{"operation":"document","citation":"CPF 320181005","title":"BLUEWATER GAS STORAGE, LLC — Notice of Probable Violation","source_type":"enforcement","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"historical","official":true,"published_on":"2018-11-23","effective_on":null,"summary":"CLOSED notice of probable violation citing 192.631(d)(4), 192.631(e)(4), 192.631(h), 192.631(j)(1).","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-320181005.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-320181005.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-320181005","source_url":"https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-data/case/320181005","body":"Notice of Probable Violation involving BLUEWATER GAS STORAGE, LLC. PHMSA's enforcement data identifies the cited regulations as 192.631(d)(4),  192.631(e)(4),  192.631(h),  192.631(j)(1). The case was opened on 2018-11-23 and is reported as closed as of 2019-06-27. Proposed civil penalty: $38,000. Assessed civil penalty: $38,000. Open the official case record for notices, responses, orders, and the latest status.\n\nOfficial case documents:\n\n320181005_Final Order_06272019.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/320181005/320181005_Final%20Order_06272019.pdf\n\n320181005_Final Order_06272019_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/320181005/320181005_Final%20Order_06272019_text.pdf\n\n320181005_NOPV PCP_11232018.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/320181005/320181005_NOPV%20PCP_11232018.pdf\n\n320181005_NOPV PCP_11232018_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/320181005/320181005_NOPV%20PCP_11232018_text.pdf\n\n320181005_Operator Response to Notice_12192018.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/320181005/320181005_Operator%20Response%20to%20Notice_12192018.pdf\n\n320181005_Final Order_06272019_text.pdf\n\nJune 27, 2019\nMr. Kevin Fletcher\nPresident and Chief Executive Officer\nWEC Energy Group Inc.\n231 W. Michigan St.\nMilwaukee, Wisconsin 53203\nRe: CPF No. 3-2018-1005\nDear Mr. Fletcher:\nEnclosed please find the Final Order issued in the above-referenced case. It makes findings of\nviolation and assesses a civil penalty of $38,000. This is to acknowledge receipt of payment of\nthe full penalty amount, by wire transfer dated January 8, 2019. This enforcement action is now\nclosed. Service of the Final Order by certified mail is effective upon the date of mailing, as\nprovided under 49 C.F.R. § 190.5.\nThank you for your cooperation in this matter.\nSincerely,\nAlan K. Mayberry\nAssociate Administrator\nfor Pipeline Safety\nEnclosure\ncc: Mr. Allan Beshore, Director, Central Region, Office of Pipeline Safety, PHMSA\nMr. Daniel Krueger, President, Bluewater Gas Storage, LLC, 333 S. Wales Center Road,\nColumbus, Michigan 48063\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 )\nBluewater Gas Storage, LLC, ) CPF No. 3-2018-1005\na subsidiary of WEC Energy Group Inc., )\n)\n)\n)\nRespondent. )\n_____________________________________ )\nFINAL ORDER\nFrom May 7-14, 2018, pursuant to 49 U.S.C. §§ 60106 and 60117, a representative of the\nMichigan Public Service Commission (MIPSC), as agent for the Pipeline and Hazardous\nMaterials Safety Administration (PHMSA), Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS), conducted an on-\nsite pipeline safety inspection of the control room facilities of Bluewater Gas Storage, LLC\n(Bluewater or Respondent), in Columbus, Michigan. Bluewater is a subsidiary of WEC Energy\nGroup, Inc., and operates approximately 37 miles of natural gas transmission pipeline within\nMichigan and two storage fields.1\nAs a result of the inspection, the Director, Central Region, OPS (Director), issued to Respondent,\nby letter dated November 23, 2018, 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 Bluewater\nhad committed two violations of 49 C.F.R. § 192.631 and proposed assessing a civil penalty of\n$38,000 for the alleged violations. The warning items required no further action, but warned the\noperator to correct the probable violations or face possible future enforcement action.\nBluewater responded to the Notice by letter dated December 19, 2018 (Response). The company\ndid not contest the allegations of violation and paid the proposed civil penalty of $38,000 by wire\ntransfer dated January 8, 2019. In accordance with 49 C.F.R. § 190.208(a)(1), such payment\nauthorizes the Associate Administrator to make findings of violation and to issue this final order\nwithout further proceedings.\nFINDINGS OF VIOLATION\nIn its Response, Bluewater did not contest the allegations in the Notice that it violated 49 C.F.R.\nPart 192, as follows:\n1 http://www.bluewatergasstorage.com/regulatory/regulatory-information.htm (last accessed Mar. 28, 2019);\nPipeline Safety Violation Report (Nov. 21, 2018) (on file with PHMSA), at 1.\n\n\n\nCPF No. 42018-5013\nPage 2\nItem 2: The Notice alleged that Respondent violated 49 C.F.R. § 192.631(e)(4), which states:\n§ 192.631 Control room management.\n(a) General. (1) . . . Each operator must have and follow written control\nroom management procedures that implement the requirements of this\nsection . . . .