{"operation":"document","citation":"CPF 520055017","title":"BRIDGER PIPELINE LLC — Notice of Probable Violation","source_type":"enforcement","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"historical","official":true,"published_on":"2005-03-15","effective_on":null,"summary":"CLOSED notice of probable violation citing 195.505(g).","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-520055017.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-520055017.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-520055017","source_url":"https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-data/case/520055017","body":"Notice of Probable Violation involving BRIDGER PIPELINE LLC. PHMSA's enforcement data identifies the cited regulation as 195.505(g). The case was opened on 2005-03-15 and is reported as closed as of 2009-04-14. Proposed civil penalty: $100,000. Assessed civil penalty: $100,000. Open the official case record for notices, responses, orders, and the latest status.\n\nOfficial case documents:\n\n520055017_Final Order_01092007.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/520055017/520055017_Final%20Order_01092007.pdf\n\n520055017_final order_01092007_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/520055017/520055017_final%20order_01092007_text.pdf\n\n520055017_Petition for Reconsideration_02022006.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/520055017/520055017_Petition%20for%20Reconsideration_02022006.pdf\n\nCPF_NO_5-2005-5017.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/520055017/CPF_NO_5-2005-5017.pdf\n\n520055017_final order_01092007_text.pdf\n\nO\nU 5 Department\nof Transportation\nPipeline and Hazardous\nMaterials Safety Administration\n400 Seventh Street, S W\nWashington, D C 20590\nMr. Hank A. True Ill\nPresident\nBridger Pipeline LLC\n455 N. Poplar\nCasper, WY 82602\nRe: CPF No, 5-2005-5017\nDear Mr. True:\nEnclosed is the Final Order issued by the Acting Associate Administrator for Pipeline Safety\nin the above-referenced case. It makes findings of violation, assesses a civil penalty of\n$100, 000, and specifies actions to be taken to comply with the pipeline safety regulations. The\npenalty payment terms are set forth in the Final Order. When the civil penalty is paid and the\nterms of the Compliance Order, as determined by the Director, Western Region, this enforcement\naction will be closed. Your receipt of the Final Order constitutes service under\n49 C. F. R. $ 190. 5.\nSincerely,\nJames Reynolds\nPipeline Compliance Registry\nPHMSA-Office of Pipeline Safety\nEnclosure\ncc: Mr. Manuel A. Lojo, Esq. , Bridger Pipeline LLC\nMr. Chris Hoidal, P. E.\n, Director, Western Region, PHMSA\nCERTIFIED MAIL — RETURN RECEIPT RE UESTED\n\n\n\nDEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION\nPIPELINE AND HAZARDOUS MATERIALS SAFETY ADMINISTRATION\nOFFICE OF PIPELINE SAFETY\nWASHINGTON, DC 20590\nIn the Matter of\nBridger Pipeline LLC,\nRespondent\nCPF No. 5-2005-5017\nFINAL ORDER\nOn December 7, 2004, pursuant to 49 U. S. C. $ 60117, representatives of the Pipeline and\nHazardous Materials Safety Administration's (PHMSA's)' Office of Pipeline Safety conducted\nan on-site pipeline safety inspection of Respondent's Operator Qualification (OQ) Program,\nincluding records and procedures, in Casper, Wyoming. As a result of the inspection, the\nDirector, Western Region, PHMSA, issued to Respondent, by letter dated March 15, 2005, a\nNotice of Probable Violation, Proposed Civil Penalty, and Proposed Compliance Order (Notice).\nIn accordance with 49 C. F. R. ) 190. 207, the Notice proposed finding that Respondent committed\nviolations of 49 C. F. R. Part 195, proposed assessing a civil penalty of $100, 000 for the alleged\nviolations, and proposed ordering Respondent to take certain measures to correct the alleged\nviolations.\nRespondent responded to the Notice by letter dated April 21, 2005 (Response). Respondent\ncontested the allegations, offered information in explanation of the allegations, and requested\nthat the proposed civil penalty be rescinded. Respondent did not request a hearing, and therefore\nhas waived its right to one.\n' Effective February 20, 2005, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) succeeded\nResearch and Special Programs Administration as the agency responsible for regulating safety in pipeline\ntransportation and hazardous materia]s transportation gee, section 108 of the Norman Y Mineta Research and\nSpecial Programs Improvement Act (Pubhc Law 108-426, 118 Stat. 2423-2429 (November 30, 2004)) See also, 70\nFed Reg. 8299 (February 18, 2005) redelegating the pipelme safety authorities and functions to the PHMSA\nAdmmistrator.