16-06-04
The US's 160,000 miles of aging pipelines that carry gasoline and other
hazardous liquids may be in worse condition than expected, a Senate committee
was told.
With just 16 % of those pipelines examined so far under a new inspection
program, more than 20,000 potential problems -- 1,200 of which required
immediate repair -- already have been uncovered, the US Department of
Transportation's inspector general reported.
Critics of the federal Office of Pipeline Safety, which has long been
depicted as inadequate and ineffective in policing the nation's pipelines, told
the Senate's Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee that the agency has
been shaping up under a 2002 law, including increasing the number of civil
penalties it has imposed against the industry for violations.
But that was overshadowed by the revelations that the agency's job may be much
bigger than anyone envisioned. The potential for problems was illustrated less
than a year ago, when Kinder Morgan's pipeline from Tucson to Phoenix burst,
spewing gasoline on Tucson homes and disrupting the main supply of gas to
Phoenix.
"The one element of testimony here that's extremely disturbing, or
should be a red flag, is the number of inspections that reveal a number of
serious failings, or possible failings, of pipelines in the relatively small
number that have been inspected," said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., committee
chairman.
"The good news is (the inspection program is) working. The bad news is
we're finding out we had more problems than we thought we had," McCain
said.
"The technology is showing that there are significant repairs needed,"
agreed Samuel Bonasso, deputy administrator of the Department of
Transportation's Research and Special Programs Administration, which includes
the Office of Pipeline Safety.
The 2002 law, spurred in part by the death of two boys and an 18-year-old man
after a 1999 pipeline explosion and rupture in Bellingham, Washington, required
the pipeline safety agency, state inspectors, and members of the pipeline
industry to regularly examine most pipelines for problems and correct them.
Pipeline operators are required to develop policies and procedures, known as
integrity-management plans, to identify which pipeline segments could affect
populated or environmentally sensitive areas in the event of a failure.
"The pipeline rupture that occurred in Arizona in July 2003 is indicative
of the aging US infrastructure and is the reason federal and state governments
need to conduct coordinated, aggressive inspections to reduce the risk of
another pipeline rupture and attendant environmental and economic damage,"
Arizona Corporation Commissioner Marc Spitzer said in testimony to the
committee.
The new program will not be fully implemented for another eight years, and
most pipelines still need to be inspected. Kenneth Mead, inspector general of
the Transportation Department, told the committee that the inspections that have
been completed so far have identified potential problems for the operators of
the gasoline and other hazardous-liquid pipelines, "and there was clearly a
need for such inspections."
As of April 30, inspections had been completed on about 25,000 miles of the
160,000 miles of hazardous-liquid pipelines run by big operators. In all, more
than 20,000 problems were identified. More than 1,200 of those required
immediate repair, some showing signs of imminent rupture or breaks; 760 required
repairs within 60 days; and 2,400 required repairs within 180 days. About 16,300
of the needed repairs were deemed not time-sensitive.
One of the most serious threats discovered was a case of corrosion in which
more than 80 % of the pipeline's wall thickness had been lost. That has since
been repaired.
"These threats may not have been discovered during the operators' routine
inspections," according to the report Mead gave to McCain's committee.
Details of where the pipelines are located were not made available. However, the
Office of Pipeline Safety required the earliest inspections to occur in areas in
or near residential communities and business districts, where the highest risk
of fatalities, injuries and property damage could occur from a pipeline
incident.
About 135,000 miles of hazardous-liquid pipelines remain to be inspected,
along with more than 326,000 miles of natural-gas pipelines. Mead said he was
concerned about the exemption from key parts of the 2002 law that Congress has
given to another 1.8 mm miles of distribution lines that take gas from pipelines
and move the fuel to homes and businesses.
Mead said one reason given for why natural-gas pipelines, which represent 85 %
of all the pipelines in the United States, were exempted from
integrity-management program requirements was that they cannot be examined using
a mechanical device called a "smart pig." He said he considered the
exemption a "safety gap."
Source: Republic Washington Bureau