{"operation":"document","citation":"CPF 420155001W","title":"CYPRESS INTERSTATE PIPELINE LLC — Warning Letter","source_type":"enforcement","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"historical","official":true,"published_on":"2015-02-09","effective_on":null,"summary":"CLOSED warning letter citing 195.402(a), 195.402(d)(5), 195.402(e)(9), 195.446(h)(1), 195.507.","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-420155001w.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-420155001w.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-420155001w","source_url":"https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-data/case/420155001W","body":"Warning Letter involving CYPRESS INTERSTATE PIPELINE LLC. PHMSA's enforcement data identifies the cited regulations as 195.402(a),  195.402(d)(5),  195.402(e)(9),  195.446(h)(1),  195.507. The case was opened on 2015-02-09 and is reported as closed as of 2015-02-09. Open the official case record for notices, responses, orders, and the latest status.\n\nOfficial case documents:\n\n420155001W_Warning letter_02092015.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/420155001W/420155001W_Warning%20letter_02092015.pdf\n\n420155001W_Warning letter_02092015_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/420155001W/420155001W_Warning%20letter_02092015_text.pdf\n\n420155001W_Warning letter_02092015_text.pdf\n\nWARNING LETTER\nCERTIFIED MAIL - RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED\nFebruary 9, 2015\nMr. Wayne Simmons\nVice President- Operations\nCypress Interstate Pipeline, LLC\n1001 Louisiana St, Suite 1000\nHouston, TX 77002\nCPF 4-2015-5001W\nDear Mr. Simmons:\nOn multiple occasions between July 2014 and September 12, 2014, a representative of the\nPipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), Office of Pipeline Safety\n(OPS), pursuant to Chapter 601 of 49 United States Code were onsite and inspected your\nCypress Pipeline System (“Cypress”) in Texas and Louisiana operating areas. In addition to\nthat, PHMSA also inspected your Cypress Pipeline System (“Cypress”) Control Room facility in\nHouston, 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 items inspected and the\nprobable violations are:\n1. §195.402 Procedural manual for operations, maintenance, and emergencies.\n(a) General. Each operator shall prepare and follow for each pipeline system a manual of\nwritten procedures for conducting normal operations and maintenance activities and\nhandling abnormal operations and emergencies. This manual shall be reviewed at\n\n\n\nintervals not exceeding 15 months, but at least once each calendar year, and appropriate\nchanges made as necessary to insure that the manual is effective. This manual shall be\nprepared before initial operations of a pipeline system commence, and appropriate parts\nshall be kept at locations where operations and maintenance activities are conducted.\n(d) Abnormal operation. The manual required by paragraph (a) of this section must\ninclude procedures for the following to provide safety when operating design limits have\nbeen exceeded;\n(5) Periodically reviewing the response of operator personnel to determine the\neffectiveness of the procedures controlling abnormal operation and taking corrective action\nwhere deficiencies are found.\nCypress failed to follow their O&M Procedure, L-O&M 1101 (Response to Notice of Emergency\nor Abnormal Operations) to determine the effectiveness of the procedures controlling abnormal\noperation and taking corrective action where deficiencies are found.\nDuring the inspection, PHMSA identified an instance where abnormal operating condition took\nplace.\na) MOC ID# 14-68, reference # 1593, dated 4/18/2014\nLoss of communication at Mont Belvieu Pump Station. This MOC allowed Houston\nControl Center (HCC) to operate the pipeline in manual mode until the communication\nwas re-established.\nKinder Morgan O&M Procedure, L-O&M 1101(Response to Notice of Emergency or Abnormal\nOperations), Section 3.9(Procedure Effectiveness) states:-\n“Management (e.g., Control Center/ Field) will review the responses of operating\npersonnel to abnormal operations and emergencies to determine the effectiveness of the\nprocedures”.\nKinder Morgan O&M Procedure, L-O&M 1101(Response to Notice of Emergency or Abnormal\nOperations), Section-5(Documentation) states-\n• “Minutes of the management Review Committee meeting shall specify that abnormal\noperations and emergencies and abnormal operating conditions were reviewed to\ndetermine the effectiveness of the procedures, and shall be filed locally.”