{"operation":"document","citation":"CPF 420111007","title":"WEST TEXAS GAS INC — Notice of Probable Violation","source_type":"enforcement","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"historical","official":true,"published_on":"2011-08-22","effective_on":null,"summary":"CLOSED notice of probable violation citing 192.935(a).","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-420111007.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-420111007.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-420111007","source_url":"https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-data/case/420111007","body":"Notice of Probable Violation involving WEST TEXAS GAS INC. PHMSA's enforcement data identifies the cited regulation as 192.935(a). The case was opened on 2011-08-22 and is reported as closed as of 2013-06-04. Proposed civil penalty: $27,500. Assessed civil penalty: $27,500. Open the official case record for notices, responses, orders, and the latest status.\n\nOfficial case documents:\n\n420111007_Closure_06042013.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/420111007/420111007_Closure_06042013.pdf\n\n420111007_Closure_06042013_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/420111007/420111007_Closure_06042013_text.pdf\n\n420111007_Final Order_04242012.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/420111007/420111007_Final%20Order_04242012.pdf\n\n420111007_Final Order_04242012_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/420111007/420111007_Final%20Order_04242012_text.pdf\n\n420111007_NOPV PCP PCO_08222011.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/420111007/420111007_NOPV%20PCP%20PCO_08222011.pdf\n\n420111007_NOPV PCP PCO_08222011_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/420111007/420111007_NOPV%20PCP%20PCO_08222011_text.pdf\n\n420111007_Final Order_04242012_text.pdf\n\nAPR 24 2012\nMr. J.L. Davis\nPresident\nWest Texas Gas, Inc.\n211 N. Colorado\nMidland, TX 79701\nRe: CPF No. 4-2011-1007\nDear Mr. Davis:\nEnclosed please find the Final Order issued in the above-referenced case. It makes a finding\nof violation, assesses a civil penalty of $27,500, and specifies actions that need to be taken by\nWest Texas Gas, Inc. to comply with the pipeline safety regulations. This is to acknowledge\nreceipt of payment of the full penalty amount, by wire transfer, dated September 22, 2011.\nWhen the terms of the compliance order have been completed, as determined by the Director,\nSouthwest Region, this enforcement action will be closed. Service of the Final Order by\ncertified mail is deemed effective upon the date of mailing, or as otherwise provided under\n49 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, 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____________________________________\n)\nIn the Matter of )\n)\nWest Texas Gas, Inc. , ) CPF No. 4-2011-1007\n)\nRespondent. )\n____________________________________)\nFINAL ORDER\nFrom June 21-22 and August 30 - September 2, 2010, pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 60117, a\nrepresentative of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), Office\nof Pipeline Safety (OPS), conducted on-site pipeline safety inspections of the facilities and\nrecords of West Texas Gas, Inc. (West Texas or Respondent) in Amarillo, Texas. Respondent’s\nsystem is composed of 532 miles of interstate and 1,058 miles of intrastate natural gas pipelines\nin Texas and the Oklahoma Panhandle region.1\nAs a result of the inspection, the Director, Southwest Region, OPS (Director), issued to\nRespondent, by letter dated August 22, 2011, a Notice of Probable Violation, Proposed Civil\nPenalty, and Proposed Compliance Order (Notice). In accordance with 49 C.F.R. § 190.207, the\nNotice proposed finding that West Texas violated 49 C.F.R. §192.935 and proposed assessing a\ncivil penalty of $27,500 for the alleged violation. The Notice also proposed ordering Respondent\nto take certain measures to correct the alleged violation.\nWest Texas responded to the Notice by letter dated September 22, 2011. Respondent did not\ncontest the Notice. However, it stated that while West Texas had paid the civil penalty, in doing\nso it did not admit guilt or waive any of its rights or defenses to the alleged violation.\nFINDING OF VIOLATION\nIn its Response, West Texas did not contest the allegation in the Notice that it violated\n49 C.F.R. Part 192.935, as follows:\nItem 1: The Notice alleged that Respondent violated 49 C.F.R. § 192.935, which states in\nrelevant part:\n§ 192.935 What additional preventive and mitigative measures\nmust an operator take?\n(a) General requirements. An operator must take additional\n1 Pipeline Safety Violation Report (PSVR), at 1, 8/22/2011.\n\n\n\n2\nmeasures beyond those already required by Part 192 to prevent a\npipeline failure and to mitigate the consequences of a pipeline\nfailure in a high consequence area. An operator must base the\nadditional measures on the threats the operator has identified to\neach pipeline segment. (See §192.917) An operator must conduct,\nin accordance with one of the risk assessment approaches in\nASME/ANSI B31.8S (incorporated by reference, see §192.7),\nsection 5, a risk analysis of its pipeline to identify additional\nmeasures to protect the high consequence area and enhance public\nsafety. Such additional measures include, but are not limited to,\ninstalling Automatic Shut-off Valves or Remote Control Valves,\ninstalling computerized monitoring and leak detection systems,\nreplacing pipe segments with pipe of heavier wall thickness,\nproviding additional training to personnel on response procedures,\nconducting drills with local emergency responders and\nimplementing additional inspection and maintenance programs.