{"operation":"document","citation":"CPF 42025060NOPV","title":"EQUILON ENTERPRISES LLC DBA SHELL OIL PRODUCTS — Notice of Probable Violation","source_type":"enforcement","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"current","official":true,"published_on":"2025-11-04","effective_on":null,"summary":"OPEN notice of probable violation citing 195.401(b)(1), 195.432(b), 195.49, 195.573(e).","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-42025060nopv.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-42025060nopv.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-42025060nopv","source_url":"https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-data/case/42025060NOPV","body":"Notice of Probable Violation involving EQUILON ENTERPRISES LLC DBA SHELL OIL PRODUCTS. PHMSA's enforcement data identifies the cited regulations as 195.401(b)(1),  195.432(b),  195.49,  195.573(e). The case was opened on 2025-11-04 and is reported as open. Open the official case record for notices, responses, orders, and the latest status.\n\nOfficial case documents:\n\n42025060NOPV_Final Order_01122026_(24-296536).pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/42025060NOPV/42025060NOPV_Final%20Order_01122026_(24-296536).pdf\n\n42025060NOPV_Final Order_01122026_(24-296536)_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/42025060NOPV/42025060NOPV_Final%20Order_01122026_(24-296536)_text.pdf\n\n42025060NOPV_Operator Response to Notice_12022025_(24-296536).pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/42025060NOPV/42025060NOPV_Operator%20Response%20to%20Notice_12022025_(24-296536).pdf\n\n42025060NOPV_PCO_11042025_(24-296536).pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/42025060NOPV/42025060NOPV_PCO_11042025_(24-296536).pdf\n\n42025060NOPV_PCO_11042025_(24-296536)_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/42025060NOPV/42025060NOPV_PCO_11042025_(24-296536)_text.pdf\n\n42025060NOPV_Final Order_01122026_(24-296536)_text.pdf\n\nU.S. Department\nof Transportation\nPipeline and Hazardous\nMaterials Safety\nAdministration\n1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE\nWashington, DC 20590\nJanuary 12, 2026\nVIA ELECTRONIC MAIL TO: wesley.stewart@shell.com\nWesley Stewart\nPresident/CEO\nEquilon Enterprises, LLC DBA Shell Oil Products\n150 North Dairy Ashford Road\nHouston, Texas 77079\nRe: CPF No. 4-2025-060-NOPV\nDear Mr. Stewart:\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 to comply with the pipeline safety\nregulations. When the terms of the compliance order are completed, as determined by the\nDirector, Southwest Region, this enforcement action will be closed. Service of the Final Order\nby e-mail is effective upon the date of transmission and acknowledgement of receipt as provided\nunder 49 CFR § 190.5.\nThank you for your cooperation in this matter.\nSincerely,\nLinda Daugherty\nActing Associate Administrator\nfor Pipeline Safety\nEnclosures (Final Order and NOPV)\ncc: Bryan Lethcoe, Director, Southwest Region, Office of Pipeline Safety, PHMSA\nDeborah Price, Integrity and Regulatory Manager, Shell Pipeline Company LP,\ndeborah.price@shell.com\nMario Berrios, Facilities Manager, Equilon Enterprises, LLC DBA Shell Oil Products,\nmario.berrios@shell.com\n\n\n\nCPF No. 4-2025-060-NOPV\nPage 2\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___________________________________________\n)\nIn the Matter of )\n)\nEquilon Enterprises, LLC DBA Shell Oil Products,) CPF No. 4-2025-060-NOPV\na subsidiary of Shell Pipeline Company, LP, )\n)\nRespondent. )\n___________________________________________ )\nFINAL ORDER\nOn November 4, 2025, pursuant to 49 CFR § 190.207, the Director, Southwest Region, Office of\nPipeline Safety (OPS), issued a Notice of Probable Violation (Notice) to Equilon Enterprises,\nLLC DBA Shell Oil Products (Respondent). The Notice proposed finding that Respondent had\nviolated the pipeline safety regulations in 49 CFR Part 195. The Notice also proposed certain\nmeasures to correct the violations. Respondent did not contest the allegations of violation or\ncorrective measures.\nPursuant to 49 CFR § 190.213, I find Respondent violated the pipeline safety regulation listed\nbelow, as more fully described in the enclosed Notice, which is incorporated by reference:\n49 CFR § 195.573(e) (Item 3) ─ Respondent failed to correct identified\ndeficiencies in corrosion control at the Sewaren Terminal within a reasonable\ntime.\nThis finding of violation will be considered a prior offense in any subsequent enforcement action\ntaken against Respondent.\nCompliance Actions\nPursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 60118(b) and 49 CFR § 190.217, Respondent is ordered to take the\nactions proposed in the enclosed Notice to correct the violation. The Director may grant an\nextension of time to comply with any of the required items upon a written request timely\nsubmitted by the Respondent and demonstrating good cause for an extension. Upon completion\nof the ordered actions, Respondent may request that the Director close the case. Failure to\ncomply with this Order may result in the assessment of civil penalties under 49 CFR § 190.223\nor in referral to the Attorney General for appropriate relief in a district court of the United States.