\nDuring the inspection, PHMSA requested Cypress’ effectiveness review of their procedure based\non the aforementioned specified instance. Cypress provided a personnel roster (Review History\nfor MOC ID# 14-68). PHMSA notes that the personnel roster is not considered as a “Minutes of\nthe Management Review Committee” as required by Kinder Morgan Procedure, L-O&M 1101.\n\n\n\n2. §195.402 Procedural manual for operations, maintenance, and emergencies.\n(a) General. Each operator shall prepare and follow for each pipeline system a manual of\nwritten procedures for conducting normal operations and maintenance activities and\nhandling abnormal operations and emergencies. This manual shall be reviewed at\nintervals not exceeding 15 months, but at least once each calendar year, and appropriate\nchanges made as necessary to insure that the manual is effective. This manual shall be\nprepared before initial operations of a pipeline system commence, and appropriate parts\nshall be kept at locations where operations and maintenance activities are conducted.\n(e) Emergencies. The manual required by paragraph (a) of this section must include\nprocedures for the following to provide safety when an emergency condition occurs;\n(9) Providing for a post-accident review of employee activities to determine whether the\nprocedures were effective in each emergency and taking corrective action where\ndeficiencies are found.\nCypress failed to provide for a post-accident review of employee activities to determine whether\nthe procedures were effective in each emergency and taking corrective action where deficiencies\nare found.\nDuring the inspection, PHMSA identified one instance where an incident took place.\na) Incident # 20130117-17711, dated 03/27/2013\nProduct released due to internal erosion that occurred on the tapered exit end of the separator\nat Spindletop Pump Station, Segment ID# PL-115, TX.\nKinder Morgan O&M Procedure, L-O&M 1101(Response to Notice of Emergency or Abnormal\nOperations), Section 3.9(Procedure Effectiveness) states:-\n“Management (e.g., Control Center/ Field) will review the responses of operating\npersonnel to abnormal operations and emergencies to determine the effectiveness of the\nprocedures”.\nKinder Morgan O&M Procedure, L-O&M 1101(Response to Notice of Emergency or Abnormal\nOperations), Section-5(Documentation) states-\n• “Minutes of the management Review Committee meeting shall specify that abnormal\noperations and emergencies and abnormal operating conditions were reviewed to\ndetermine the effectiveness of the procedures, and shall be filed locally.”\n\n\n\nKinder Morgan O&M Procedure, L-O&M 159 (Incident Reporting and Investigation) states;\nFailure Investigation:\n6. Review written procedures, job instructions and specifications covering the\noperation being performed at the time of the incident\n7. Review the attitudes, priorities, stress levels, fatigue physical condition and\nperceptions of the involved employee.\nDuring the inspection, PHMSA requested Cypress’ effectiveness review of their procedure based\non the aforementioned specified instance. Cypress provided an agenda as a training meeting that\nwas held on August 2013 for the specified incident. PHMSA notes that the agenda is not\nconsidered as “Minutes of the Management Review Committee” as required by Kinder Morgan\nProcedure, L-O&M 1101.\n3. § 195.446 Control room management.\nh) Training. Each operator must establish a controller training program and review the\ntraining program content to identify potential improvements at least once each calendar\nyear, but at intervals not to exceed 15 months. An operator's program must provide for\ntraining each controller to carry out the roles and responsibilities defined by the operator.\nIn addition, the training program must include the following elements:\n(1) Responding to abnormal operating conditions likely to occur simultaneously or in\nsequence;\nKinder Morgan Energy Partners L.P. (Kinder Morgan) failed to establish the content of\ncontrollers training program that includes the abnormal operating conditions (AOC) scenarios\nlikely to occur simultaneously or in sequence.\nKinder Morgan HCC Controller Training Plan, Section 2 (program) states-\n“KM’s HCC Controller Training Plan is designed to ensure that all HCC Controllers\nworking on KM’s DOT-regulated pipeline facilities are CRM and OQ-qualified to perform\ntheir roles, responsibilities and Operator qualified covered tasks, to document that\nqualification and to reduce the probability and consequences of incidents and accidents. All\nKM HCC employees performing these roles, responsibilities and covered tasks will be\nqualified under this program\n\n\n\n• Responding to abnormal operating conditions, as defined in the L-O&M 1101, likely to\noccur simultaneously or in sequence.\nDuring the inspection, PHMSA requested Kinder Morgan to provide the Controllers training\nelements to ensure whether all the controllers are trained on multiple abnormal operating\nconditions (AOCs) that could likely occur simultaneously or in sequence; Kinder Morgan\nprovided two (2) lists of AOC scenarios dated 8/14/2014, and 10/10/2014. PHMSA reviewed all\ntraining scenarios and found that each scenario constitutes a single event (AOC) scenario instead\nof having multiple events (AOC ) that could likely to occur simultaneously or in sequence as\nrequired by § 195.446(h)(1).\n4. §195.507 Recordkeeping\nEach operator shall maintain records that demonstrate compliance with this subpart.\n(a) Qualification records shall include:\n(1) Identification of qualified individual(s);\n(2) Identification of the covered tasks the individual is qualified to perform;\n(3) Date(s) of current qualification; and\n(4) Qualification method(s).\n(b) Records supporting an individual's current qualification shall be maintained while the\nindividual is performing the covered task. Records of prior qualification and records of\nindividuals no longer performing covered tasks shall be retained for a period of five years.\nCypress failed to maintain the qualification records of an individual performing the Clock Spring\ninstallation.\nDuring the inspection, PHMSA requested Cypress’ qualification records of Clock Spring\nInstaller (Mr. Doug Taylor) who installed Clock Springs at four (4) locations on Cypress\nPipeline in 2010. Cypress provided the affidavit certificate of Clock Spring Installer (Mr. Doug\nTaylor), dated September 9, 2014 provided by Clock Spring vendor. According to Kinder\nMorgan, clock spring installation is a covered task (covered task# 102.13), and requires vendor\ntraining and certification. PHMSA notes that the provided affidavit certificate demonstrates that\nthe Mr. Doug Taylor was trained on clock spring installation during the timeframe the clock\nspring was installed, but Cypress is required to have a complete OQ qualification records (clock\nspring installation) for individual performing the specified covered task on the pipeline; records\nof individual no longer performing covered tasks for a period of five years.\n\n\n\nCypress Pipeline- 8\" Mt. Belvieu to Spindletop and Spindletop to Westlake\nDig# Discovery Anomaly Excavation Date Repair\nPL-115-Sp-Wl_31270_I 8/12/2010 Immediate 8/14/2010 Clock Spring\nPL-115-Sp-Wl_21880_A 8/16/2010 180 Day 12/8/2010 Clock Spring\nPL-115 MtB-S_7810_A 8/17/2010 180 Day 11/30/2010 Clock Spring\nPL-115 MtB-S_7820_A 8/17/2010 180 Day 11/30/2010 Clock Spring\nUnder 49 United States Code, § 60122, you are subject to a civil penalty not to exceed $200,000\nper violation per day the violation persists up to a maximum of $2,000,000 for a related series of\nviolations. For violations occurring prior to January 4, 2012, the maximum penalty may not\nexceed $100,000 per violation per day, with a maximum penalty not to exceed $1,000,000 for a\nrelated series of violations. We have reviewed the circumstances and supporting documents\ninvolved in this case, and have decided not to conduct additional enforcement action or penalty\nassessment proceedings at this time. We advise you to correct the item(s) identified in this letter.\nFailure to do so will result in Kinder Morgan being subject to additional enforcement action.\nNo reply to this letter is required. If you choose to reply, in your correspondence please refer to\nCPF 4-2015-5001W. Be advised that all material you submit in response to this enforcement\naction is subject to being made publicly available. If you believe that any portion of your\nresponsive material qualifies for confidential treatment under 5 U.S.C. 552(b), along with the\ncomplete original document you must provide a second copy of the document with the portions\nyou believe qualify for confidential treatment redacted and an explanation of why you believe\nthe redacted information qualifies for confidential treatment under 5 U.S.C. 552(b).\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","truncated":false,"body_characters":12968}