\n(e) Alarm management. Each operator using a SCADA system must\nhave a written alarm management plan to provide for effective controller\nresponse to alarms. An operator’s plan must include provisions to . . .\n(4) Review the alarm management plan required by this paragraph at\nleast once each calendar year, but at intervals not exceeding 15 months, to\ndetermine the effectiveness of the plan;\nThe Notice alleged that Respondent violated 49 C.F.R. § 192.631(e)(4) by failing to have and\nfollow procedures to review its written alarm management plan at least once each calendar year,\nbut at intervals not exceeding 15 months, to determine the effectiveness of the plan. Specifically,\nthe Notice alleged that Respondent failed to review the alarm management plan in calendar year\n2017.\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. § 192.631(e)(4) by failing to follow\nprocedures to review its alarm management plan at least once each calendar year.\nItem 3: The Notice alleged that Respondent violated 49 C.F.R. § 192.631(h), which states:\n§ 192.631 Control room management.\n(a) . . . .\n(h) Training. Each operator must establish a controller training\nprogram and review the training program content to identify potential\nimprovements at least once each calendar year, but at intervals not to exceed\n15 months . . . .\nThe Notice alleged that Respondent violated 49 C.F.R. § 192.631(h) by failing to review its\ntraining program content to identify potential improvements at least once each calendar year, but\nat intervals not to exceed 15 months. Specifically, the Notice alleged that Respondent failed to\nreview its controller training program in calendar year 2017.\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. § 192.631(h) by failing to review its\ncontroller training program content to identify potential improvements at least once each\ncalendar year, but at intervals not to exceed 15 months.\nThese findings of violation will be considered prior offenses in any subsequent enforcement\naction taken against Respondent.\n\n\n\nCPF No. 42018-5013\nPage 3\nASSESSMENT OF PENALTY\nUnder 49 U.S.C. § 60122, Respondent is subject to an administrative civil penalty not to exceed\n$200,000 per violation for each day of the violation, up to a maximum of $2,000,000 for any\nrelated series of violations.2 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; 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. The Notice proposed a total civil\npenalty of $38,000 for the violations cited above.\nItem 2: The Notice proposed a civil penalty of $19,000 for Respondent’s violation of 49 C.F.R.\n§ 192.631(e)(4), for failing to review its alarm management plan at least once each calendar year.\nRespondent neither contested the allegation nor presented any evidence or argument justifying a\nreduction in the proposed penalty. Accordingly, having reviewed the record and considered the\nassessment criteria, I assess Respondent a civil penalty of $19,000 for violation of 49 C.F.R.\n§ 192.631(e)(4).\nItem 3: The Notice proposed a civil penalty of $19,000 for Respondent’s violation of 49 C.F.R.\n§ 192.631(h), for failing to review its controller training program content to identify potential\nimprovements at least once each calendar year, but at intervals not to exceed 15 months.\nRespondent neither contested the allegation nor presented any evidence or argument justifying a\nreduction in the proposed penalty. Accordingly, having reviewed the record and considered the\nassessment criteria, I assess Respondent a civil penalty of $19,000 for violation of 49 C.F.R.\n§ 192.631(h).\nIn summary, having reviewed the record and considered the assessment criteria for each of the\nItems cited above, I assess Respondent a total civil penalty of $38,000, which amount was paid\nin full by wire transfer on January 8, 2019.\nWARNING ITEMS\nWith respect to Items 1 and 4, the Notice alleged probable violations of Part 192 but did not\npropose a civil penalty or compliance order for these items. Therefore, these are considered to\nbe warning items. The warnings were for:\n49 C.F.R. § 192.631(d)(4) (Item 1) ─ Respondent’s alleged failure to implement\na maximum limit on controller hours-of-service. Bluewater deviated from the\nmaximum limit for several months to compensate for being short-staffed; and\n2 These amounts are adjusted annually for inflation. See 49 C.F.R. § 190.223; Revisions to Civil Penalty Amounts,\n83 Fed. Reg. 60732, 60744 (Nov. 27, 2018).\n\n\n\nCPF No. 42018-5013\nPage 4\n49 C.F.R. § 192.631(j)(1) (Item 4) ─ Respondent’s alleged failure to maintain\nrecords demonstrating compliance with the requirements of this section.\nRespondent could not locate records of testing its internal communications plan,\nas required by § 192.631(c)(3).\nIf OPS finds a violation of any of these items in a subsequent inspection, Respondent may be\nsubject to future enforcement action.\nThe terms and conditions of this Final Order are effective upon service in accordance with 49\nC.F.R. § 190.5.\nJune 27, 2019\n___________________________________ _________________________\nAlan K. Mayberry Date Issued\nAssociate Administrator\nfor Pipeline Safety","truncated":false,"body_characters":10603}