\n\n\n\nCPF No. 4-2025-060-NOPV\nPage 2\nWarning Items\nWith respect to Items 1 and 2, the Notice alleged probable violations of 49 CFR §§ 195.49 and\n195.432(b), respectively, but did not propose a civil penalty or compliance order for these items.\nTherefore, these are considered to be warning items. If OPS finds a violation of any of these\nitems in a subsequent inspection, Respondent may be subject to future enforcement action.\nThe terms and conditions of this order are effective upon service in accordance with 49 CFR\n§ 190.5.\n___________________________________ __________________________\nLinda Daugherty Date Issued\nActing Associate Administrator\nfor Pipeline Safety\n\n\n\nU.S. Department of Transportation\nPipeline and Hazardous Materials\nSafety Administration 8701 S. Gessner, Suite 630\nHouston TX 77074\nNOTICE OF PROBABLE VIOLATION\nAND\nPROPOSED COMPLIANCE ORDER\nVIA ELECTRONIC MAILTO: mario.berrios@shell.com\nNovember 4, 2025\nMr. Mario Berrios\nFacilities Manager\nEquion Enterprises, LLC DBA Shell Oil Products\n111 State Street\nSewaren, NJ 07077-1440\nCPF 4-2025-060-NOPV\nDear Mr. Berrios:\nFrom May 30 through December 5, 2024, a representative of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials\nSafety Administration (PHMSA), Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS), pursuant to Chapter 601 of 49\nUnited States Code (U.S.C.) inspected Equion Enterprises, LLC’s (DBA Shell Oil Products)\n(Shell) Sewaren Terminal in Perth Amboy, New Jersey.\nAs a result of the inspection, it is alleged that Shell has committed probable violations of the\nPipeline Safety Regulations, Title 49, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). The items inspected\nand the probable violations are:\n\n\n\n1. § 195.49 Annual report.\nEach operator must annually complete and submit DOT Form\nPHMSA F 7000-1.1 for each type of hazardous liquid pipeline facility\noperated at the end of the previous year. An operator must submit the\nannual report by June 15 each year, except that for the 2010 reporting\nyear the report must be submitted by August 15, 2011. A separate\nreport is required for crude oil, HVL (including anhydrous ammonia),\npetroleum products, carbon dioxide pipelines, and fuel grade ethanol\npipelines. For each state a pipeline traverses, an operator must\nseparately complete those sections on the form requiring information\nto be reported for each state.\nShell failed to submit an accurate 2024 annual report in accordance with § 195.49. Specifically,\nShell’s DOT Form F 7000-1.1, filed on June 11, 2024, failed to include any of the 31 breakout\ntanks in operation at Shell’s Sewaren Terminal.\n2. § 195.432 Inspection of in-service breakout tanks.\n(a) . . . .\n(b) Each operator must inspect the physical integrity of in-service\natmospheric and low-pressure steel above-ground breakout tanks\naccording to API Std 653 (except section 6.4.3, Alternative Internal\nInspection Interval) (incorporated by reference, see §195.3). However,\nif structural conditions prevent access to the tank bottom, its integrity\nmay be assessed according to a plan included in the operations and\nmaintenance manual under §195.402(c)(3). The risk-based internal\ninspection procedures in API Std 653, section 6.4.3 cannot be used to\ndetermine the internal inspection interval.\nShell failed to inspect the physical integrity of in-service atmospheric and low-pressure steel\nabove-ground breakout tanks according to API Std 653 in accordance with § 195.432(b).\nSpecifically, Shell failed to conduct an internal inspection for Tank #202 at its Sewaren Terminal\nas stated in its May 2, 2008 internal inspection report.\nShell’s internal inspection report for Tank #202, dated May 2, 2008, recommended the next\ninternal inspection be conducted in 11.6 years (by December 7, 2019) or the tank bottom repaired\nand an internal inspection conducted in 20 years (by May 2, 2028). Shell placed tank on a 20 year\ninspection interval. However, during PHMSA’s inspection, Shell was unable to present any\nrecords of repairs that justified the current 20 year inspection interval for Tank #202. Therefore,\nTank #202 was out of compliance with its inspection interval.\n2\n\n\n\nTherefore, Shell failed to inspect the physical integrity of in-service atmospheric and low-pressure\nsteel above-ground breakout tanks according to API Std 653 in accordance with § 195.432(b).\nPHMSA recognizes that, after the PHMSA inspection, Shell conducted an internal inspection for\nTank #202 on October 31, 2024 and provided the report.\n3. § 195.573 What must I do to monitor external corrosion control?\n(a) . . . .\n(e) Corrective action. You must correct any identified deficiency in\ncorrosion control as required by §195.401(b). However, if the deficiency\ninvolves a pipeline in an integrity management program under §\n195.452, you must correct the deficiency as required by § 195.452(h).\n§ 195.401 General requirements\n(a) . . . .\n(b) An operator must make repairs on its pipeline system according\nto the following requirements:\n(1) Non Integrity management repairs. Whenever an operator\ndiscovers any condition that could adversely affect the safe operation\nof its pipeline system, it must correct the condition within a reasonable\ntime. However, if the condition is of such a nature that it presents an\nimmediate hazard to persons or property, the operator may not operate\nthe affected part of the system until it has corrected the unsafe\ncondition.