20Amendment_11062018.pdf\n\n320181004M_Notice of Amendment_11062018_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/320181004M/320181004M_Notice%20of%20Amendment_11062018_text.pdf\n\n320181004M_Operator Response to Notice_12192019.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/320181004M/320181004M_Operator%20Response%20to%20Notice_12192019.pdf\n\n320181004M_Notice of Amendment_11062018_text.pdf\n\nNOTICE OF AMENDMENT\nCERTIFIED MAIL - RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED\nNovember 6, 2018\nMr. Dan Krueger\nPresident\nBluewater Gas Storage, LLC\n231 W. Michigan St.\nMilwaukee, WI 53203\nCPF 3-2018-1004M\nDear Mr. Krueger:\nOn May 7-14, 2018, a representative of the Michigan Public Service Commission (MIPSC)\nacting as an interstate agent for the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration\n(PHMSA) pursuant to Chapter 601 of 49 United States Code inspected Bluewater Gas Storage\nLLC's control room management and operations and maintenance procedures in Columbus,\nMI.\n1. On the basis of the inspection, PHMSA has identified the apparent inadequacies found within\nBluewater Gas Storage LLC's (BGS) plans or procedures, as described below:\n§192.605 Procedural manual for operations, maintenance, and emergencies\n(b) Maintenance and normal operations. The manual required by paragraph (a) of\nthis section must include procedures for the following, if applicable, to provide\nsafety during maintenance and operations.\n(1) Operating, maintaining, and repairing the pipeline in accordance with each of\nthe requirements of this subpart and Subpart M of this part.\n§192.745 Valve maintenance: Transmission lines.\n\n\n\n(a) Each transmission line valve that might be required during any emergency must\nbe inspected and partially operated at intervals not exceeding 15 months, but at\nleast once each calendar year.\nBGS's procedures for inspecting and partially operating transmission line valves that are\nrequired for an emergency did not include the process for when the control room operates\nthe valve. BGS's procedures only addressed the inspection of the valve when it is\ninspected manually. However, the valve can be operated in a time of emergency by the\ncontrol center and therefore must have inspection procedures for that operation. Also,\nBGS's valve inspection procedure in Chapter 600 does not require the documentation of\nthe process when the control room activates the transmission line valve.\n2. §192.605 (c) Abnormal operation.\nFor transmission lines, the manual required by paragraph (a) of this section must\ninclude procedures for the following to provide safety when operating design limits\nhave been exceeded:\n(iii) Loss of communications;\nBGS procedures did not address accurately what controllers are doing in the event of a\ncommunication failure. Appendix J Section 5.8.1 indicates that during partial\ncommunication failures personnel will be dispatched within 30 minutes. However, this\ndoes not occur in practice. Additionally, the Appendix did not specify that stations would\nbe manned during a full or partial communications failure on key points within BGS’s\nsystem or how that would be documented. On August 2, 2018, BGS submitted revised\nprocedures that addressed this item. No further action is required.\n3. §192.631 Control room management.\n(a) General.\n(1) This section applies to each operator of a pipeline facility with a controller\nworking in a control room who monitors and controls all or part of a pipeline\nfacility through a SCADA system. Each operator must have and follow written\ncontrol room management procedures that implement the requirements of this\nsection, except that for each control room where an operator's activities are limited\nto either or both of:\n(i) Distribution with less than 250,000 services, or\n(ii) Transmission without a compressor station, the operator must have and\nfollow written procedures that implement only paragraphs (d) (regarding\nfatigue), (i) (regarding compliance validation), and (j) (regarding compliance\nand deviations) of this section.\n2\n\n\n\n§192.631 Control room management.\n(c) Provide adequate information. Each operator must provide its controllers with\nthe information, tools, processes and procedures necessary for the controllers to\ncarry out the roles and responsibilities the operator has defined by performing each\nof the following:\n(4) Test any backup SCADA systems at least once each calendar year, but at\nintervals not to exceed 15 months;\nBGS's procedures did not indicate that the backup SCADA systems would be tested once\neach calendar year. Appendix J indicates that the Failover “Hot/Standby” server will be\ntested every 2 years. On August 2, 2018, BGS submitted revised procedures that\naddressed this item. No further action is required.\n4. §192.631(a) - See above.\n§192.631 Control room management.\n(e) Alarm management. Each operator using a SCADA system must have a written\nalarm management plan to provide for effective controller response to alarms. An\noperator's plan must include provisions to:\n(2) Identify at least once each calendar month points affecting safety that have been\ntaken off scan in the SCADA host, have had alarms inhibited, generated false\nalarms, or that have had forced or manual values for periods of time exceeding that\nrequired for associated maintenance or operating activities;\nBGS's procedures for alarm management did not have procedures for the monthly alarm\nreviews. The procedure did not reference the records BGS must produce, and there was\nno mention of who was responsible for them and what they are required to do. The\nprocedure also did not define time frames to address issues with safety and non-safety\nrelated points. Additionally, Table 20 of the control room management plan was not\nupdated to accurately reflect how BGS operates the control room. For instance, the\nAlarm Metric Reporting Table indicates that controllers can suppress, shelf, and put\nalarms out of service. However, these actions cannot be done in the Columbus, MI\ncontrol room.\n5. §192.631(a) - See above.\n§192.631 Control room management.\n(f) Change management. Each operator must assure that changes that could affect\ncontrol room operations are coordinated with the control room personnel by\nperforming each of the following:\n(2) Require its field personnel to contact the control room when emergency\n3\n\n\n\nconditions exist and when making field changes that affect control room operations;\nBGS's procedure for communication between the controllers and maintenance technician\ndid not have requirements for how the maintenance technician's communications are to\nbe documented when field changes affect the control room operation.