By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Aug. 26 -- The US Department of Transportation ordered Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP to address potential "integrity threats" along the Houston company's Pacific system following a series of accidents.
KMEP Products Pipelines Pres. Tom Bannigan said the company expects to appeal parts of the order. He said KMEP is cooperating with authorities to resolve concerns.
"Protecting the public, the environment, and our employees are top priorities at Kinder Morgan," Bannigan said Aug. 26.
The DOT's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) issued a corrective action order on Aug. 25, noting that KMEP's Pacific pipeline system had 44 incidents since Jan. 1, 2003. The Pacific system involves more than 3,000 miles of pipelines and terminals in Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, and West Texas.
KMEP must have a revised integrity management plan approved by PHMSA within 120 days, the order said. Failure to comply may result in an assessment of civil penalties of as much as $100,000/day.
Of the 44 incidents, 14 involved the release of more than 5 bbl of petroleum products, some in or near environmentally sensitive areas or near transportation corridors, the PHMSA said.
The order focused primarily on eight pipeline incidents, of which seven were in California. PHMSA attributed five of the eight incidents to "outside force damage," such as excavator damage or damage caused during pipeline construction.
The order required a thorough analysis of recent incidents, a third-party independent review of operations and procedures, and a restructuring of KMEP's internal inspection program.
PHMSA Acting Chief Safety Officer Stacey Gerard said, "Our investigations into these incidents identified inadequacies in Kinder Morgan's interpretation of in-line inspection information to evaluate and repair their pipeline systems."