The U.S. Department of Transportation's Research and Special Programs Administration (RSPA) has urged Colonial Pipeline Co. to improve its safety and environmental performance.
After one of Colonial's main lines ruptured June 26, 1996, spilling 22,800 bbl of fuel oil into the Reedy River near Simpsonville, S.C., RSPA created a task force to review Colonial's operations, maintenance, and training programs to identify any trends or deficiencies to help prevent future accidents.
Colonial is the largest U.S. refined products pipeline, with 5,317 miles of line delivering products from Pasadena, Tex., to the New York harbor area.
Task force report
The task force reported that Colonial has one of the highest accident rates in the hazardous liquid pipeline industry, reporting 194 accidents to DOT's Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS) since 1968. The Simpsonville spill was Colonial's largest and among the largest hazardous liquids spills ever reported to OPS.
The report said, "Over the years, OPS has devoted considerable resources to inspecting and overseeing Colonial using a traditional regulatory compliance approach," requiring pressure restrictions, studies, inspections, tests, and other actions.
"More recently, OPS has developed broader regional or systemwide strategies for preventing accidents and has progressively required pressure restrictions, hydrostatic testing, and use of the latest in-line inspection technology to assure the integrity of Colonial's pipeline system.
"In response to OPS compliance requirements, Colonial has become an industry leader in the development and use of sophisticated in-line inspection technology on their pipeline system. Given the number of Colonial accidents, including a high-profile spill in Reston, Va., caused by excavation damage by third parties, OPS and Colonial have been proactive in the prevention of excavation damage to pipelines. Colonial has been a strong supporter and participant in 'one-call' systems.
"OPS has embarked on a multiyear effort to change its compliance program from scheduled standard inspections and accident investigations to using more focused inspections and investigations targeting areas perceived to pose the greatest risk to pipeline safety and the environment.
"Following the spill near Simpsonville, OPS required Colonial to go well beyond simply repairing its line and examine all corrosion spots in the area of the spill, evaluate pressure control switches and the pressure control model, and most importantly, to conduct an internal inspection of vulnerable segments throughout its system using a new tool that is capable of detecting certain types of cracks that have caused accidents in the past."
Recommendations
The report said, "Based on the large number of accidents experienced by Colonial, the task force recommends that Colonial perform an operational reliability assessment on the entire pipeline system (mainlines, stublines, delivery lines, and associated facilities) to assure pipeline system integrity."
It said the assessment would examine Colonial's operation and maintenance of the entire pipeline system and determine what steps should be taken to minimize the probability of a failure.
Colonial has performed an operational reliability assessment on portions of the 32-in. mainline, Line 4, in Virginia.
"Colonial needs to develop a comprehensive management approach to the operations and maintenance of their pipeline system. Following the reorganization in 1994, the field staff has been maintained at historic levels, but headquarters staff, especially in engineering, has been reduced. Colonial must ensure that its new structure is capable of generating and processing the information Colonial requires to operate its pipeline safely."
The report said Colonial should improve communications between field locations and headquarters, update its operations and maintenance manuals and procedures, and ensure they are followed uniformly throughout the company.
"Colonial has the technology it needs to monitor its pipeline. Colonial needs to make more efficient use of the technology available to them from their supervisory control and data acquisition (Scada) system."
The report said despite the computer system, many critical tasks are still performed manually, and there are flaws in pressure recording techniques and operating pressure change control processes.
"Colonial needs a comprehensive approach to operating practices and needs to develop a means to see that practices are updated, communicated, and followed system-wide. Colonial needs to assure that consistent operational data are generated throughout the company and used for analytical review."
Finally, the task force recommended that OPS expand its multi-region comprehensive inspections of pipeline companies that traverse more than one OPS region.
It said, "Separate inspections of different sections of a pipeline operator's system may not provide a comprehensive integral assessment of the pipeline system and do not always provide an opportunity to develop a comprehensive understanding of the system."
Kalin Jones, Colonial's general counsel and corporate secretary, responded, "Colonial has a long record of cooperation with RSPA and OPS. It would appear that Colonial has already implemented a number of the recommendations or is in the process of doing so. We are still reviewing the report. We expect to comply with any recommendations that we are not already in process of implementing."
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