\n6. §192.631(a) - See above.\n§192.631 Control room management.\n(g) Operating experience. Each operator must assure that lessons learned from its\noperating experience are incorporated, as appropriate, into its control room\nmanagement procedures by performing each of the following:\n(2) Include lessons learned from the operator's experience in the training program\nrequired by this section.\nBGS's procedures did not indicate that lessons learned will be incorporated into the\ntraining program even if the control room did not contribute to an incident. On August 2,\n2018, BGS submitted revised procedures that addressed this item. No further action is\nrequired.\n7. §192.631(a) - See above.\n§192.631 Control room management.\n(h) Training. Each operator must establish a controller training program and\nreview the training program content to identify potential improvements at least\nonce each calendar year, but at intervals not to exceed 15 months. An operator's\nprogram must provide for training each controller to carry out the roles and\nresponsibilities defined by the operator.\nBGS did not have procedures for the control room management training. BGS utilizes\nthe OQ training for their controllers, but there is no procedure to specify formal\ndocumentation of this training. There were no checklists, no specific training materials,\nand no tests or other performance based indications to demonstrate that one has reached\nthe level of a fully trained controller. The control room procedures must address this\naspect of training for the controllers.\n8. §192.631(a) - See above.\n§192.631 Control room management.\n(i) Compliance validation. Upon request, operators must submit their procedures to\nPHMSA or, in the case of an intrastate pipeline facility regulated by a State, to the\n4\n\n\n\nappropriate State agency.\nBGS's procedure did not accurately specify the company personnel responsible for\nsubmitting the procedures to PHMSA or the appropriate state agency. The procedure\nindicated that the compliance coordinator was responsible for this duty. However, it\nappears that both the Compliance Coordinator and the Asset Manager are actually\nresponsible for this. On August 2, 2018, BGS submitted revised procedures that\naddressed this item. No further action is required.\n9. §192.631(a) - See above.\n§192.631 Control room management.\n(j) Compliance and deviations. An operator must maintain for review during\ninspection:\n(1) Records that demonstrate compliance with the requirements of this section;\nBGS’s procedures include fatigue mitigation strategies [§192.631(d)(2)], but did not\nrequire that the use of fatigue countermeasures be documented. Additionally, the\ndocumentation of when fatigue countermeasures are used, especially in the ninth shift\nhour and beyond, is necessary to perform an adequate review of incidents to determine if\ncontrol room actions contributed to the event [see §192.631(g)(1)(i)] and assure that\nlessons learned about fatigue mitigation are incorporated into the control room\nprocedures based on BGS’s operating experience. [See also FAQ D.07 #8]\nResponse to this Notice\nThis Notice is provided pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 60108(a) and 49 C.F.R. § 190.206. Enclosed\nas part of this Notice is a document entitled Response Options for Pipeline Operators in\nCompliance Proceedings. Please refer to this document and note the response options. Be\nadvised that all material you submit in response to this enforcement action is subject to being\nmade publicly available. If you believe that any portion of your responsive material qualifies\nfor confidential treatment under 5 U.S.C. 552(b), along with the complete original document\nyou must provide a second copy of the document with the portions you believe qualify for\nconfidential treatment redacted and an explanation of why you believe the redacted\ninformation qualifies for confidential treatment under 5 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\nNotice and authorizes the Associate Administrator for Pipeline Safety to find facts as alleged in\nthis Notice without further notice to you and to issue an Order Directing Amendment. If your\nplans or procedures are found inadequate as alleged in this Notice, you may be ordered to\namend your plans or procedures to correct the inadequacies (49 C.F.R. § 190.206). If you are\nnot contesting this Notice, we propose that you submit your amended procedures to my office\nwithin 90 days of receipt of this Notice. This period may be extended by written request for\n5\n\n\n\ngood cause. Once the inadequacies identified herein have been addressed in your amended\nprocedures, this enforcement action will be closed.\nIt is requested (not mandated) that Bluewater Gas Storage, LLC 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 Allan C. Beshore, Director,\nCentral Region, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. In correspondence\nconcerning this matter, please refer to CPF 3-2018-1004M and, for each document you\nsubmit, please provide a copy in electronic format whenever possible.\nSincerely,\nAllan C. Beshore, PE\nDirector, Central Region, OPS\nPipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration\nEnclosure: Response Options for Pipeline Operators in Compliance Proceedings\n6\n\n320181004M_Closure Letter_03042019_text.pdf\n\nCERTIFIED MAIL - RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED\nMarch 4, 2019\nMr. Dan Krueger\nPresident\nBluewater Gas Storage, LLC\n231 W. Michigan St.\nMilwaukee, WI 53203\nCPF 3-2018-1004M\nDear Mr. Krueger:\nOn May 7-14, 2018, a representative of the Michigan Public Service Commission (MIPSC)\nacting as an interstate agent for the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration\n(PHMSA) pursuant to Chapter 601 of 49 United States Code inspected Bluewater Gas Storage\nLLC's control room management and operations and maintenance procedures in Columbus,\nMI.\nAs a result of the inspection, Bluewater Gas Storage LLC was issued a Notice of Amendment\non November 6, 2018, which proposed amendment of your procedures. On December 19,\n2018, Bluewater Gas Storage LLC submitted the amended procedures. My staff reviewed the\namended procedures, and it appears that the inadequacies outlined in this Notice of\nAmendment have been corrected.\nThis letter is to inform you no further action is necessary and this case is now closed. Thank\nyou for your cooperation.\nSincerely,\nAllan C. Beshore\nDirector, Central Region, OPS\nPipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","truncated":false,"body_characters":14336}