Hazardous

As part of Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood’s national pipeline safety initiative, the department’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration has announced that it will begin taking comments from the public on whether it should expand the use of excess flow valves beyond single-family homes and into larger residential and commercial areas. An excess flow valve is a device designed to limit the impact of a potential leak or explosion by restricting the flow of natural gas if a line is broken or damaged. The comment period ends 60 days after publication of the notice in the Federal Register. The notice can be viewed at http://www.ofr.gov/OFRUpload/OFRData/2011-30330_PI.pdf.

Following approval by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, Bison Pipeline was restored to maximum allowable operating pressure of 1,440 psig along with having a force majeure declaration lifted at noon Saturday. “Gas had already been bought for the weekend, so we didn’t go up immediately” on pressure, said spokesman David Dodson. “It is looking like nominations for gas day Tuesday will be about 360-370 MMcf, which is what we were flowing before the July 20 incident” (see Daily GPI, July 25). Bison has a total design capacity of 477 MMcf/d.

An official with the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) said a recent media report that the commission was poised to rake in millions of dollars from a five-year deal to sell lake water for use in hydraulic fracturing (fracking) was exaggerated.

Inspired by pioneering legislation in Texas, a Pennsylvania state lawmaker is proposing a bill that would require Marcellus Shale operators to disclose all the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing (hydrofracking) operations.

Continuing schedule delays — exacerbated by a ruling by the Department of Transportation Pipeline Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHSMA) that ended the use of a key vapor gas dispersion model — have prompted Crown Landing LLC to ask FERC for a one-year extension to revise a permit application for a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal on the Delaware River in Gloucester County, NJ.

Continuing schedule delays — exacerbated by a ruling by the Department of Transportation Pipeline Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHSMA) that ended the use of a key vapor gas dispersion model — have prompted Crown Landing LLC to ask FERC for a one-year extension to revise a permit application for a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal on the Delaware River in Gloucester County, NJ.

Following the deadly pipeline explosion in Allentown, PA, Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) Friday called on the head of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) to beef up the oversight of the interstate gas pipelines that feed into Pennsylvania’s intrastate distribution infrastructure.

The Pipelines Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) has authorized increases in the maximum allowable operating pressure (MAOP) from 0.72 to 0.8 design on portions of the Midcontinent Express (MEP) and Rockies Express (REX) pipelines and on all of the Kinder Morgan Louisiana Pipeline. Additionally, Boardwalk Pipeline Partners LP’s Texas Gas Transmission LLC subsidiary received authorization to operate its Fayetteville and Greenville laterals at standard operating pressures (0.72).

The Pipelines Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) has authorized increases in the maximum allowable operating pressure (MAOP) from 0.72 to 0.8 design on portions of the Midcontinent Express (MEP) and Rockies Express (REX) pipelines and on all of the Kinder Morgan Louisiana Pipeline.