{"operation":"document","citation":"CPF 42023058WL","title":"ENTERPRISE PRODUCTS OPERATING LLC — Warning Letter","source_type":"enforcement","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"historical","official":true,"published_on":"2023-10-12","effective_on":null,"summary":"CLOSED warning letter citing 195.202, 195.214(a), 195.214(b), 195.228(a).","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-42023058wl.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-42023058wl.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-42023058wl","source_url":"https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-data/case/42023058WL","body":"Warning Letter involving ENTERPRISE PRODUCTS OPERATING LLC. PHMSA's enforcement data identifies the cited regulations as 195.202,  195.214(a),  195.214(b),  195.228(a). The case was opened on 2023-10-12 and is reported as closed as of 2023-10-12. Open the official case record for notices, responses, orders, and the latest status.\n\nOfficial case documents:\n\n42023058WL_Operator Response to Notice_11132023_(23-282967).pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/42023058WL/42023058WL_Operator%20Response%20to%20Notice_11132023_(23-282967).pdf\n\n42023058WL_Warning Letter_10122023_(23-282967).pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/42023058WL/42023058WL_Warning%20Letter_10122023_(23-282967).pdf\n\n42023058WL_Warning Letter_10122023_(23-282967)_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/42023058WL/42023058WL_Warning%20Letter_10122023_(23-282967)_text.pdf\n\n42023058WL_Warning Letter_10122023_(23-282967)_text.pdf\n\nWARNING LETTER\nVIA ELECTRONIC MAIL TO: gbacon@eprod.com\nOctober 12, 2023\nGraham Bacon\nExecutive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer\nEnterprise Products Operating, LLC\n1100 Louisiana Street\nHouston Texas 77002\nCPF 4-2023-058-WL\nDear Mr. Bacon:\nFrom August 28 through August 31, 2023, representatives of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials\nSafety Administration (PHMSA), Office of Pipeline Safety, pursuant to Chapter 601 of 49 United\nStates Code (U.S.C.) inspected Enterprise Products Operating, LLC’s (Enterprise) facilities being\nconstructed or modified at Mont Belvieu, Texas, and Hobbs, New Mexico, as part of its flow reversal\nproject.\nAs a result of the inspection, it is alleged that Enterprise has committed probable violations of the\nPipeline Safety Regulations, Title 49, Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.). The items inspected and\nthe probable violations are:\n1. § 195.202 Compliance with specifications or standards.\nEach pipeline system must be constructed in accordance with\ncomprehensive written specifications or standards that are consistent with\nthe requirements of this part.\nEnterprise failed to construct its pipeline system in accordance with comprehensive written\nspecifications or standards that are consistent with the construction requirements of Part 195 as\nrequired by § 195.202. Specifically, Enterprise failed to perform a review of the subsurface\nconditions to determine the risks associated with hydrofracturing and inadvertent returns and had\nnot determined whether the factors of safety were acceptable as required by the Enterprise Products\nEngineering Standard, STD.8709, Horizontal Directional Drilling, Rev. 2.1, section 4.1.(2).\n\n\n\nDuring the inspection, PHMSA requested records documenting this review of the subsurface\nconditions and determination of the safety factor for the Horizontal Direction Drill, but Enterprise\nfailed to provide any supporting documentation.\n2. § 195.202 Compliance with specifications or standards.\nEach pipeline system must be constructed in accordance with\ncomprehensive written specifications or standards that are consistent with\nthe requirements of this part.\nEnterprise failed to construct its pipeline system in accordance with comprehensive written\nspecifications or standards that are consistent with the construction requirements of Part 195 as\nrequired by § 195.202. Specifically, Enterprise failed to require its contractor to provide a written\ndescription of the equipment, methods, and procedures for completion prior to commencement of\nwork as required by the Enterprise Products Engineering Standard, STD.8709, Horizontal\nDirectional Drilling, Rev. 2.1, section 4.2. During the inspection, PHMSA requested records\ndocumenting the equipment, methods, and procedures for performing the work associated with the\nHorizontal Directional Drill, but Enterprise failed to provide any supporting documentation.\n3. § 195.202 Compliance with specifications or standards.\nEach pipeline system must be constructed in accordance with\ncomprehensive written specifications or standards that are consistent with\nthe requirements of this part.\nEnterprise failed to construct its pipeline system in accordance with comprehensive written\nspecifications or standards that are consistent with the construction requirements of Part 195 as\nrequired by § 195.202. Specifically, Enterprise failed to ensure that the Horizontal Directional\nDrilling (HDD) operations were being performed by supervisors and construction personnel\nthoroughly experienced with HDD installations and operations as required by the Enterprise\nProducts Engineering Standard, STD.8709, Horizontal Directional Drilling, Rev. 2.1, section 9.1.