\nThe Notice alleged that Respondent violated 49 C.F.R. § 192.935(a) by failing to conduct a risk\nanalysis of its pipeline, in accordance with one of the risk assessment approaches in\nASME/ANSI B31.8S, to identify additional measures to protect high consequence areas and\nenhance public safety. Specifically, the Notice alleged that West Texas was unable to identify\nany measures or actions that it took to satisfy Article 10, “Identification of Preventative and\nMitigation Measures” of its integrity management plan.\nIn order to comply with the requirements outlined in 49 C.F.R. § 192.935(a), Respondent’s\nIntegrity Management Program requires completion of Appendix E, “Preventative and\nMitigative Measures Evaluation Form,” which documents the decision process and\nimplementation schedule for certain preventative and mitigative (P&M) measures. At the time\nof inspection, West Texas was unable to either identify completed P&M measures or produce\nany completed Appendix E forms indicating compliance with its own procedure.\nRespondent did not contest this allegation of violation.\nAccordingly, based upon a review of all of the evidence, I find that Respondent violated\n49 C.F.R. § 192.935(a) by failing to conduct a risk analysis of its pipeline to identify additional\nmeasures to protect high consequence areas and enhance public safety, as required by Appendix\nE and its integrity management plan.\nThis finding of violation will be considered a prior offense in any subsequent enforcement action\ntaken against Respondent.\nASSESSMENT OF PENALTY\nItem 1: The Notice proposed a civil penalty of $27,500 for Respondent’s violation of\n49 C.F.R. § 192.935(a), for failing to conduct a risk analysis of its pipeline, as required by its\nintegrity management program. West Texas did not contest the allegation of violation. This\nregulation requires an operator to take P&M measures in order to reduce the potential\nconsequences arising from pipeline failures in high consequence areas. High consequence areas\n\n\n\n3\nare positively correlated with risk of accident or injury to human life, the environment, and\nproperty. It is therefore critical that pipeline operators take measures designed to prevent and\nreduce the consequences of such failures. In this case, West Texas failed to provide any\nevidence that it complied with its own procedure. Accordingly, having reviewed the record and\nconsidered the assessment criteria, I assess Respondent a civil penalty of $27,500, already paid\nby Respondent for violation of 49 C.F.R. § 192.935(a).\nCOMPLIANCE ORDER\nThe Notice proposed a compliance order with respect to Item 1 in the Notice for violation of\n49 C.F.R. § 192.935(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\napplicable safety standards established under chapter 601. Pursuant to the authority of\n49 U.S.C. § 60118(b) and 49 C.F.R. § 190.217, Respondent is ordered to take the following\nactions to ensure compliance with the pipeline safety regulations applicable to its operations:\n1. With respect to the violation of § 192.935(a) (Item 1), Respondent must perform\nand document additional P&M measures that have not been identified,\ndocumented, implemented or scheduled for implementation by West Texas within\n90 days of receipt of the Final Order.\n2. It is requested that Respondent maintain documentation of the safety\nimprovement costs associated with fulfilling this Compliance Order and submit\nthe total to R.M. Seeley, Director, Southwest Region, Pipeline and Hazardous\nMaterials Safety Administration. It is requested that these costs be reported in\ntwo categories: 1) total cost associated with preparation/revision of plans,\nprocedures, studies and analyses, and 2) total cost associated with replacements,\nadditions 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 the Respondent and demonstrating good cause for an\nextension.\nFailure to comply with this Order may result in the administrative assessment of civil penalties\nnot to exceed $100,000 for each violation for each day the violation continues or in referral to the\nAttorney General for appropriate relief in a district court of the United States.\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\n\n420111007_NOPV PCP PCO_08222011_text.pdf\n\nNOTICE OF PROBABLE VIOLATION\nPROPOSED CIVIL PENALTY\nand\nPROPOSED COMPLIANCE ORDER\nCERTIFIED MAIL - RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED\nAugust 22, 2011\nMr. Richard D. Hatchett\nWest Texas Gas, Inc\n7517 Canyon Drive\nAmarillo, TX 79110\nCPF 4-2011-1007\nDear Mr. Hatchett:\nDuring the week of August 30, 2010, representatives of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials\nSafety Administration (PHMSA) pursuant to Chapter 601 of 49 United States Code inspected\nyour integrity management program in Amarillo TX.\nAs a result of the inspection, it appears that you have committed probable violations of the\nPipeline Safety Regulations, Title 49, Code of Federal Regulations. The item probable violation\nis:\n1. §192.935 What additional preventive and mitigative measures must an operator\ntake?