\n\n\n\nFINDINGS OF VIOLATION\n(Contested)\nItem I in the Notice alleged Respondent violated 49 C. F. R. $ 195, 505 (a-g) by failing to have a\nwritten qualification program in affect to meet the above regulations at the time of the inspection.\nRespondent purchased the pipeline facilities from Shell Pipeline Company LP (Shell). Although\nBridger retained former Shell employees to operate and maintain the pipeline system,\nRespondent did not incorporate the qualification records of these individual workers into an OQ\nProgram that is implemented by Respondent. Therefore, at the time of inspection, Respondent\ndid not have and were not following its own OQ Plan.\nIn its Response, Respondent disagreed with the allegations in the Notice. Respondent purchased\nthe pipeline system on or about December 1, 2003 and retained many employees from the\nprevious owner/operator. These employees may have been qualified under the previous\nemployers OQ Plan but this does not relieve Respondent from having and implementing its own\nOQ Plan. Furthermore, Respondent contends that its OQ Plan was complete except for the\nindividual covered task list; this is moot because Respondent had not yet adopted nor\nimplemented the contractor written OQ Plan.\nAccordingly, I find that Respondent violated 49 C. F. R. $ 195. 505 (a-g) by failing to have and\nfollow its own written qualification program,\nThese findings of violation will be considered prior offenses in any subsequent enforcement\naction taken against Respondent.\nASSESSMENT OF PENALTY\nUnder 49 U. S. C. $ 60122, Respondent is subject to a civil penalty not to exceed $100, 000 per\nviolation for each day of the violation up to a maximum of $1, 000, 000 for any related series of\nviolations.\n49 U. S. C, $ 60122 and 49 C. F. R, $ 190. 225 require that, in determining the amount of the civil\npenalty, I consider the following criteria: nature, circumstances, and gravity of the violation,\ndegree of Respondent's culpability, history of Respondent's prior offenses, Respondent's ability\nto pay the penalty, good faith by Respondent in attempting to achieve compliance, the effect on\nRespondent's ability to continue in business, and such other matters as justice may require, The\nNotice proposed a total civil penalty of $100, 000 for violation of 49 C. F. R. $ 195. 505 (a-g).\nItem 1 of the Notice proposed a civil penalty of $100, 000 for violation of 49 C. F. R.\n) 195. 505 (a-g), as more fully described in the Notice and as discussed above, in that Respondent\nfailed to have an OQ Plan at the time of the inspection, Company and contract employees were\n' At PHMSA Western Region's request, Respondent submitted supplemental information after the inspection, which\nincluded a January 4, 2005 cover letter and December 17, 2004 draft plan that had yet to be reviewed completely\nwithin Respondent's organization as stated in the cover letter\n\n\n\nperforming covered tasks without the existence or guidance of Respondent's own implemented\ncurrent compliant OQ Plan. At the time of inspection, Respondent had been out of compliance\nwith the regulations for about one year.\nAccordingly, having reviewed the record and considered the assessment criteria, I assess\nRespondent a total civil penalty of $100, 000. Respondent has the ability to pay this penalty\nwithout adversely affecting its ability to continue in busmess.\nPayment of the civil penalty must be made within 20 days of service. Federal regulations\n(49 C. F. R ( 89. 21 (b)(3)) require this payment be made by wire transfer, through the\nFederal Reserve Communications System (Fedwire), to the account of the U. S. Treasury.\nDetailed instructions are contained in the enclosure. Questions concerning wire transfers\nshould be directed to: Financial Operations Division (AMZ-300), Federal Aviation\nAdministration, Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center, P O. Box 25082, Oklahoma City,\nOK 73125; (405) 954-8893.\nFailure to pay the $100, 000 civil penalty will result in accrual of interest at the current annual\nrate in accordance with 31 U. S. C. ( 3717, 31 C. F. R. ( 901. 9 and 49 C. F. R. ( 89. 23. Pursuant to\nthose same authorities, a late penalty charge of six percent (6%) per annum will be charged if\npayment is not made within 110 days of service. Furthermore, failure to pay the civil penalty\nmay result in referral of the matter to the Attorney General for appropriate action in a United\nStates District Court.