\nDuring the inspection, the PHMSA inspectors requested documentation showing the qualifications\nof the contractor representative in charge of the HDD or any of the contractor personnel performing\nthe work, but Enterprise failed to provide any supporting documentation.\n4. § 195.214 Welding procedures.\n(a) Welding must be performed by a qualified welder or welding\noperator in accordance with welding procedures qualified under\nsection 5, section 12, Appendix A or Appendix B of API Std 1104\n(incorporated by reference, see § 195.3), or Section IX of the ASME\nBoiler and Pressure Vessel Code (ASME BPVC) (incorporated by\nreference, see § 195.3). The quality of the test welds used to qualify the\nwelding procedures must be determined by destructive testing.\n(b) Each welding procedure must be recorded in detail, including the\nresults of the qualifying tests. This record must be retained and\nfollowed whenever the procedure is used.\n\n\n\nEnterprise failed to perform welding according to a qualified welding procedure as required by\n§195.214. During the PHMSA inspection, the welders did not have a copy of the qualified\nwelding procedure and were unable to identify the qualified welding procedure being used to\nweld the new terminal piping located at the C-Rack at the Hobbs facility. The welders were also\nunable to state any of the welding parameters from the qualified welding procedure that they are\nrequired to follow when welding, such as voltage, amperage, and travel speed. Consequently,\nthe welding could not have been performed in accordance with a qualified welding procedure.\n5. § 195.228 Welds and welding inspection: Standards of acceptability.\n(a) Each weld and welding must be inspected to insure compliance with\nthe requirements of this subpart. Visual inspection must be\nsupplemented by nondestructive testing.\nEnterprise failed to inspect each weld and welding to insure compliance with 49 C.F.R. Part 195,\nSubpart D, as required by § 195.228. During the inspection, PHMSA questioned the welding\ninspectors and welders about visual weld inspections of the completed welds. The welders\nconfirmed that neither the root bead nor first filler pass of the completed welds had been visually\ninspected by the welding inspector. When PHMSA requested documentation for inspection of the\nwelds, the welding inspector could not provide any documentation of visual inspections and had\nno records for checking the welding parameters of the qualified welding procedure, such as\nvoltage, amperage, travel speed, to ensure the welding was being performed according to the\nqualified welding procedure. Consequently, each weld and welding were not inspected to insure\ncompliance with this subpart.\nUnder 49 U.S.C. § 60122 and 49 C.F.R. § 190.223, you are subject to a civil penalty not to exceed\n$257,664 per violation per day the violation persists, up to a maximum of $2,576,627 for a related\nseries of violations. For violation occurring on or after March 21, 2022, and before January 6,\n2023, the maximum penalty may not exceed $239,142 per violation per day the violation persists,\nup to a maximum of $2,391,142 for a related series of violations. For violation occurring on or\nafter May 3, 2021 and before March 21, 2022, the maximum penalty may not exceed $225,134\nper violation per day the violation persists, up to a maximum of $2,251,334 for a related series of\nviolations. For violation occurring on or after January 11, 2021, and before May 3, 2021, the\nmaximum penalty may not exceed $222,504 per violation per day the violation persists, up to a\nmaximum of $2,225,034 for a related series of violations. For violation occurring on or after July\n31, 2019, and before January 11, 2021, the maximum penalty may not exceed $218,647 per\nviolation per day the violation persists, up to a maximum of $2,186,465 for a related series of\nviolations. For violation occurring on or after November 27, 2018, and before July 31, 2019, the\nmaximum penalty may not exceed $213,268 per violation per day, with a maximum penalty not to\nexceed $2,132,679. For violation occurring on or after November 2, 2015, and before November\n27, 2018, the maximum penalty may not exceed $209,002 per violation per day, with a maximum\npenalty not to exceed $2,090,022.\nWe have reviewed the circumstances and supporting documents involved in this case and have\ndecided not to conduct additional enforcement action or penalty assessment proceedings at this\n\n\n\ntime. We advise you to correct the items identified in this letter. Failure to do so will result in\nEnterprise Products Operating, LLC 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 4-2023-058-WL. 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 the\nredacted information qualifies for confidential treatment under 5 U.S.C. § 552(b).\nSincerely,\nBryan Lethcoe\nDirector, Southwest Region, Office of Pipeline Safety\nPipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration\ncc: Jeff Morton, Senior Director, Transportation Compliance, Enterprise Products Operating,\nLLC, jmorton@eprod.com\nSuzie Davis, Pipeline Compliance Manger, Enterprise Products Operating, LLC,\nsmdavis@eprod.com","truncated":false,"body_characters":10263}