{"operation":"document","citation":"CPF 420081011","title":"PANHANDLE EASTERN PIPELINE CO — Notice of Probable Violation","source_type":"enforcement","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"historical","official":true,"published_on":"2008-06-20","effective_on":null,"summary":"CLOSED notice of probable violation citing 192.905(a), 192.921(a)(4).","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-420081011.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-420081011.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-420081011","source_url":"https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-data/case/420081011","body":"Notice of Probable Violation involving PANHANDLE EASTERN PIPELINE CO. PHMSA's enforcement data identifies the cited regulations as 192.905(a),  192.921(a)(4). The case was opened on 2008-06-20 and is reported as closed as of 2010-10-06. Open the official case record for notices, responses, orders, and the latest status.\n\nOfficial case documents:\n\n420081011_Closure Letter_10062010.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/420081011/420081011_Closure%20Letter_10062010.pdf\n\n420081011_Closure Letter_10062010_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/420081011/420081011_Closure%20Letter_10062010_text.pdf\n\n420081011_FinalOrder_07262010.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/420081011/420081011_FinalOrder_07262010.pdf\n\n420081011_FinalOrder_07262010_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/420081011/420081011_FinalOrder_07262010_text.pdf\n\n420081011_nopvpco_06202008.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/420081011/420081011_nopvpco_06202008.pdf\n\n420081011_nopvpco_06202008_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/420081011/420081011_nopvpco_06202008_text.pdf\n\n420081011_Operator Response_07222008.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/420081011/420081011_Operator%20Response_07222008.pdf\n\n420081011_FinalOrder_07262010_text.pdf\n\nJUL 26 2010\nMr. Jeryl Mohn\nSenior Vice President, Operations and Engineering\nPanhandle Energy, a division of Southern Union Company\n5444 Westheimer Road\nHouston, TX 77056-5306\nMr. Don Hawkins\nSenior Vice President, Operations and Engineering\nTranswestern Pipeline Company, LLC\n711 Louisiana Street, Suite 900\nHouston, TX 77002\nRe: CPF No. 4-2008-1011\nDear Mr. Mohn and Mr. Hawkins:\nEnclosed please find the Final Order issued in the above-referenced case. It makes findings of\nviolation and specifies actions that need to be taken by Transwestern Pipeline Company, LLC to\ncomply with the pipeline safety regulations. When the terms of the compliance order have been\ncompleted, as determined by the Director, Southwest Region, this enforcement action will be\nclosed as to Transwestern Pipeline Company, LLC. The Final Order also makes findings of\nviolation and finds that Panhandle Energy has completed the actions specified in the Notice to\ncomply with the pipeline safety regulations. Therefore, this case is now closed as to Panhandle\nEnergy. 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: Mr. R. M. Seeley, Director, Southwest Region, PHMSA\nMr. Jerry F. Rau, Director of Pipeline Integrity, Panhandle Energy, 5444 Westheimer\nRoad, Houston, TX 77056-5306\nCERTIFIED MAIL – RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED [7009 1410 0000 2472 2643]\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 )\nPanhandle Energy, a division of ) CPF No. 4-2008-1011\nSouthern Union Company, )\nand )\nTranswestern Pipeline )\nCompany, LLC, )\n)\n)\n)\n)\n)\nRespondents. )\n____________________________________)\nFINAL ORDER\nOn November 13-17 and November 27-30, 2006, pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 60117, representatives\nof the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), Office of Pipeline\nSafety (OPS), conducted an on-site pipeline safety inspection of the facilities and records of\nPanhandle Energy (Panhandle) in Houston, Texas. The PHMSA team inspected the integrity\nmanagement program for Panhandle’s entire pipeline system. At the time, Panhandle operated\nthe following gas pipeline systems consisting of over 15,000 miles of transmission lines:\nPanhandle Eastern Pipeline; Florida Gas Transmission; Trunkline Gas; and Transwestern\nPipeline.