Safety

With less than one week remaining in 2005, the Department of Transportation’s Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS) reports that the dollar estimate of property damage to natural gas transmission facilities this year was more than three times the price-tag in 2004 — most likely due to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita that ravaged the Gulf Coast energy infrastructure this summer.

The Williams Companies’ Northwest Pipeline was fined $100,000 last week by the Department of Transportation’s Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS) for exceeding pressure restrictions that were placed on a segment of its damaged 26-inch diameter pipeline in Washington in 2003.

The Williams Companies’ Northwest Pipeline was fined $100,000 this week by the Department of Transportation’s Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS) for exceeding pressure restrictions that were placed on a segment of its damaged 26-inch diameter pipeline in Washington in 2003.

While praising its safety record and consistently high government ratings, President Bush wants tighter financial controls for the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) in place by Sept. 30 to reduce its burgeoning debt and improve its stature in the competitive electric marketplace.

Consolidated Edison (Con Edison), which was awarded a $439,999 pipeline safety research contract by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), will work together with Witten Technologies and Electromagnetic Instruments to develop a 3-D digital mapping system for identifying steel and plastic underground equipment, and detecting leaks. Commissioned by Con Edison, Boston-based Witten produced underground images of lower Manhattan in August 2001 and January 2002 through a ground-penetrating technique called radar tomography. A piece of equipment similar to satellite radar is placed on the back of a truck, which drives directly over the site taking 3-D pictures of utility infrastructure six feet below the surface. Con Edison’s research contract is one of seven awarded by DOT, totaling $1.6 million. Additional DOT awards for a second phase of the program are pending.

Consolidated Edison (Con Edison), which was awarded a $439,999 pipeline safety research contract by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), will work together with Witten Technologies and Electromagnetic Instruments to develop a 3-D digital mapping system for identifying steel and plastic underground equipment, and detecting leaks.

El Paso Natural Gas has received approval from the U.S. Departmentof Transportation’s Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS) to conduct moreinternal inspections on its rebuilt New Mexico pipeline, whichruptured August 19 killing 11 people (see Daily GPI, Aug. 22). Since the explosion, flowsthrough the line, which runs from West Texas to California, have beenreduced to 85% capacity, or about 920 MMcf/d.

El Paso Natural Gas has received approval from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS) to conduct more internal inspections on its rebuilt New Mexico pipeline, which ruptured August 19 killing 11 people (see NGI, Special Report). Since the explosion, flows through the line, which runs from West Texas to California, have been reduced to 85% capacity, to a rate of about 920 MMcf/d.

Deaths related to pipeline ruptures and/or explosions rose byeight to 26 last year, said a new National Transportation SafetyBoard (NTSB) report, which noted that most of the fatalitiesoccurred on natural gas pipelines.