{"operation":"document","citation":"CPF 420105015","title":"TE PRODUCTS PIPELINE COMPANY, LLC — Notice of Probable Violation","source_type":"enforcement","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"historical","official":true,"published_on":"2010-08-27","effective_on":null,"summary":"CLOSED notice of probable violation citing 195.402(c)(3).","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-420105015.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-420105015.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-420105015","source_url":"https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-data/case/420105015","body":"Notice of Probable Violation involving TE PRODUCTS PIPELINE COMPANY, LLC. PHMSA's enforcement data identifies the cited regulation as 195.402(c)(3). The case was opened on 2010-08-27 and is reported as closed as of 2012-12-31. Proposed civil penalty: $200,000. Assessed civil penalty: $200,000. Open the official case record for notices, responses, orders, and the latest status.\n\nOfficial case documents:\n\n420105015_Final Order_12312012.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/420105015/420105015_Final%20Order_12312012.pdf\n\n420105015_Final Order_12312012_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/420105015/420105015_Final%20Order_12312012_text.pdf\n\n420105015_NOPV PCP_08272010.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/420105015/420105015_NOPV%20PCP_08272010.pdf\n\n420105015_NOPV PCP_08272010_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/420105015/420105015_NOPV%20PCP_08272010_text.pdf\n\n420105015_Operator Response to Notice and Hearing Request_09282010.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/420105015/420105015_Operator%20Response%20to%20Notice%20and%20Hearing%20Request_09282010.pdf\n\n420105015_Final Order_12312012_text.pdf\n\nDECEMBER 31, 2012\nMr. Terry Hurlburt\nGroup Senior Vice President, Operations & EHS&T\nTE Products Pipeline Company, LLC\n1100 Louisiana Street\nHouston, TX 77002-5227\nRe: CPF No. 4-2010-5015\nDear Mr. Hurlburt:\nEnclosed please find the Final Order issued in the above-referenced case. It makes findings of\nviolation and assesses a civil penalty of $200,000. This is also to acknowledge receipt of\npayment of the full penalty amount, by wire transfer, dated July 9, 2012. This enforcement\naction is now closed. Service of the Final Order by certified mail is deemed effective upon the\ndate of mailing, 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: Byron J. Walker, Esquire, Rose Law Firm, 120 East Fourth Street, Little Rock,\nArkansas 72201-2893, Counsel for Respondent\nMr. R.M. Seeley, Director, Southwest Region, OPS\nMr. Alan Mayberry, Deputy Associate Administrator for Field Operations, OPS\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 )\nTE Products Pipeline Company, LLC, ) )\n)\n)\nRespondent. )\n____________________________________)\nCPF No. 4-2010-5015\nFINAL ORDER\nPursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 60117, a representative of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety\nAdministration (PHMSA), Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS), initiated an investigation of an\naccident involving the explosion of an out-of-service breakout tank, Tank 1303 (Tank), operated\nby TE Products Pipeline, LLC (TEPPCO or Respondent), at the McRae Product Terminal near\nGarner, Arkansas, on May 12, 2009. Respondent owns and operates refined products and\nliquefied petroleum gas pipelines in the United States. TE Products Pipeline Company, LLC is a\nsubsidiary of TEPPCO Partners, L.P., which is a subsidiary of Enterprise Products Partners,\nL.P.\n1 In its correspondence with PHMSA throughout the course of this case, Respondent has\nreferred to itself as “TEPPCO.”\nThe explosion of the Tank occurred during the installation of a gauge pole in the Tank. Gauge\npoles are intended to reduce emissions and product loss from aboveground storage and breakout\ntanks. After the Tank was emptied and cleaned, hazardous vapors were ignited when a welder\nused a flame cutter to cut the internal floating roof. The explosion and destruction of the Tank\nresulted in three fatalities of contract personnel working inside the Tank.\nAs a result of the investigation, the Director, Southwest Region, OPS (Director), issued to\nRespondent, by letter dated August 27, 2010, a Notice of Probable Violation and Proposed Civil\nPenalty (Notice). In accordance with 49 C.F.R. § 190.207, the Notice proposed finding that\nTEPPCO had violated 49 C.F.R. § 195.402, and proposed assessing a civil penalty of $200,000\nfor the alleged violations.\nTEPPCO responded to the Notice by letter dated September 28, 2010 (Response). TEPPCO\ncontested the allegations, presented information seeking elimination of the proposed penalty, and\nrequested a hearing. By letter dated May 21, 2012, Respondent withdrew its request for a\nhearing. On July 7, 2012, Respondent paid the proposed civil penalty of $200,000.\n1 See Dun & Bradstreet Comprehensive Report, TE PRODUCTS PIPELINE COMPANY, LIMITED\nPARTNERSHIP, D-U-N-S # 744-1138, December 17, 2012.\n\n\n\n2\nNotwithstanding its payment of the civil penalty, TEPPCO asked for permission to submit a\nformal response and documentation for consideration of the hearing officer prior to preparation\nof this Final Order. On July 30, 2012, TEPPCO submitted said document, which included\ndeposition testimony related to ongoing litigation for tortious\\wrongful death suits, documents\nconcerning the cleaning and planning for the gauge pole installation, and contracts between\nRespondent and its contractors for the project. Respondent also requested that PHMSA\n“acknowledge all that TEPPCO did to ensure the work was done safely, in accordance with\nregulations and guiding safety principles.”\nUnder 49 C.F.R. § 190.209(a)(1), however, payment of the proposed civil penalty serves to close\nthe case with prejudice to Respondent. Therefore, the additional information provided and the\ndefenses asserted by Respondent are neither discussed nor considered in this Order. The\nfindings and conclusions set forth below are based entirely on the specific regulatory violations\nalleged in the Notice.