\nAs a result of the inspection, the Director, Southwest Region, OPS (Director), issued to\nPanhandle, by letter dated June 20, 2008, a Notice of Probable Violation and Proposed\nCompliance Order (Notice). In accordance with 49 C.F.R. § 190.207, the Notice proposed\nfinding that Panhandle had violated 49 C.F.R. § 192.905(a) and proposed ordering Panhandle to\ntake certain measures to correct the alleged violations. The Notice also proposed finding that\nPanhandle had committed another probable violation of 49 C.F.R. Part 192 and warned\nPanhandle to take appropriate corrective action or be subject to future enforcement action.\nThe probable violations identified in the Notice concern segments of the Florida Gas\nTransmission and Transwestern Pipeline systems in Louisiana and Arizona, respectively. The\nNotice alleged that Panhandle could not demonstrate the accuracy of its information regarding\nthe centerlines of the pipeline segments, high consequence area (HCA) boundaries, and the\nrelative locations of pipeline segments and adjacent structures.\n\n\n\n2\nPanhandle responded to the Notice by letter dated July 22, 2008. Panhandle explained that it no\nlonger owned or operated the Transwestern Pipeline system. Panhandle stated that the system is\nnow owned and operated by the Transwestern Pipeline Company, LLC (Transwestern), a\nsubsidiary of Energy Transfer Partners, L.P. Panhandle therefore only addressed the allegations\nrelating to the Florida Gas Transmission pipeline system. Panhandle contested some of the\nallegations and offered additional information in response to the Notice. The company did not\ncontest certain other allegations of violation and provided information concerning the corrective\nactions it had taken. Panhandle did not request a hearing and therefore has waived its right to\none.\nPanhandle forwarded the Notice to Transwestern, and Transwestern responded to the Notice by\nletter to PHMSA dated July 14, 2008. Transwestern confirmed that the ownership of the\nTranswestern Pipeline system was in the process of changing at the time of the PHMSA\ninspection, and that at that time Transwestern was responsible for ensuring the safety of the\nsystem. Transwestern limited its response to the allegations relating to that system and did not\ncontest the allegations. The company provided information concerning the corrective actions it\nplanned to take and requested 120 days to carry out the steps described in the Proposed\nCompliance Order. Transwestern did not request a hearing and therefore has waived its right to\none.\nFINDINGS OF VIOLATION\nThe Notice alleged violations by Panhandle with respect to both the Florida Gas and\nTranswestern Pipeline systems. Panhandle, however, did not have responsibility for ensuring the\nsafety of the Transwestern Pipeline system at the time of the inspection and no longer owns that\nsystem. Transwestern, the new owner, received the Notice and acknowledged in its Response\nthat it now owns the system and was responsible for ensuring the system’s safety at the time of\nthe inspection. Finally, Transwestern did not contest the allegations as to that system.\nTherefore, for the purposes of this Final Order, both Panhandle and Transwestern are considered\nRespondents to this enforcement action.\nThe Notice alleged that Panhandle and Transwestern violated 49 C.F.R. Part 192, as follows:\nItem 1: The Notice alleged that Panhandle and Transwestern violated 49 C.F.R. § 192.905(a),\nwhich states:\n§ 192.905 How does an operator identify a high consequence area?\n(a) General. To determine which segments of an operator’s\ntransmission pipeline system are covered by this subpart, an operator must\nidentify the high consequence areas. An operator must use method (1) or\n(2) from the definition in § 192.903 to identify a high consequence area.\nAn operator may apply one method to its entire pipeline system, or an\noperator may apply one method to individual portions of the pipeline\nsystem. An operator must describe in its integrity management program\nwhich method it is applying to each portion of the operator's pipeline\nsystem. The description must include the potential impact radius when\nutilized to establish a high consequence area. (See appendix E.I. for\nguidance on identifying high consequence areas.)\n\n\n\n3\nThe Notice alleged that Panhandle violated 49 C.F.R. § 192.905(a) by incorrectly identifying the\nlocations of pipeline centerlines and, as a result, HCA boundaries. Specifically, as to the Florida\nGas system in Louisiana, the Notice alleged that Panhandle incorrectly identified the centerlines\nof lines LAMEB-9 (30”) and LAMEA-9 (24”) in Washington Parish and that HCAs were\ntherefore not identified. The Notice also alleged that the HCA boundaries were incorrect for the\nLAMEA-8 (20”) and LAMEB-8 (30”)1 in St. Helena Parish.