WASHINGTON, Oct. 2 (UPI) — The U.S. oil and gas industry said it supported a federal proposal to enhance the way operators conduct safety assessments on the nation’s network of pipelines.
The federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration said it was calling for a leak detection system and an established timeline to respond to affected pipelines following natural disasters or extreme weather events.
About 1,000 barrels of oil spilled from the Poplar Pipeline near the Yellowstone River in Glendive, Mont., in early 2015. Survey crews found the ruptured section of the pipeline exposed above the bed of the Yellowstone River. A 2011 spill into the river from the Silvertip pipeline, operated by Chevron, was blamed on river scour and occurred during heavy rains.
Robin Rorick, director of the pipeline division of the American Petroleum Institute, said the industry supports the safety benchmarks intended by the new proposal. Industry practices call for what API described as a “plan, do, check and act” philosophy on pipeline safety.
“We need a practical pipeline safety rule for hazardous liquids that will complement industry’s strong safety standards,” Rorick said in an emailed statement. “We look forward to working with PHMSA when it comes to protecting the public.”
PHMSA said the proposed safety measures would improve the quantity and frequency of tests used to asses pipeline integrity and call for stricter guidelines on repair. PHSMA Administrator Marie Therese Dominguez said the proposal would manage the risk on the nation’s nearly 200,000 miles of pipelines.
“The new requirements would strengthen the standards that determine how operators repair aging and high-risk infrastructure, increase the quality and frequency of tests that assess the condition of pipelines, and require that all hazardous liquid pipelines have a system to detect leaks,” she said in a statement.
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