{"operation":"document","citation":"CPF 520190003W","title":"HAWAII GAS — Warning Letter","source_type":"enforcement","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"historical","official":true,"published_on":"2019-01-21","effective_on":null,"summary":"CLOSED warning letter citing 192.1007(f), 192.11(a), 192.615(a)(1).","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-520190003w.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-520190003w.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-520190003w","source_url":"https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-data/case/520190003W","body":"Warning Letter involving HAWAII GAS. PHMSA's enforcement data identifies the cited regulations as 192.1007(f),  192.11(a),  192.615(a)(1). The case was opened on 2019-01-21 and is reported as closed as of 2019-01-21. Open the official case record for notices, responses, orders, and the latest status.\n\nOfficial case documents:\n\n520190003W_Warning Letter_01212019.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/520190003W/520190003W_Warning%20Letter_01212019.pdf\n\n520190003W_Warning Letter_01212019_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/520190003W/520190003W_Warning%20Letter_01212019_text.pdf\n\n520190003W_Warning Letter_01212019_text.pdf\n\nWARNING LETTER\nCERTIFIED MAIL - RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED\nJanuary 21, 2019\nMr. Thomas Young\nExecutive Vice President\nHawaii Gas\n515 Kamakee Street\nHonolulu, HI 96814\nCPF 5-2019-0003W\nDear Mr. Young:\nFrom June 18th through June 29th, 2018, a representative of the Pipeline and Hazardous\nMaterials Safety Administration (PHMSA) pursuant to Chapter 601 of 49 United States Code\n(U.S.C.) inspected your Outer Islands gas distribution systems on the islands of Hawaii, Maui,\nKauai, Molakai and Lanai. As part of the inspection, supporting operation, maintenance and\nemergency response procedures and supporting records were also review.\nDuring our inspection, we noted probable violations of the Pipeline Safety Regulations, Title 49,\nCode of Federal Regulations (CFR). The probable violations found during our inspections were:\n1. § 192.11 Petroleum gas systems\n(a) Each plant that supplies petroleum gas by pipeline to a natural gas distribution\nsystem must meet the requirements of this part and NFPA 58 and 59 (incorporated\nby reference, see § 192.7).\nPortions of the petroleum gas distribution system did not comply with the requirements\nof the referenced National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) code. Deviations from\nthe NFPA code were noted as follows:\n\n\n\n American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) containers are required to have\nlegible nameplates that comply with either NFPA 58 or 59. NFPA 58 section 11.3.4\nrequires “The markings specified for ASME containers shall be on a stainless steel metal\nnameplate attached to the container, located to remain visible after the container is\ninstalled” and NFPA 59 section 5.3 “ASME containers shall be identified by the\nattachment of a nameplate”. Both NFPA 58 and 59 provides a list of information required\non nameplates. Container markings were painted over, not legible and not in compliance\nwith NFPA 58 and 59 in the following locations: (1) Kona, HI; (2) Maui, HI; (3)\nMolokai, HI; and (4) Lanai, HI.\n Holder stations in Molokai, HI, Lanai, HI (Palms at Manele and Pines at Kolele), and\nKauai, HI (Kua Holder) did not meet the required two exits as required by NFPA 59.\nThese locations had only one exit or point of egress.\n2. § 192.615 Emergency plans.\n(a) Each operator shall establish written procedures to minimize the hazard\nresulting from a gas pipeline emergency. At a minimum, the procedures must\nprovide for the following:\n(1) Receiving, identifying, and classifying notices of events which require immediate\nresponse by the operator.\nHawaii Gas personnel were not correctly following the leak notification and classification\nprocedures in their written emergency plans. The emergency plan in Hawaii Gas’ Operation and\nMaintenance (EM-300) requires employees to provide leak information using Form EM400-2\n(Executive Leak Notification). During the inspection Hawaii Gas personnel presented Form\n400-1 (Executive Leak Notification) as the form used by employees to provide leak information,\nwhich is inconsistent with the Hawaii Gas written procedures in their emergency plan.\n3. § 192.1007 What are the required elements of an integrity management plan?\n(a) . . . .\n(f) Periodic Evaluation and Improvement. An operator must re-evaluate threats and\nrisks on its entire pipeline and consider the relevance of threats in one location to\nother areas. Each operator must determine the appropriate period for conducting\ncomplete program evaluations based on the complexity of its system and changes in\nfactors affecting the risk of failure. An operator must conduct a complete program\nre-evaluation at least every five years. The operator must consider the results of the\nperformance monitoring in these evaluations.\n\n\n\nThe current Distribution Integrity Management Program (DIMP) for the Hilo and Kona, HI\nlocations had an effective date of June 01, 2018, while the previous program had an effective\ndate of August 02, 2011. Hawaii Gas representatives interviewed were unable to present\ndocumentation showing that the program had been re-evaluated within 5 years of the 2011\nversion of the DIMP, as required by the regulation. It appears that 7 years passed between the\nDIMP program re-evaluation.\nUnder 49 U.S.C. § 60122 and 49 CFR § 190.223, you are subject to a civil penalty not to exceed\n$209,002 per violation per day the violation persists, up to a maximum of $2,090,022 for a\nrelated series of violations. For violations occurring prior to November 2, 2015, the maximum\npenalty may not exceed $200,000 per violation per day, with a maximum penalty not to exceed\n$2,000,000 for a related series of violations. We have reviewed the circumstances and supporting\ndocuments involved in this case, and have decided not to conduct additional enforcement action\nor penalty assessment proceedings at this time. We advise you to correct the items identified in\nthis letter. Failure to do so will result in Hawaii Gas being subject to additional enforcement\naction.\nNo reply to this letter is required. If you choose to reply, in your correspondence please refer to\nCPF 5-2018-0003W. 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,\nChris Hoidal\nActing Director, Western Region\nPipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration\nCC: PHP-60 Compliance Registry\nPHP-500 G. Ogirima (#159788)","truncated":false,"body_characters":6422}