{"operation":"document","citation":"CPF 420135021W","title":"TC OIL PIPELINE OPERATIONS INC — Warning Letter","source_type":"enforcement","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"historical","official":true,"published_on":"2013-09-26","effective_on":null,"summary":"CLOSED warning letter citing 195.214, 195.222.","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-420135021w.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-420135021w.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-420135021w","source_url":"https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-data/case/420135021W","body":"Warning Letter involving TC OIL PIPELINE OPERATIONS INC. PHMSA's enforcement data identifies the cited regulations as 195.214,  195.222. The case was opened on 2013-09-26 and is reported as closed as of 2013-09-26. Open the official case record for notices, responses, orders, and the latest status.\n\nOfficial case documents:\n\n420135021W_Operator Response to Notice_02192014.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/420135021W/420135021W_Operator%20Response%20to%20Notice_02192014.pdf\n\n420135021W_Warning_09262013.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/420135021W/420135021W_Warning_09262013.pdf\n\n420135021W_Warning_09262013_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/420135021W/420135021W_Warning_09262013_text.pdf\n\n420135021W_Warning_09262013_text.pdf\n\nWARNING LETTER\nCERTIFIED MAIL - RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED\nSeptember 26, 2013\nMr. Vern Meier\nVice President Field Operations\nTC Oil Pipeline Operations, Inc.\n717 Texas Avenue\nHouston, TX 77002\nCPF 4-2013-5021W\nDear Mr. Meier:\nOn various dates in 2013, a representative of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration\n(PHMSA) pursuant to Chapter 601 of 49 United States Code inspected your Keystone Gulf Coast Pipeline\nConstruction project in Oklahoma and Texas.\nAs a result of the inspection, it appears that you have committed probable violations of the Pipeline Safety\nRegulations, Title 49, Code of Federal Regulations. The items inspected and the probable violation(s) are:\n1. §195.214 Welding procedures\n(a) Welding must be performed by a qualified welder in accordance with welding procedures\nqualified under Section 5 of API 1104 or Section IX of the ASME Boiler and Pressure\nVessel Code (ibr, see § 195.3). The quality of the test welds used to qualify the welding\nprocedure shall be determined by destructive testing.\n(b) Each welding procedure must be recorded in detail, including the results of the qualifying\ntests. This record must be retained and followed whenever the procedure is used.\nTransCanada failed to perform welding on construction Spread 3 of the Gulf Coast Pipeline project in\naccordance with a procedure qualified according to Section 5 of API 1104. API 1104, paragraph 5.1,\nProcedure Qualification, states, “Before production welding is started, a detailed procedure specification\nshall be established and qualified to demonstrate that welds with suitable mechanical properties (such as\nstrength, ductility, and hardness) and soundness can be made by the procedure. The quality of the welds\nshall be determined by destructive testing.” Paragraph 5.2 states, “The details of each qualified procedure\n\n\n\nshall be recorded. The record shall show complete results of the procedure qualification test.” This record is\ngenerally referred to as the Procedure Qualification Record (PQR).\nWelding on construction Spread 3 commenced on September 4, 2012, using “Welding Procedure Data Sheet\nKXL-SMAW-ML, revised February 10, 2011,” with 100% of the welds being examined by Automatic\nUltrasonic Testing (AUT). This procedure document, KXL-SMAW-ML, references another document,\nKPL-RMS-SMAW-ML-Rev2, titled RMS Welding/Price Gregory Welding Procedure/Data Sheet dated\nMarch 10, 2010, as the PQR.\nFrom the start of welding, TransCanada experienced a high weld rejection rate. During the first week 26.8%\nof the welds required repairs, 32.0% the second week, 72.2% the third week, and 45.0% the fourth week. On\nSeptember 25, 2012, TransCanada stopped the Spread 3 welding after 205 of the 425 welds, or 48.2%\nrequired repairs.