\nIn its Response, Panhandle did not contest that the centerlines of the pipeline segments in\nWashington Parish were incorrect, but indicated that the information has been corrected. In\nresponse to the allegation that no HCAs were identified with respect to these segments,\nPanhandle stated that the HCAs were actually identified in “screenshot” images from 2006 and\n2008, although the 2006 image did not show the HCA correctly. Panhandle contested the\nallegation that the HCA boundaries in Helena Parish were incorrect, but did not submit\ndocumentation to rebut the allegation that the company could not demonstrate the accuracy of\nHCA boundaries at the time of the inspection in accordance with § 192.905(a). Panhandle\nexplained in its Response that after re-evaluating the information, the HCA boundaries are now\ncorrect and that the HCA boundary extensions were due to structures being added within the\npotential impact radius (PIR).\nAfter considering all of the evidence, I find that Panhandle violated 49 C.F.R. § 192.905(a) by\nfailing to document the accurate identification of HCAs with respect to certain pipeline\nsegments, but that the company has taken corrective measures to substantiate the correct location\nof HCAs to ensure future compliance.\nThis finding of violation will be considered a prior offense in any subsequent enforcement action\ntaken against Panhandle.\nAs to the Transwestern Pipeline system, the Notice alleged that Transwestern incorrectly\nidentified the relative location of adjacent buildings and the centerlines of pipeline segments 060\nMM221 (30”) and 060 MM121 (30”) in Coconino County, Arizona. The Notice also alleged\nthat Transwestern incorrectly identified the locations of buildings adjacent to pipeline segment\n060 MM11N (30”) in Mohave County, Arizona. Transwestern did not contest this allegation of\nviolation.\nAccordingly, based upon a review of all of the evidence, I find that Transwestern violated 49\nC.F.R. § 192.905(a) by incorrectly identifying the relative locations of pipeline centerlines and\nadjacent buildings.\nThis finding of violation will be considered a prior offense in any subsequent enforcement action\ntaken against Transwestern.\nThe Notice proposed a compliance order with respect to Item 1 in the Notice for violations of 49\nC.F.R. § 192.905(a). Under 49 U.S.C. § 60118(a), each person who engages in the\ntransportation of gas or who owns or operates a pipeline facility is required to comply with the\nCOMPLIANCE ORDER\n1 The Notice refers to the “LAMEA-8 (30”),” but Panhandle refers to this line as the “LAMEB-8 (30”)”. This Final\nOrder uses Panhandle’s name for this line.\n\n\n\n4\napplicable safety standards established under chapter 601. The Director has indicated that\nPanhandle has taken the following actions specified in the proposed compliance order:\nWith respect to the violation of § 192.905(a) (Item 1), Panhandle has taken all the actions\nspecified in the compliance order as to the Florida Gas system. In its response to the Notice,\nPanhandle provided documentation that the problems identified in connection with the Florida\nGas system have been investigated and that erroneous data had been corrected. Panhandle\ncorrected the information on the locations of the Florida Gas segments and verified these\nlocations using orthorectified photography. Panhandle’s response included “screenshot” images\nand aerial photographs indicating the beginning and end points of the HCAs associated with the\nsegments.\nAccordingly, I find that Panhandle has achieved compliance with respect to these violations.\nTherefore, the compliance terms proposed in the Notice are not included in this Order as to\nPanhandle.\nWith respect to the proposed compliance terms applicable to the Transwestern system, the\ncompany requested “120 days from receipt” of its Response, dated July 14, 2008, to address the\nterms. By virtue of the issuance date of this Final Order, Transwestern has been provided the\nrequested time, and therefore I do not provide the company with any additional time to come into\ncompliance beyond the originally proposed 30 days from its receipt of the Final Order. Pursuant\nto the authority of 49 U.S.C. § 60118(b) and 49 C.F.R. § 190.217, Transwestern is ordered to\ntake the following actions to ensure compliance with the pipeline safety regulations applicable to\nits operations:\n1. With respect to the violation of § 192.905(a) (Item 1), Transwestern must investigate\nand provide documentation that substantiates that line segments 060 MM221 (30”),\n060 MM121 (30”), and 060 MM11N (30”) have been investigated and that any\nerroneous data found has been corrected. The documentation must include\n“screenshot” images and aerial photography that clearly indicate the beginning and\nend point of the HCA associated with each particular line segment. Additionally,\ndocumentation must show what effects any new HCAs or extensions of HCAs may\nhave had on the baseline assessment plan and how those effects will be remediated.