\nFINDINGS OF VIOLATION\nThe Notice alleged that Respondent violated 49 C.F.R. Part 195.54, as follows:\nItem 1: The Notice alleged that Respondent violated 49 C.F.R. § 195.402, which states, in\nrelevant part:\n§ 195.402 Procedural manual for operations, maintenance, and\nemergencies.\n(a) General. Each operator shall prepare and follow for each pipeline\nsystem a manual of written procedures for conducting normal operations\nand maintenance activities and handling abnormal operations and\nemergencies. This manual shall be reviewed at intervals not exceeding 15\nmonths, but at least once each calendar year, and appropriate changes\nmade as necessary to insure that the manual is effective. This manual\nshall be prepared before initial operations of a pipeline system\ncommence, and appropriate parts shall be kept at locations where\noperations and maintenance activities are conducted. . .\n(c) Maintenance and normal operations. The manual required by\nparagraph (a) of this section must include procedures for the following to\nprovide safety during maintenance and normal operations: . . .\n(3) Operating, maintaining, and repairing the pipeline system in\naccordance with each of the requirements of this subpart and subpart H of\nthis part.\nThe Notice alleged that Respondent violated 49 C.F.R. § 195.402 by failing to operate, maintain,\nand repair its pipeline facilities in accordance with its Operations and Maintenance (O & M)\nmanuals, “EPCO Procedure.” Specifically, the Notice alleged that TEPPCO failed to follow\nEPCO Procedure 6.2, Job Planning Process, which requires “all personnel to have the tools and\nresources to prevent accidents, injuries, and losses during non-routine work through a detailed\n\n\n\n3\nand effective job planning process.” PHMSA noted that for the Tank’s cleaning to take place\nbefore any welding/hot work was to begin, the TEPPCO contract only ordered the contractor to\nvacuum all sludge out of the Tank and wash and dry the floor of the Tank. PHMSA contended\nthat TEPPCO did not properly plan to ensure the cleaning of the entire Tank, including the roof\nand pontoons.\nRespondent did not contest the proposed penalty for this allegation of violation. Accordingly,\nbased upon a review of all of the evidence, I find that Respondent violated 49 C.F.R. § 195.402\nby failing to follow its O & M procedures by properly planning for proper cleaning of the Tank\nprior to the gauge pole installation that required welding/hot work.\nItem 2: The Notice alleged that Respondent violated 49 C.F.R. § 195.402, as quoted above, by\nfailing to operate, maintain, and repair its pipeline facilities in accordance with its O & M\nmanuals, “EPCO Procedure” and procedures specifically created for the project. Specifically,\nthe Notice alleged that although TEPPCO’s procedures (EH&S 3.8 Permit Required Confined\nSpace Entry) and the specific job plan (EPCO-SF20) both required continuous atmospheric\nmonitoring inside the Tank during the gauge pole installation project, continuous monitoring was\nnot performed. PHMSA alleged that this failure to monitor atmospheric conditions inside the\nTank was established by the following: 1) the atmospheric monitoring form required that the\nmonitoring frequency be recorded, but the contents of the form did not make it clear what\nmonitoring had taken place since an initial test at 7:00 am prior to the start of the work; and 2)\nafter the explosion, the atmospheric monitoring equipment was found in a truck, not the Tank.\nAccordingly, based upon a review of all of the evidence, I find that Respondent violated\n49 C.F.R. § 195.402 by failing to continuously monitor the atmosphere inside the Tank.\nThese findings of violation will be considered prior offenses in any subsequent enforcement\naction taken against Respondent.\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\n49 U.S.C. § 60122 and 49 C.F.R. § 190.225, PHMSA must consider the following criteria: the\nnature, circumstances, and gravity of the violation, including adverse impact on the environment;\nthe degree of Respondent’s culpability; the history of Respondent’s prior offenses; the\nRespondent’s ability to pay the penalty and any effect that the penalty may have on its ability to\ncontinue doing business; and the good faith of Respondent in attempting to comply with the\npipeline safety regulations. In addition, PHMSA may consider the economic benefit gained from\nthe violation without any reduction because of subsequent damages, and such other matters as\njustice may require. The Notice proposed a total civil penalty of $200,000 for the violations\ncited above.\nItem 1: The Notice proposed a civil penalty of $100,000 for Respondent’s violation of\n\n\n\n4\n49 C.F.R. § 195.402, for failing to follow its procedures and properly plan a thorough tank\ncleaning in preparation for the installation of a gauge pole. TEPPCO paid the proposed civil\npenalty in full, which closes this case with prejudice to the Respondent. Although TEPPCO did\ntake other steps to make the Tank safe for the installation project, it is alleged that failure to\nproperly clean the Tank contributed to the accident and three fatalities. Accordingly, having\nreviewed the record and considered the assessment criteria, I assess Respondent a civil penalty of\n$100,000 for this violation of 49 C.F.R. § 195.402.\nItem 2: The Notice proposed a civil penalty of $100,000 for Respondent’s violation of\n49 C.F.R. § § 195.402, for failing to follow its procedures and the specific job plan by failing to\nconduct continuous atmospheric monitoring of the Tank during the installation project.\nTEPPCO paid the proposed civil penalty in full, which closes the case with prejudice to the\nRespondent. Although TEPPCO did take other steps to make the Tank safe for the installation\nproject, it is alleged that failure to continuously monitor the Tank contributed to the accident and\nthree fatalities. Accordingly, having reviewed the record and considered the assessment criteria, I\nassess Respondent a civil penalty of $100,000 for this violation of 49 C.F.R. § 195.402.\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 $200,000.\nThe 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","truncated":false,"body_characters":12486}