{"operation":"document","citation":"CPF 420152001","title":"ANR PIPELINE CO — Notice of Probable Violation","source_type":"enforcement","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"historical","official":true,"published_on":"2015-03-17","effective_on":null,"summary":"CLOSED notice of probable violation citing 192.612(a).","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-420152001.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-420152001.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-420152001","source_url":"https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-data/case/420152001","body":"Notice of Probable Violation involving ANR PIPELINE CO. PHMSA's enforcement data identifies the cited regulation as 192.612(a). The case was opened on 2015-03-17 and is reported as closed as of 2016-01-13. Proposed civil penalty: $21,900. Assessed civil penalty: $21,900. Open the official case record for notices, responses, orders, and the latest status.\n\nOfficial case documents:\n\n420152001_Final Order_01132016.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/420152001/420152001_Final%20Order_01132016.pdf\n\n420152001_Final Order_01132016_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/420152001/420152001_Final%20Order_01132016_text.pdf\n\n420152001_NOPV PCP_03172015.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/420152001/420152001_NOPV%20PCP_03172015.pdf\n\n420152001_NOPV PCP_03172015_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/420152001/420152001_NOPV%20PCP_03172015_text.pdf\n\n420152001_Operator Response to Notice_05182015.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/420152001/420152001_Operator%20Response%20to%20Notice_05182015.pdf\n\n420152001_Final Order_01132016_text.pdf\n\nJanuary 13, 2016\nMr. Russell Girling\nPresident and CEO\nTransCanada Corporation\n450 1st St. SW\nCalgary, Alberta T2P 5H1\nRe: CPF No. 4-2015-2001\nDear Mr. Girling:\nEnclosed please find the Final Order issued in the above-referenced case to your subsidiary,\nANR Pipeline Company. It makes a finding of violation and assesses a civil penalty of $21,900.\nThis is to acknowledge receipt of payment of the full penalty amount, by certified check dated\nMay 6, 2015. This enforcement action is now closed. Service of the Final Order by certified\nmail 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. Ken Crowl, Director, Regulatory Compliance, TransCanada Corp.\n717 Texas Street, Houston, TX 77002\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 )\nANR Pipeline Company, ) CPF No. 4-2015-2001\na subsidiary of TransCanada Corporation, )\n)\n)\n)\nRespondent. )\n__________________________________________)\nFINAL ORDER\nBetween February 2, 2014, and September 18, 2014, pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 60117, a\nrepresentative of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), Office\nof Pipeline Safety (OPS), conducted an on-site pipeline safety inspection of the facilities and\nrecords of ANR Pipeline Company (ANR or Respondent) in Louisiana, Offshore Louisiana,\nMississippi, and Tennessee. ANR is a subsidiary of TransCanada Corporation (TransCanada)1\nand owns and operates natural gas pipeline systems throughout the United States, with\napproximately 10,600 miles of pipeline and more than 250 billion cubic feet of natural gas\nstorage capacity.\n2\nAs a result of the inspection, the Director, Southwest Region, OPS (Director), issued to\nRespondent, by letter dated March 17, 2015, a Notice of Probable Violation and Proposed Civil\nPenalty (Notice). In accordance with 49 C.F.R. § 190.207, the Notice proposed finding that\nANR had violated 49 C.F.R. § 192.612, and proposed assessing a civil penalty of $21,900 for the\nalleged violation.\nTransCanada, on behalf of ANR, responded to the Notice by letter dated May 18, 2015\n(Response). The company did not contest the allegation of violation and paid the proposed civil\npenalty of $21,900, as provided in 49 C.F.R. § 190.227. Payment of the penalty serves to close\nthe case with prejudice to Respondent.\n1 TransCanada Corporation, website, available at http://www.transcanada.com/customerexpress/4321.html (last\naccessed November 27, 2015).\n2 ANR Pipeline Company, website, available at https://anrpl.com/company info/ (last accessed November 27,\n2015).