National pipeline map for U.S. being developed

The U.S. Transportation Department's (DOT) Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS) has launched a process to establish a national pipeline mapping system by October 1998.

When completed, the system will show the location, of and critical data for major natural gas, hazardous liquids, and liquefied natural gas pipelines and facilities.

It will not include service, distribution, gathering, or spur lines.

OPS plans to add additional data layers into the system, including information on population densities, environmentally sensitive areas, natural-disaster probability and high-consequence areas, hydrography, and transportation networks.

The agency will use the system to depict pipelines in relation to the public and the environment and to work with other government agencies and the industry during an incident.

Required by law

The 1992 Pipeline Safety Act required OPS to identify pipeline facilities in environmentally sensitive and high-density population areas and to keep those maps and records current so they would be available to federal and state officials upon request.

To guide the planning process, OPS formed two government/industry pipeline mapping teams. The teams were sponsored by OPS, API, the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (Ingaa), and the AGA.

The teams included members from those groups, industry, OPS, other federal agencies, and states.

The first team analyzed various mapping alternatives in order to determine a cost-effective strategy for creating a reasonably accurate depiction (?500 ft) of the location of major pipelines.

The team's recommendations, "Strategies for Creating a National Pipeline Mapping System," were released late last year.

That report said 1,220 companies operate 302,000 miles of natural-gas transmission lines, 220 firms operate 155,000 miles of hazardous-liquids lines, and there are 94 LNG facilities. OPS said the mapping project would include all of the gas trunk lines and about 20% of the liquids lines.

The report said, "OPS does not have access to a reasonably accurate and national depiction of natural gas and hazardous liquid transmission pipelines, and liquefied natural gas facilities operating in the U.S."

The team's report said, "In general, operators develop pipeline or facility information at the time of the original siting and construction of the system. This information is updated when the pipeline or facility is rehabilitated, modified, rerouted, or when additional pipelines are laid in the same right-of-way.

"The format, accuracy, and utility of the data collected are based on each operator's specific business and operating needs as well as historical data collection techniques.

"Consequently, pipeline locational data within the pipeline or facility operator files may be in different formats (paper or electronic data) and vary widely with respect to scale and level of detail."

Data lacking

The team examined the possibility of using existing pipeline map data available through several commercial sources but found "no one data source met all the specified database and system criteria essential for a pipeline mapping system."

Particularly, it said none had complete pipeline location data with a validated accuracy range of 500 ft on either side of the centerline of the pipe.

It said the commercial data could not be merged because they were created for different uses, created under different criteria, and were proprietary.

The team decided that the new pipeline maps should follow Federal Geographic Data Committee standards and use the U.S. Geological Survey's 1:100,000 scale maps as base maps.

It said the final pipeline maps must be sophisticated enough to be useful in calculating risk assessments concerning nearby areas.

"The pipeline data structure should be topological so that each vector of a particular pipeline is identified as part of the same pipeline.

"Both graphic and attribute data should be delivered in a format that is compatible with widely available Geographical Information Survey software packages."

The report said various agencies have some pipeline map information.

The Energy Department has developed a map of natural gas transmission pipelines, DOT has a database of transportation facilities, the Minerals Management Service has a database of offshore pipelines, and the U.S. Geological Survey has some information.

Also, 47 states have some pipeline location data either on paper or electronically. Minnesota and Texas have been the most active with their own mapping programs.

The report said pipeline industry representatives have urged that any national mapping system should not create an undue cost and operational burden on companies.

The industry said the system should be structured to evolve with industry's mapping capability and the government should not require data elements that do not add value to current industry business needs.

Future steps

The second team was created to implement the strategies outlined by the first.

Those include the development of pipeline mapping data standards for digital and paper submissions, exploring options for central clearinghouses or repositories for the pipeline locational data, and investigating the tools and technologies that will help the pipeline industry migrate from paper to digital location information.

OPS said some states will operate their own pipeline data repositories through existing state agencies, such as the Texas Railroad Commission, while private firms will be used for other states and for the national repository.

The team drafted national pipeline mapping data standards and data that will be used by the pipeline mapping repositories. The team was pilot testing the draft standards and working to establish relationships with state agencies, industry, and others to exchange data that meet the standards.

The draft standards were posted on the OPS Internet site (http://www.ops.dot.gov).

The team met May 22 for a public meeting in Houston to discuss the draft standards and the pilot-testing program.

Terry Boss, vice-president of environment, safety, and operations for Ingaa and a study team member, said "The long-term strategy is trying to figure out how to get the location information in a format that it can be used.

"After we design formats for exchanging information and test them with some pilot projects, we can begin data transfer. We would consider this to be a multi-year effort, especially since pipeline companies will have to adapt their processes."

DOT's timetable for its U.S. pipeline mapping system

June 1997:

Consider public comments on pipeline data collection standards.

Summer and fall 1997:

• Conduct external pilot tests on data collection.
• Improve the accuracy of mapping using Global Positioning Systems or other means.

1998:

• Select and establish repositories.

Summer 1998:

• Enter partnerships with states' one-call utility locator services.

September 1998:

• Launch full program and have pipelines begin submitting data to repositories.

Copyright 1997 Oil & Gas Journal. All Rights Reserved.