\nTranswestern must submit, within 30 days of receipt of this Final Order, the results of\nthis investigation to the Director, Southwest Region, Office of Pipeline Safety,\nPipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, 8701 South Gessner, Suite\n1110, Houston, Texas 77074.\n2. Transwestern shall maintain documentation of the safety improvement costs\nassociated with fulfilling this Compliance Order and submit the total to the Director,\nSouthwest Region, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. Costs\nshall be reported in two categories: 1) total cost associated with preparation/revision\nof plans, procedures, studies, and analyses, and 2) total cost associated with\nreplacements, additions, and other changes to pipeline infrastructure.\nThe Director may grant an extension of time to comply with any of the required items upon a\nwritten request timely submitted by Transwestern and demonstrating good cause for an\nextension.\n\n\n\n5\nFailure to comply with this Order may result in the administrative assessment of civil penalties\nagainst Transwestern not to exceed $100,000 for each violation for each day the violation\ncontinues or in referral to the Attorney General for appropriate relief in a district court of the\nUnited States.\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. § 192.921(a) (Item 2) ─ Panhandle’s alleged failure to notify the\nOffice of Pipeline Safety 180 days before assessing the integrity of a pipeline\nusing “other technology,” i.e., a method not described in § 192.921(a)(1)-(3). To\nassess 30 feet of pipe in Dade County, Florida, Panhandle used long range\nultrasonic testing (LRUT), which qualifies as “[o]ther technology” as provided in\n§ 192.921(a)(4).\nPanhandle 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 probable violations of 49 C.F.R. § 192.921(a) (Notice Item 2) have\noccurred and Panhandle is hereby advised to ensure such conditions have been corrected. In the\nevent that OPS finds a violation of this provision in a subsequent inspection, Panhandle may be\nsubject to future enforcement action.\nUnder 49 C.F.R. § 190.215, Respondents have a right to submit a Petition for Reconsideration of\nthis Final Order. The petition must be sent to: Associate Administrator, Office of Pipeline\nSafety, PHMSA, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE, East Building, 2nd Floor, Washington, DC\n20590, with a copy sent to the Office of Chief Counsel, PHMSA, at the same address. PHMSA\nwill accept petitions received no later than 20 days after receipt of this Final Order by\nRespondents, provided they contain a brief statement of the issue(s) and meet all other\nrequirements of 49 C.F.R. § 190.215. Unless the Associate Administrator, upon request, grants a\nstay, the terms and conditions of this Final Order are effective upon service in accordance with\n49 C.F.R. § 190.5.\n___________________________________ __________________________\nJeffrey D. Wiese Date Issued\nAssociate Administrator\nfor Pipeline Safety\n\n420081011_Closure Letter_10062010_text.pdf\n\nCERTIFIED MAIL - RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED\nOctober 6, 2010\nMr. Don Hawkins\nSenior Vice President, Operations and Engineering\nTranswestern Pipeline Company, L.L.C.\n711 Louisiana Street, Suite 900\nHouston, TX 77002\nCPF 4-2008-1011\nDear Mr. Hawkins:\nOn July 26, 2010, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) issued\nto Transwestern Pipeline Company, L.L.C. a Final Order in the above-referenced case. This\nOrder makes findings of violations and specified actions that needed to be taken by\nTranswestern Pipeline Company, L.L.C. in a Compliance Order. Based on our review of the\ndocumentation you provided, it has been determined that you have complied with the terms of\nthis Order.\nAccordingly, this case is now closed and no further action is contemplated with respect to the\nmatters involved in this case. Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.\nSincerely,\nR. M. Seeley\nDirector, Southwest Region\nPipeline and Hazardous\nMaterials Safety Administration","truncated":false,"body_characters":18063}