NATURAL GAS PIPELINE CO OF AMERICA — Corrective Action Order

case documentOfficial PDFcpf_420051011H.pdf#

420051011H_Closure_01052011_text.pdf, page 1Official PDFCERTIFIED MAIL - RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED January 5, 2011 Mr. M. Dwayne Burton Vice President Gas Pipeline Operations and Engineering Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America 500 Dallas Street, Suite 1000 Houston, TX 77002 CPF 4-2005-1011H Dear Mr. Burton: On May 13, 2005, Natural Gas Pipeline of America (NGPL) experienced a failure of its Gulf Coast Mainline 36-inch #3 natural gas pipeline near Marshall, TX. As a result of the incident the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Administration (PHMSA) issued a Corrective Action Order (CAO), 4-2005-1011H, dated May 26, 2005, requiring NGPL to take corrective actions with respect to its Gulf Coast Mainline natural gas pipeline system. The cause of the failure was determined to be Near-Neutral Stress Corrosion Cracking (SCC) and NGPL presented a plan of corrective measures with annual updates designed to prevent additional in-service failures. Through field and record inspections over the past five years, PHMSA has determined that NGPL has substantially completed the requirements of the CAO. Because of the ongoing nature of SCC issues, NGPL agreed to incorporate the processes of detecting, evaluating, and remediating SCC developed during the work performed under the CAO into your Operations and Maintenance procedures. Consequently, PHMSA believes that it is not necessary to continue to monitor this work under the authority of the CAO. This case is now closed. Sincerely, R. M. Seeley Director, Southwest Region Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration#