{"operation":"document","citation":"CPF 420201008","title":"NORTHERN NATURAL GAS CO — Notice of Probable Violation","source_type":"enforcement","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"historical","official":true,"published_on":"2020-10-30","effective_on":null,"summary":"CLOSED notice of probable violation citing 191.5(a), 192.935(c).","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-420201008.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-420201008.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-420201008","source_url":"https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-data/case/420201008","body":"Notice of Probable Violation involving NORTHERN NATURAL GAS CO. PHMSA's enforcement data identifies the cited regulations as 191.5(a),  192.935(c). The case was opened on 2020-10-30 and is reported as closed as of 2021-09-10. Open the official case record for notices, responses, orders, and the latest status.\n\nOfficial case documents:\n\n420201008_Closure Letter_09102021_(20-165948S).pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/420201008/420201008_Closure%20Letter_09102021_(20-165948S).pdf\n\n420201008_Closure Letter_09102021_(20-165948S)_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/420201008/420201008_Closure%20Letter_09102021_(20-165948S)_text.pdf\n\n420201008_Final Order_04232021_(20-165948S).pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/420201008/420201008_Final%20Order_04232021_(20-165948S).pdf\n\n420201008_Final Order_04232021_(20-165948S)_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/420201008/420201008_Final%20Order_04232021_(20-165948S)_text.pdf\n\n420201008_NOPV PCO_10302020.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/420201008/420201008_NOPV%20PCO_10302020.pdf\n\n420201008_NOPV PCO_10302020_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/420201008/420201008_NOPV%20PCO_10302020_text.pdf\n\n420201008_Operator Response to Notice and Request Withdrawal of Notice Letter_11052020.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/420201008/420201008_Operator%20Response%20to%20Notice%20and%20Request%20Withdrawal%20of%20Notice%20Letter_11052020.pdf\n\n420201008_Final Order_04232021_(20-165948S)_text.pdf\n\nApril 23, 2021\nVIA ELECTRONIC MAIL TO: mark.hewett@nngco.com\nMr. Mark Hewett\nPresident and Chief Executive Officer\nNorthern Natural Gas Company\n1111 South 103rd Street\nOmaha, Nebraska 68124\nRe: CPF No. 4-2020-1008\nDear Mr. Hewett:\nEnclosed please find the Final Order issued in the above-referenced case. It makes a finding of\nviolation and specifies actions that need to be taken by Northern Natural Gas Company to\ncomply with the pipeline safety regulations. When the terms of the compliance order have been\ncompleted, as determined by the Director, Southwest Region, this enforcement action will be\nclosed. Service of the Final Order by electronic mail is effective upon the date of transmission as\nprovided under 49 C.F.R. § 190.5.\nThank you for your cooperation in this matter.\nSincerely,\nAlan K. Mayberry\nAssociate Administrator\nfor Pipeline Safety\nEnclosure\ncc: Ms. Mary McDaniel, Director, Southwest Region, Office of Pipeline Safety, PHMSA\nMr. William J. Fehrman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Berkshire Hathaway\nEnergy Company, wjfehrman@brkenergy.com\nMr. Thomas Correll, Vice President of Pipeline Safety and Risk, Northern Natural Gas\nCompany, thomas.correll@nngco.com\nCONFIRMATION OF 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 )\nNorthern Natural Gas Company, ) CPF No. 4-2020-1008\na subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Energy Company, )\n)\n)\n)\nRespondent. )\n__________________________________________________)\nFINAL ORDER\nFrom September 9, 2019, through February 2, 2020, pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 60117,\nrepresentatives 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 Northern Natural Gas Company’s (NNGC or Respondent) natural gas transmission\npipeline system located in Texas, New Mexico, and Oklahoma. NNGC is a subsidiary of\nBerkshire Hathaway Energy Company, and operates 14,600 miles of pipe. NNGC’s natural gas\ntransmission pipeline system is 1,381 miles long, originating in Bakersfield, Texas and traverses\nthrough New Mexico and Oklahoma, terminating at the Oklahoma-Kansas border.\nAs a result of the inspection, the Director, Southwest Region, OPS (Director), issued to\nRespondent, by letter dated October 30, 2020, a Notice of Probable Violation and Proposed\nCompliance Order (Notice), which also included a warning pursuant to 49 C.F.R. § 190.205. In\naccordance with 49 C.F.R. § 190.207, the Notice proposed finding that NNGC had violated\n49 C.F.R. § 192.935 and proposed ordering Respondent to take certain measures to correct the\nalleged violation. The warning item required no further action, but warned the operator to\ncorrect the probable violation or face possible future enforcement action.\nFINDING OF VIOLATION\nThe Notice alleged that Respondent violated 49 C.F.R. Part 192, as follows:\nItem 2: The Notice alleged that Respondent violated 49 C.F.R. § 192.935(c), which states:\n§ 192.935 What additional preventive and mitigative measures must\nan operator take?\n(a)….\n\n\n\nCPF No. 4-2020-1008\nPage 2\n(c) Automatic shut-off valves (ASV) or Remote control valves (RCV). If\nan operator determines, based on a risk analysis, that an ASV or RCV would\nbe an efficient means of adding protection to a high consequence area in the\nevent of a gas release, an operator must install the ASV or RCV. In making\nthat determination, an operator must, at least, consider the following\nfactors—swiftness of leak detection and pipe shutdown capabilities, the\ntype of gas being transported, operating pressure, the rate of potential\nrelease, pipeline profile, the potential for ignition, and location of nearest\nresponse personnel.\nThe Notice alleged that Respondent violated 49 C.F.R. § 192.935(c) by failing to perform a risk\nanalysis that considered the listed factors to determine whether automatic shut-off valves (ASVs)\nor remote control valves (RCVs) would be an efficient means of adding protection to high\nconsequence areas (HCAs) in the event of a gas release. Specifically, the Notice alleged that\nNNGC’s operating procedures failed to require any consideration of swiftness of leak detection\nand pipe shutdown capabilities, the type of gas being transported, the operating pressure, the rate\nof potential release, the pipeline profile, the potential for ignition, and the location of the nearest\nresponse personnel.\nIn its Response, NNGC stated that it had reviewed its position paper and study results for\ninstalling ASV/RCV in HCAs during three separate agency audits that occurred in 2019 and\n2020, claiming that the paper and study results were consistent with NNGC’s procedure and had\nbeen revised several times based on inspector feedback, and eventually completed without issue.\nNNGC claimed that after a subsequent PHMSA inspection, NNGC made several revisions to\ninclude the requirements of § 192.935(c). Because NNGC revised its ASV/RCV documents to\naddress the issue, Respondent contended PHMSA should withdraw the violation.\nHaving reviewed the information submitted, I find Respondent failed to perform a risk analysis\nthat satisfied § 192.935(c) because NNGC’s operating procedures failed to require consideration\nof all the listed factors. I also find NNGC’s revisions still fail to comply because they do not\ndefine effective preventative and mitigative measures and fail to identify HCAs subject to the\nevaluation under § 192.935(c). In addition, Respondent’s actions to revise the procedures\noccurred after the violations had already been identified by PHMSA during the 2019-2020\ninspection. Corrective action taken after PHMSA has discovered the noncompliance is not\ngrounds for withdrawal.\nAccordingly, after considering all of the evidence, I find that Respondent violated 49 C.F.R.\n§ 192.935(c) by failing to consider all the required factors in determining whether an ASV or\nRCV will be an efficient means of adding protection to HCAs in the event of a gas release.\nThis finding of violation will be considered a prior offense in any subsequent enforcement action\ntaken against Respondent.\n\n\n\nCPF No. 4-2020-1008\nPage 3\nCOMPLIANCE ORDER\nThe Notice proposed a compliance order with respect to Item 2 in the Notice for the violation of\n49 C.F.R. § 192.935(c). 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.\nWith regard to the violation of § 192.935(c) (Item 2), Respondent argued the compliance terms\nshould be withdrawn. For all the reasons discussed above, I find the terms of the Proposed\nCompliance Order have not been satisfied, and therefore are not withdrawn.\nPursuant to the authority of 49 U.S.C. § 60118(b) and 49 C.F.R. § 190.217, Respondent is\nordered to take the following actions to ensure compliance with the pipeline safety regulations\napplicable to its operations:\n1. With respect to the violation of § 192.935(c) (Item 2), Respondent must conduct a\nrisk analysis of its pipelines to determine if ASVs or RCVs would be an efficient\nmeans of adding protection to each HCA in an event of a release of gas to reduce risk.\nThis study must consider factors including swiftness of leak detection and pipe\nshutdown capabilities, the type of gas being transported, operating pressure, the rate\nof potential release, pipeline profile, the potential for ignition, and location of nearest\nresponse personnel. Respondent must also amend procedures to reflect or incorporate\nthe findings or conclusion of the analysis.\n2. Respondent must complete the above within 90 days following receipt of this\nFinal Order and provide documentation and the resulting amended procedures to the\nDirector.\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.\nIt is requested (not mandated) that Respondent maintain documentation of the safety\nimprovement costs associated with fulfilling this Compliance Order and submit the total to the\nDirector. It is requested that these costs be reported in two categories: (1) total cost associated\nwith preparation/revision of plans, procedures, studies and analyses; and (2) total cost associated\nwith replacements, additions and other changes to pipeline infrastructure.\nFailure to comply with this Order may result in the administrative assessment of civil penalties\nnot to exceed $200,000, as adjusted for inflation (49 C.F.R. § 190.223), for each violation for\neach day the violation continues or in referral to the Attorney General for appropriate relief in a\ndistrict court of the United States.\n\n\n\nCPF No. 4-2020-1008\nPage 4\nWARNING ITEM\nWith respect to Item 1, the Notice alleged probable violation of Part 191, but identified it as a\nwarning item pursuant to § 190.205. The warning was for:\n49 C.F.R. § 191.5(a) (Item 1) ─ Respondent’s alleged failure to notify the\nNational Response Center (NRC) at the earliest practicable moment following\ndiscovery but no later than one hour after confirming discovery, following an\nincident as defined in § 191.3.\nNNGC presented information in its Response showing that it had taken certain actions to address\nthe cited item. If OPS finds a violation of this provision in a subsequent inspection, Respondent\nmay be subject to future enforcement action.\nUnder 49 C.F.R. § 190.243, Respondent may submit a Petition for Reconsideration of this Final\nOrder to the Associate Administrator, Office of Pipeline Safety, PHMSA, 1200 New Jersey\nAvenue, SE, East Building, 2nd Floor, Washington, DC 20590, with a copy sent to the Office of\nChief Counsel, PHMSA, at the same address, no later than 20 days after receipt of service of this\nFinal Order by Respondent. Any petition submitted must contain a statement of the issue(s) and\nmeet all other requirements of 49 C.F.R. § 190.243. The terms of the order, including corrective\naction, remain in effect unless the Associate Administrator, upon request, grants a stay.\nThe terms and conditions of this Final Order are effective upon service in accordance with 49\nC.F.R. § 190.5.\nApril 23, 2021\n___________________________________ __________________________\nAlan K. Mayberry Date Issued\nAssociate Administrator\nfor Pipeline Safety\n\n420201008_Closure Letter_09102021_(20-165948S)_text.pdf\n\nELECTRONIC MAIL - RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED\nSeptember 10, 2021\nMark Hewett\nPresident and Chief Executive Officer\nNorthern Natural Gas Company\n1111 South 103rd Street\nOmaha, Nebraska 68124\nCPF 4-2020-1008\nDear Mr. Hewett:\nOn April 23, 2021, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) issued\na Final Order (Order) to Northern Natural Gas Company (NNGC) in the above-referenced case.\nThis Order included a Compliance Order. Based on PHMSA’s review of the documentation\nprovided by NNGC, it has been determined that NNGC has complied with the terms of the Final\nOrder.\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.\nSincerely,\nMary L. McDaniel, P.E.\nDirector, Southwest Region\nPipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration\ncc: Mr. William J. Fehrman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Berkshire Hathaway\nEnergy Company, wjfehrman@brkenergy.com\nMr. Thomas Correll, Vice President of Pipeline Safety and Risk, Northern Natural Gas\nCompany, thomas.correll@nngco.com","truncated":false,"body_characters":13285}