Rainfall running almost 165% above normal so far in 2006 has triggered land movement between Washougal and Willard in the Blue Lake area of Washington state at approximately Mile Post 1192, Northwest said Friday. “Strain gauges installed in this segment have registered steady increases in stress on the pipeline in this area,” the pipeline added. “Although the stress levels require remediation soon, they are not such that immediate action is needed.” In order to ensure safety and reliability in this segment, Northwest plans to blow down and excavate the affected area to reduce line stress. It anticipates there will be no physical flow through the area for Wednesday’s gas day. “Based upon current weather forecasts and operating conditions, Northwest does not anticipate primary impacts to customers. Northwest will work with its interconnects and use its Jackson Prairie inventory in an attempt to eliminate customer impacts. However, if net nominations north through the Washougal Compressor [Station] increase significantly over the currently scheduled volume of 386,000 Dth/d, Northwest may be forced to declare a Deficiency Period. Customers can help mitigate market impacts by buying gas at Sumas,” the pipeline said. For the Feb. 22-24 gas days Northwest will only schedule primary nominations north through either the Roosevelt or Washougal Compressor Stations. If the stress on the line accelerates, remediation work may begin earlier than currently planned, it said. A Stage II entitlement remained in place until further notice.

Columbia Gas (TCO) declared a Critical Day for Feb. 18-21 in Market Areas 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 38, 39 and 40. Based on forecasted markets, available facilities and capacity utilization, TCO projected that all available capacity to the aforementioned market areas will be required to meet firm service obligations, leaving zero nonfirm capacity available. See the bulletin board for further details.

Weather forecasts of cold temperatures across the entire East Tennessee Natural Gas system had the pipeline anticipating implementation of the following restrictions at the start of Saturday’s gas day (Feb. 18): No secondary receipts upstream of Station 3104 and 3205, and no secondary deliveries downstream of Station 3313. The pipeline also expected to implement its Maximum Allowable Delivery (MAD) service Saturday and continuing into early this week.

Columbia Gulf said Friday it has identified a leak on the subsea valve at Vermilion 116 on the 509A-100 Line, which is part of the Bluewater System’s West Leg. Repairs will begin when a repair vessel is available and weather permits, Columbia Gulf said. When the repairs are ready to commence, operators will be notified to shut in at the following Tennessee meters: South Marsh Island 275 and 275A; East Cameron 129 and 144; and Vermilion 104, 119G (two meters), 115 and 122.

In an update Friday, Tennessee said it was informed by Targa Midstream, operator of the Lowry Plant, that a compression issue at the plant (see Daily GPI, Feb. 17) would require Targa to confirm all plant volumes to zero effective Saturday (Feb. 18). Additionally, scheduled volumes at the Lac Blanc/Seahawk meter would be limited to 80,000 Dth/d. The maintenance was now expected to last six days. To protect operational integrity in this area and avoid issuance of an OFO, shippers/producers upstream of the Lac Blanc/Seahawk meter need to match physical production with scheduled volumes, Tennessee said.

CenterPoint canceled Saturday a limit on delivery capacity at Columbia Gulf/Perryville (South) in northeast Louisiana due to unscheduled repairs at Delhi Station (see Daily GPI, Feb. 15). However, CenterPoint said there might be a need to take Delhi Station back down over the weekend for a seal replacement. If that should happen, CenterPoint said it would notify shippers of pro rata reductions by telephone and on its website.

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