\nShell failed to correct any identified deficiency in corrosion control in accordance with\n§ 195.573(e). Specifically, Shell failed to correct low cathodic protection (CP) potential at the\nSewaren Terminal for three consecutive inspection cycles in 2022, 2023, and 2024 in accordance\nwith § 195.401(b)(1).\nShell’s procedure Inspection & Maintenance Practice 02-001 (Document Number D00-CAT0001-\n02), Appendix E – CP Survey requires that pipelines, assets, and facilities meet a potential of -850\nmillivolts or greater. Shell’s procedure Inspection & Maintenance Practice: Cathodic Protection\nSystems (May 2011), Section 4.9 states that when low potentials are detected that are either\nsignificantly lower than the previous survey, are less negative than the criterion for protection, or\nindicate the need to evaluate the cathodic protection status between test leads, Shell will follow its\ntroubleshooting procedures to investigate the cause. However, Shell’s annual survey reports for\ncathodic protection for 2022, 2023, and 2024 indicate that the tanks numbered T-80, T-81, T-89,\nT-127, T-202, T-211, T-213, and T-214 did not meet the established cathodic protection potential\ncriteria of -850 millivolts for any of those three years.\nTherefore, Shell failed to correct any identified deficiency in corrosion control in accordance with\n§ 195.573(e).\n3\n\n\n\nProposed Compliance Order\nWith respect to Item 3 pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 60118, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety\nAdministration proposes to issue a Compliance Order to Equion Enterprises, LLC dba Shell Oil\nProducts. Please refer to the Proposed Compliance Order, which is enclosed and made a part of\nthis Notice.\nWarning Items\nWith respect to Item 1 and Item 2, 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 promptly correct these items. Failure to\ndo so may result in additional enforcement action.\nResponse to this Notice\nEnclosed as part of this Notice is a document entitled Response Options for Pipeline Operators in\nEnforcement Proceedings. Please refer to this document and note the response options. All\nmaterial you submit in response to this enforcement action may be made publicly available. If you\nbelieve that any portion of your responsive material qualifies for confidential treatment under 5\nU.S.C. § 552(b), along with the complete original document you must provide a second copy of\nthe 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\n5 U.S.C. § 552(b).\nFollowing your receipt of this Notice, you have 30 days to respond as described in the enclosed\nResponse Options. If you do not respond within 30 days of receipt of this Notice, this constitutes\na waiver of your right to contest the allegations in this Notice and authorizes the Associate\nAdministrator for Pipeline Safety to find facts as alleged in this Notice without further notice to\nyou and to issue a Final Order. If you are responding to this Notice, we propose that you submit\nyour correspondence to my office within 30 days from receipt of this Notice. The Region Director\nmay extend the period for responding upon a written request timely submitted demonstrating good\ncause for an extension.\nIn your correspondence on this matter, please refer to CPF 4-2025-060-NOPV and, for each\ndocument you submit, please provide a copy in electronic format whenever possible.\n4\n\n\n\nSincerely,\nBryan Lethcoe\nDirector, Southwest Region, Office of Pipeline Safety\nPipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration\nEnclosures: Proposed Compliance Order\nResponse Options for Pipeline Operators in Enforcement Proceedings\ncc: Deborah Price, Integrity Regulatory Manager, Equion Enterprises, LLC dba Shell Oil\nProducts, deborah.price@shell.com\n5\n\n\n\nPROPOSED COMPLIANCE ORDER\nPursuant to 49 United States Code § 60118, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety\nAdministration (PHMSA) proposes to issue a Compliance Order incorporating the following\nremedial requirements to ensure the compliance of Equion Enterprises, LLC (DBA Shell Oil\nProducts) (Shell) with the pipeline safety regulations:\nA. In regard to Item 3 of the Notice pertaining to Shell’s failure to correct any\nidentified deficiency in corrosion control in accordance with § 195.573(e), Shell\nmust correct the issues and provide documentation that supports the adequacy and\nsufficiency of the cathodic protection criteria for the tanks numbered T-80, T-81,\nT-89, T-127, T-202, T-211, T-213, and T-214 within 90 days of receipt of the Final\nOrder.\nD. It is requested (not mandated) that Equion Enterprises, LLC (DBA Shell Oil\nProducts) maintain documentation of the safety improvement costs associated with\nfulfilling this Compliance Order and submit the total to Bryan Lethcoe, Director,\nSouthwest Region, Office of Pipeline Safety, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials\nSafety Administration. It is requested that these costs be reported in two categories:\n1) total cost associated with preparation/revision of plans, procedures, studies and\nanalyses, and 2) total cost associated with replacements, additions and other\nchanges to pipeline infrastructure.\n6","truncated":false,"body_characters":15387}