\nA comparison of the procedure being used to weld the pipe on Spread 3 (KXL-SMAW-ML, revised\nFebruary 10, 2011) with the PQR revealed inconsistencies between at least two essential variables as defined\nby API 1104, the Joint Design and the Speed of Travel. The joint design on the document KXL-SMAW-ML\nbeing used to weld the pipe on construction Spread 3 specifies a Root Opening of 1/16” ± 3/32” between\npipe joints at the girth weld and the welding Speed of Travel for the Cap Pass to be 8.6 – 16.2 inches per\nminute. The PQR for the procedure that was actually qualified by destructive testing (PQR# KPS-RMS-\nSMAW-ML-PQR Rev 2) shows the root opening to be 1/16” to 3/32” and the Speed of Travel for the Cap\nPass to be 6.6 – 16.2 inches per minute.\nAPI 1104, Paragraph 5.4.1, Essential Variables, General, states, “A welding procedure must be re-established\nas a new procedure specification and must be completely requalified when any of the essential variables\nlisted in 5.4.2 are changed. The results of a root cause analysis performed by TransCanada to identify the\ncause of the high weld rejection rate on Spread 3 were documented in a paper titled “Girth Weld Repairs Due\nto Lack of Fusion in Root Pass,” dated November 15, 2012. This analysis identifies the criticality of the\nessential variables of Joint Design and Speed of Travel by stating, “Weld fit up was increased to 3/32” which\nallowed the welders to decrease their travel speeds and welding amperages which is a key factor in reducing\ninternal under cut and lack of fusion defects during the welding process. This modification improved the\nweld quality and reduced the overall weld defects.”\nThe welding procedure being used by TransCanada on Spread 3 of the Keystone Gulf Coast Pipeline project\n(KXL-SMAW-ML) had changes to essential variables that caused it to be different than the Procedure\nQualifying Record. Because the procedure used to weld Spread 3 pipe was not requalified, TransCanada was\nusing an unqualified procedure to weld Part 195 regulated pipeline.\n2. §195.222 Welders: Qualification of welders.\n(b) Each welder must be qualified in accordance with section 6 of API 1104 (ibr, see §195.3 or\nsection IX of the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code) except that a welder qualified\nunder an earlier edition than listed in § 195.3 may weld but may not re-qualify under that\nearlier edition.\n(c) No welder may weld with a welding process unless, within the preceding 6 calendar months,\n2\n\n\n\nthe welder has—\n(1) Engaged in welding with that process; and\n(2) Had one welded tested and found acceptable under section 9 of API 1104 (ibr, see § 195.3).\nTransCanada failed to use properly qualified welders on Spread 3 of the Keystone Gulf Coast Pipeline\nproject. TransCanada performed welder qualifications using a welding procedure that had not been properly\nqualified and then allowed these welders to weld on a Part 195 regulated pipeline. Paragraph 6.1 of API\n1104, incorporated by reference states “the purpose of the welder qualification test is to determine the ability\nof welders to make sound butt or fillet welds using previously qualified procedures.” Procedure KXL-\nSMAW-ML, Revised February 10, 2011 had changes to the essential variables of Joint Design and Speed of\nTravel from the Procedure Qualification Record, KPL-RMS-SMAW-ML-PQR Rev 2 but had not been\nrequalified. Consequently, the welder qualification was not performed using a previously qualified\nprocedure as required by Section 6 of API 1104.\nUnder 49 United States Code, § 60122, you are subject to a civil penalty not to exceed $200,000 per\nviolation per day the violation persists up to a maximum of $2,000,000 for a related series of violations. For\nviolations occurring prior to January 4, 2012, the maximum penalty may not exceed $100,000 per violation\nper day, with a maximum penalty not to exceed $1,000,000 for a related series of violations. We have\nreviewed the circumstances and supporting documents involved in this case, and have decided not to conduct\nadditional enforcement action or penalty assessment proceedings at this time. We advise you to correct the\nitem(s) identified in this letter. Failure to do so will result in TransCanada being subject to additional\nenforcement action.\nNo reply to this letter is required. If you choose to reply, in your correspondence please refer to CPF 4-\n2013-5021W. Be advised that all material you submit in response to this enforcement action is subject to\nbeing made 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 must provide a\nsecond copy of the document with the portions you believe qualify for confidential treatment redacted and an\nexplanation of why you believe the redacted information qualifies for confidential treatment under 5 U.S.C.\n552(b).\nSincerely,\nR. M. Seeley\nDirector, Southwest Region\nPipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration\n3","truncated":false,"body_characters":8568}