Pipeline Safety and Reauthorization

1
Pipeline Safety and Reauthorization

• Pipeline Safety Trust conference
• November 4, 2010

2
Perspectives of liquid pipeline operators

• No accidents are acceptable
• Safety record has improved over the decade
• Inside and outside HCAs
• All leading causes (corrosion, equipment,
  materials/seams, operator error, excavation
  damage)
• Annus Horriblus
• Major project (Keystone XL) opposed partly
  because of non-pipeline energy policy concerns
• Deepwater Horizon, even though not a pipeline
  accident
• And then Marshall, MI, and San Bruno, CA

3
Perspective on the MI and CA accidents

• Operators say I dont want that to happen to us
  
• Operators are eager for NTSB findings
• What happened and how do we prevent it?
• Will the findings identify any regulatory gaps?
• Industry works to learn from accidents
• PPTS, Performance Excellence Team, Data Mining
  Team, Pipeline Information eXchange (PIX), Safety
  Culture workshops
• PHMSA has many tools and is not afraid to use
  them

4
Incentives to avoid a release

• Injury to public, employees, contractors
• Clean-up costs
• Claims and litigation
• Penalties and fines
• Reputation hurt with regulators
• Lost business reputation with shippers

5
Dramatic ImprovementLiquids Pipeline Industry
Onshore Pipe Spill Record
Number of Spills per 1,000 Miles
Barrels Released per 1,000 Miles
-48
-63
3-Year Averages Ending in Year Shown
Source Pipeline Performance Tracking System, a
voluntary spill reporting system involving 85 of
the U.S. liquids pipeline mileage. Percentage
decline from 1999-2001 average to 2006-2008
average.
6
Public concerns about aging infrastructure

• Data shows no specific trends
• Some accidents on older pipe not caused by
  time-dependent factors
• Very long lives if properly constructed,
  operated, maintained, and protected
• Operators focus on specific construction methods,
  coatings, welding practices, etc.
• Thankful for recognition of this by others
• But we need to find a better way to explain that

7
Focus in Reauthorization

• Excavation damage prevention (One-call
  exemptions)
• Improving the NRC telephonic notification regime
• Maintain focus on protecting against the greatest
  risks
• Any requirements should have a technical and
  engineering basis and enhance safety
• Avoid creating security risks
• Remember the leading causes of accidents are
  already covered by regulations

8
PPTS Onshore Pipe Incidents '99-'08 (3-year
Average)
TOTAL, ALL CAUSES
CORROSION
THIRD PARTY
EQUIP./NON-PIPE
OPERATOR/OPER'N
MAT'L/SEAM/WELD
9
Excavation damage prevention

• Causes 7 of all incidents
• Leading cause of injuries and deaths
• Exemptions have seemed to surprise Congress
• Common message among stakeholders
• Great starts in PHMSA ANPRM and S. 3856
  (Lautenberg-Rockefeller)

10
Telephonic reporting

• Rigid National Response Center rules create a
  conflict between the need to report and the need
  to estimate
• Operators must estimate release volume
• Operators cannot revise a report
• Options to make immediate reporting more
  practicable
• Allow revisions of estimates
• Estimate ranges initially, not specific amounts
• A possible common goal for work together

11
Ways we can work together

• PIPA promotion
• Damage prevention
• States, PHMSA, Congress
• Notification process reforms
• Continued discussion of leading indicators and
  concerns
• Continued discussion of perspectives

12
Thank you

• Andy Black
• President and CEO
• Association of Oil Pipe Lines (AOPL)
• 202 292 4500 phone
• ablack_at_aopl.org
• www.aopl.org