\n(a) General requirements. An operator must take additional measures beyond\nthose already required by Part 192 to prevent a pipeline failure and to mitigate the\nconsequences of a pipeline failure in a high consequence area. An operator must\nbase the additional measures on the threats the operator has identified to each\npipeline segment. (See § 192.917) An operator must conduct, in accordance with\none of the risk assessment approaches in ASME/ANSI B31.8S (incorporated by\n\n\n\nreference, see § 192.7), section 5, a risk analysis of its pipeline to identify additional\nmeasures to protect the high consequence area and enhance public safety. Such\nadditional measures include, but are not limited to, installing Automatic Shut-off\nValves or Remote Control Valves, installing computerized monitoring and leak\ndetection systems, replacing pipe segments with pipe of heavier wall thickness,\nproviding additional training to personnel on response procedures, conducting\ndrills with local emergency responders and implementing additional inspection and\nmaintenance programs.\nWest Texas Gas (WTG) failed to perform the necessary risk analysis and identification of\nadditional preventive and mitigative (P&M) measures. WTG’s program spells out what the steps\nand actions it will take related to P&M measures in article 10 “Identification of Preventative and\nMitigation Measures” of their IM program. One step in the process requires the Director of\nIntegrity Management to utilize Appendix E “Preventative and Mitigative Measures Evaluation\nForm” to document the decision process and implementation schedule for selected P&M\nmeasures. During the inspection WTG was asked to present their analysis and identify measures\nthat were implemented. WTG did not present any completed Appendix E forms. WTG could\nnot identify any measures they had implemented nor was a documented analysis presented.\nRetention of the analysis is consistent with the record keeping requirement of §192.947 and\nshould have been made available during the inspection.\nProposed Civil Penalty\nUnder 49 United States Code, § 60122, you are subject to a civil penalty not to exceed $100,000\nfor each violation for each day the violation persists up to a maximum of $1,000,000 for any\nrelated series of violations. The Compliance Officer has reviewed the circumstances and\nsupporting documentation involved in the above probable violation(s) and has recommended that\nyou be preliminarily assessed a civil penalty of $ 27,500.\nProposed Compliance Order\nWith respect to item 1 pursuant to 49 United States Code § 60118, the Pipeline and Hazardous\nMaterials Safety Administration proposes to issue a Compliance Order to West Texas Gas, Inc.\nPlease refer to the Proposed Compliance Order, which is enclosed and made a part of this\nNotice.\nResponse to this Notice\nEnclosed as part of this Notice is a document entitled Response Options for Pipeline Operators\nin Compliance 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 for\nconfidential treatment under 5 U.S.C. 552(b), along with the complete original document you\nmust provide a second copy of the document with the portions you believe qualify for\n2\n\n\n\nconfidential treatment redacted and an explanation of why you believe the redacted information\nqualifies for confidential treatment under 5 U.S.C. 552(b). If you do not respond within 30 days\nof receipt 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 a Final Order.\nIn your correspondence on this matter, please refer to CPF 4-2011-1007 and for each document\nyou submit, please provide a copy in electronic format whenever possible.\nSincerely,\nR. M. Seeley\nDirector, Southwest Region\nPipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration\nEnclosures: Proposed Compliance Order\nResponse Options for Pipeline Operators in Compliance Proceedings\n3\n\n\n\nPROPOSED COMPLIANCE ORDER\nPursuant to 49 United States Code § 60118, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety\nAdministration (PHMSA) proposes to issue to West Texas Gas, Inc a Compliance Order\nincorporating the following remedial requirements to ensure the compliance of West Texas Gas,\nInc with the pipeline safety regulations:\n1. In regard to Item Number 1 of the Notice pertaining to additional preventive and\nmitigative measures that have not been identified, documented, implemented or\nscheduled for implementation by West Texas Gas. West Texas Gas should\nperform and document the necessary analysis. Then, based off of the analysis\nimplement the appropriate preventative and mitigative measures per 49CFR Part\n192 Subpart O and West Texas Gas IM procedures.\n2. West Texas Gas should complete item 1 within 90 days of receipt of the Final\nOrder.\n3. It is requested (not mandated) that West Texas Gas, Inc maintain documentation\nof the safety improvement costs associated with fulfilling this Compliance Order\nand submit the total to R. M. Seeley, Director, Southwest Region, Pipeline and\nHazardous Materials Safety Administration. It is requested that these costs be\nreported in two categories: 1) total cost associated with preparation/revision of\nplans, procedures, studies and analyses, and 2) total cost associated with\nreplacements, additions and other changes to pipeline infrastructure.\n4\n\n420111007_Closure_06042013_text.pdf\n\nCERTIFIED MAIL - RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED\nJune 4, 2013\nMr. Richard D. Hatchett\nVice President\nWest Texas Gas, Inc\n7517 Canyon Drive,\nAmarillo, TX 79110\nCPF 4-2011-1007\nDear Mr. Hatchett:\nOn April 24, 2012, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) issued\nto West Texas Gas, Inc. a Final Order in the above-referenced case. This Order included a\nCompliance Order and Civil Penalty assessment. Payment of the civil penalty was received on\nSeptember 23, 2011. Based on our review of the documentation you provided, it has been\ndetermined that you have complied with the terms of this 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":17405}