PHMSA closes record number of enforcement actions during 2011

The US Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration resolved a record number of enforcement actions during 2011, the US Department of Transportation reported.
Feb. 9, 2012

The US Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration resolved a record number of enforcement actions during 2011, the US Department of Transportation reported.

DOT said PHMSA issued 102 final orders last year, the most in a single year following the 2002 passage of the original federal pipeline safety act.

PHMSA Administrator Cynthia Quarterman said that the increased enforcement stemmed from improved internal tracking procedures and rigorous investigations and inspections of pipeline facilities by the agency’s field personnel.

“We will continue to conduct rigorous inspections to meet even more safety achievements in the future,” she said.

DOT said that since 2008, PHMSA has issued 281 final orders to pipeline operators, constituting almost 40% of all the agency’s final orders since 2002.

Contact at [email protected].

About the Author

Nick Snow

NICK SNOW covered oil and gas in Washington for more than 30 years. He worked in several capacities for The Oil Daily and was founding editor of Petroleum Finance Week before joining OGJ as its Washington correspondent in September 2005 and becoming its full-time Washington editor in October 2007. He retired from OGJ in January 2020. 

Sign up for Oil & Gas Journal Newsletters