Nick Snow
Washington Editor
Pipeline accidents in Michigan and San Bruno, Calif., raised public awareness about pipeline safety issues that companies and regulators already were trying to address, officials of three trade associations told OGJ.
A July 26 crude oil leak on Enbridge Energy Partners Ltd.'s Line 6B generated public inquiries about the system's age and integrity (OGJ Online, July 29, 2010).
The Line 6B spill reached Talmadge Creek and 25 miles of the Kalamazoo River in Michigan.
A Sept. 9 explosion of Pacific Gas & Electric Co.'s natural gas gathering system in San Bruno raised the issue of encroachment-residential and business development over existing lines in previously rural areas. Eight people died in the San Bruno accident (OGJ Online, Dec. 15, 2010).
The National Transportation Safety Board has yet to release its findings on those two accidents.
"San Bruno was an awful accident with a silver lining: it helped generate public consideration of encroachment's effects," said Andrew J. Black, president of the Association of Oil Pipelines.
Christina Sames, vice-president of operations and engineering at the American Gas Association, said, "We can't stop people from building, but we want them to build responsibly."
AGA, which has primarily local distribution companies (LDCs) as members, urges local governments issuing building permits to consider requiring that an apartment building's parking lot be placed closer to a pipeline than the apartment building itself, she said.
Donald F. Santa, president of the Interstate Gas Pipeline Association of America, said pipeline safety is a shared responsibility between industry and regulators at various levels of government.
"The industry needs to keep its systems in top shape, but San Bruno also showed that local government has a role in recognizing a pipeline is there and letting everyone know about it," Santa said.
Wrong questions
Martin E. Edwards, INGAA's vice-president for government affairs, said many questions raised after the San Bruno explosion did not take into account that the pipeline was laid a decade before the community grew over it.
The US Department of Transportation on Dec. 16 released recommendations developed by the Pipelines and Informed Planning Allowance to address issues raised by development near pipelines.
DOT offered nearly 50 recommended practices for local communities, developers, and pipeline operators. The recommendations suggest ways land-use planning and development decisions can protect existing pipelines and growing communities, said DOT.
It also provided recommendations on how communities can gather information about local transmission pipelines, and how local planners, developers, and pipeline operators can communicate during development phases to understand pipeline risks and minimize pipeline damage from excavation and construction.
Edwards said the goal is to help local governments evaluate the risks associated with developments near pipelines and make more informed decisions as they set zoning rules and issue building permits.
Santa noted some officials do not recognize that placing both sewer and water lines near gas lines can increase third-party excavation risks.
AGA's Sames said the goal was not to increase regulations but rather to emphasize to local governments the importance of education about building along pipeline routes.
Integrity management
She said federal lawmakers and DOT, through its US Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, have been working for years to address integrity management (IM) issues.
Witnesses testifying during 2010 congressional hearings to reauthorize the federal pipeline safety act noted a 2006 law imposed IM requirements on LDCs after a 2002 law placed IM requirements on interstate oil and gas lines, Sames told OGJ.
Lawmakers pushed reauthorization of the pipeline safety act into 2011 while Congress focused on the Macondo deepwater well accident and subsequent crude oil spill, Sames added.
Pipeline integrity involves more than age, she emphasized. Factors can include whether the pipe is plastic or steel (and, if it's steel, whether it is coated), if it is cathodically protected, if it's in dry or wet soil, and whether there is a nearby power line, she said.
In-line inspections are improving, she said. "They can be used on more sizes of pipe and over a broader range. Some pigs can even go through tight turns."
Black said pipeline safety advocates recognize that pipeline integrity involves more than the age of the pipeline.
"There are questions about how the pipeline was constructed and laid, particularly the specific techniques and practices of the time, and how it has been maintained," he told OGJ.
Corrosion is a key integrity issue for oil pipelines, Black said.
"Internal corrosion is a major cause of pipeline failures, most of which are not as dramatic as the accidents which capture the public's attention," Black said.
Sharing experiences
US corrosion-related oil pipeline failures dropped 74% from 2001 to 2008, partly due to IM rules DOT imposed in 2001, Black said. Oil pipeline operators try to continuously improve operations through an American Petroleum Institute-AOPL best-operating practices team where they share experiences with problems and compare operations with their peers, he said.
While requirements exist nationwide for developers to call a central pipeline information center before they begin to excavate, the 811 system is not yet in place everywhere, officials of the three associations indicated.
Santa said INGAA suggested the pipeline safety reauthorization bill include federal support for states to adopt programs with minimal exemptions and strong enforcement.
"It's incumbent on pipelines and PHMSA to remind policymakers that regulation and practices governing pipeline safety have been in place for a long time," said Edwards. "It has encouraged improvement, which has made it relatively safe over the last 50 years."
Santa said pipeline safety involves sound engineering, risk principles, and technology. "It clearly would be judged to be a prudent investment. There may be issues about how costs would be recovered, but never about whether they would."
He noted 14,000-15,000 miles of interstate gas pipeline were constructed during the last decade, the bulk of it in the last 2 years. That compares with 700 miles of new high-voltage electrical transmission, he added.
Sames said DOT and PHMSA moved from regulations built on prescriptions over specific intervals to risk-based rules that require operators to continuously identify potential problems and address them.
"This lets companies put resources where they have the most impact," she explained. "Where once you might have been in a desert environment having to inspect for corrosion every 7 years, now you can redirect your efforts to damage prevention and education instead."
She believes DOT has taken steps that helped improve pipeline safety in the last 10 years using in-line inspections, hydrostatic tests, direct assessments, and pressure testing.
Assessing corrosion
Sames said direct assessments, developed by the National Association of Corrosion Engineers, examine opportunities where corrosion could exist and determines what steps could be taken.
One unfortunate idea to emerge following the San Bruno accident was the notion that government and industry always should remain separate, she said.
"That's not always the case, especially with integrity management and excavation notification. Both of these work best when government and industry work together," Sames said.
Black said restoring public confidence and securing funding for adequate enforcement are equally important.
"The record for oil pipelines has improved, but we don't want any accidents to occur at all," Black said. "We don't believe there are any regulatory gaps."
He pointed out that PHMSA does extensive investigations and asks questions during its audits.
Santa called pipeline safety a bipartisan issue.
"An accident can occur in a district represented by a Democrat or a Republican," Santa said. "Still, the incidents which happened in 2010 will frame the debate in 2011, although Congress not trying to act immediately has provided time to look more closely for the best solutions."
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