\nCOMPLIANCE ORDER\nThe Notice proposed a Compliance Order with respect to Item 1 in the Notice. Under 49 U. S. C.\n( 60118(a), each person who engages in the transportation of hazardous liquids or who owns or\noperates a pipeline facility is required to comply with the applicable safety standards established\nunder Chapter 601. Pursuant to the authority of 49 U. S. C, g 60118(b) and 49 C. F. R. f 190, 217,\nRespondent is ordered to take the following actions to ensure compliance with the pipeline safety\nregulations applicable to its operations. Respondent must complete the following elements of the\nOQ Program—\nWithin 30 days following receipt of the Final Order, complete a covered task list. In\naccordance with the requirements of 49 C. F. R. ( 195. 505, identify covered tasks and\ndevelop a covered task list Refer to 49 C. F. R. ( 195. 501(b) for a description of\ncovered tasks;\nWithin 90 days following receipt of the Final Order, complete the 49 C. F. R.\n( 195. 503 defined evaluation and qualification of individuals performing covered\ntasks and submit the process for the evaluation of individuals performing covered\ntasks to the Western Region Office;\n3. Within 30 days following receipt of the Final Order, develop a process to allow\nindividuals that are not qualified pursuant to 49 C. F. R. Part 195 Subpart G-\nQualification of Pipeline Personnel — to perform a covered task if directed and\n\n\n\nobserved by a qualified individual and submit that process to the Western Region\nOffice;\nWithin 30 days following receipt of the Final Order, develop a process to evaluate an\nindividual if Respondent has reason to believe that the individual's performance of a\ncovered task contributed to an accident as defined in 49 C. F. R. Part 195 and submit\nthat process to the Western Region Office;\n5, Within 30 days following receipt of the Final Order, develop a process to evaluate an\nindividual if the operator has reason to believe that the individual is no longer\nqualified to perform a covered task and submit that process to the Western Region\nOffice;\n6. Within 30 days following receipt of the Final Order, develop a process to\ncommunicate changes that affect covered tasks to individuals performing those\ncovered tasks and submit the process to the Western Region Office;\n7, Within 30 days following receipt of the Final order, develop a process to identify\nthose covered tasks and the intervals at which evaluation of the individual's\nqualifications are needed and submit that process to the Western Region Office;\nMaintain documentation of the safety improvement costs associated with fulfilhng\nthis Compliance Order and submit the total to Director, Western Region, PHMSA,\nCosts shall be reported in two categories: 1) total cost associated with\npreparation/revision of plans, procedures, studies and analyses, and 2) total cost\nassociated with replacements, additions and other changes to pipeline infrastructure;\nand\nWhen appropriate actions have been completed and supporting records provided in\nregard to the respective item as indicated above in this Compliance Order, submit\ndocumentation of procedures, costs and evidence of actions taken to the Director,\nWestern Region, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, 12300\nWest Dakota Avenue, Suite 110, Lakewood, Colorado 80228. Please refer to CPF\nNo. 5-2005-5017 on any correspondence or communication in these matters.\nThe Director, Western Region, may grant an extension of time to comply with any of the\nrequired items upon a written request timely submitted by Respondent demonstrating good cause\nfor an extension.\nFailure to comply with this Order may result in the administrative assessment of civil penalties\nnot to exceed $100, 000 for each violation for each day the violation continues or in referral to the\nAttorney General for appropriate relief in a district court of the United States.\nUnder 49 C. F. R. $ 190. 215, Respondent has a right to submit a Petition for Reconsideration of\nthis Final Order. The petition must be received within 20 days of Respondent's receipt of this\n\n\n\nFinal Order and must contain a brief statement of the issue(s). The filing of the petition\nautomatically stays the payment of any civil penalty assessed. All other terms of the Order,\nincluding any required corrective action, remain in full effect unless the Associate Administrator,\nupon request, grants a stay. The terms and conditions of this Final Order are effective on receipt.\nJAN — 9 2r, rI7\nDate issued\nheo ore . Willke\nctin Associate Administrator\nPipeline Safety","truncated":false,"body_characters":12948}