\n\n\n\nCPF No. 4-2015-2001\nPage 2\nFINDING OF VIOLATION\nIn its Response, the company did not contest the allegation in the Notice that ANR violated\n49 C.F.R. Part 192, as follows:\nItem 1: The Notice alleged that Respondent violated 49 C.F.R. § 192.612(a), which states:\n§ 192.612 Underwater inspection and reburial of pipelines in the Gulf\nof Mexico and its inlets.\n(a) Each operator shall prepare and follow a procedure to identify its\npipelines in the Gulf of Mexico and its inlets in waters less than 15 feet\n(4.6 meters) deep as measured from mean low water that are at risk of\nbeing an exposed underwater pipeline or a hazard to navigation. The\nprocedures must be in effect August 10, 2005.\nThe Notice alleged that ANR violated 49 C.F.R. § 192.612(a) by failing to follow its own written\nprocedures for the underwater inspection of pipelines in the Gulf of Mexico and its inlets in\nwaters less than 15 feet deep. Specifically, the Notice alleged that ANR failed to follow\nprocedures in TransCanada’s O&M Manual, 192.612, Underwater Inspection and Reburial of\nPipelines in the Gulf of Mexico and its Inlets (O&M Manual 192.612), which required ANR to\ninspect underwater pipelines every seven calendar years.\nThe company’s O&M Manual 192.612, section 2.0, provides:\nThis procedure applies to offshore pipelines in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico\nand its inlets that are operated by TransCanada. The applicable pipelines\nare those in waters from the mean high watermark of the coast of the Gulf\nof Mexico and its inlets that are open to the sea seaward to a depth of 15\nfeet, as measured from mean low water.3\nO&M Manual 192.612, section 4.0(2), further provides, in relevant part:\nUnderwater inspections are conducted on applicable pipelines at an\ninterval of once each seven calendar years. . . .4\nAccording to PHMSA’s Violation Report, Respondent inspected underwater pipelines ANR 734\n30-inch and ANR 733 20-inch (Subject Pipelines) on June 26, 2006.5 Respondent next inspected\nthe Subject Pipelines on November 19, 2014, after the conclusion of PHMSA’s inspection. The\nNotice alleged that Respondent did not inspect the Subject Pipelines within the required seven-\nyear interval, as required by O&M Manual 192.612.\n3 Pipeline Violation Safety Report (Violation Report), (March 17, 2015) (on file with PHMSA), at 14.\n4 Id., at 14.\n5 Id., at 4, 16, 21.\n\n\n\nCPF No. 4-2015-2001\nPage 3\nRespondent did not contest this allegation of violation. Accordingly, based upon a review of all\nof the evidence, I find that Respondent violated 49 C.F.R. § 192.612(a) by failing to follow its\nown written procedures for the underwater inspection of pipelines in the Gulf of Mexico and its\ninlets in waters less than 15 feet deep.\nThis finding of violation will be considered a prior offense in any subsequent enforcement action\ntaken against Respondent.\nASSESSMENT OF PENALTY\nUnder 49 U.S.C. § 60122, Respondent is subject to an administrative civil penalty not to exceed\n$200,000 per violation for each day of the violation, up to a maximum of $2,000,000 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, I must consider the following criteria: the nature,\ncircumstances, and gravity of the violation, including adverse impact on the environment; the\ndegree of Respondent’s culpability; the history of Respondent’s prior offenses; and any effect\nthat the penalty may have on its ability to continue doing business; and the good faith of\nRespondent in attempting to comply with the pipeline safety regulations. In addition, I may\nconsider the economic benefit gained from the violation without any reduction because of\nsubsequent damages, and such other matters as justice may require. The Notice proposed a total\ncivil penalty of $21,900 for the violation cited above.\nItem 1: The Notice proposed a civil penalty of $21,900 for Respondent’s violation of\n49 C.F.R. § 192.612(a), for failing to follow a procedure, set forth in the company’s own\nO&M Manual 192.612, which required Respondent to inspect underwater pipelines every seven\ncalendar years. The company did not contest the allegation and paid the proposed penalty, which\nserves to close the case with prejudice to Respondent.\nAccordingly, having reviewed the record and considered the assessment criteria, I assess\nRespondent a total civil penalty of $21,900 for violation of 49 C.F.R. § 192.612(a), which\namount has already been paid in full.\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":8779}