Pipeline And Hazardous Materials Safety Administration News

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is recommending new notification alarms and procedures for potential incursions on pipelines and a change to an anchorage off the California coast following a crude oil release in 2021 caused by ship anchors damaging an underwater pipeline.NTSB investigators determined that the oil leak, which began on October 1, 2021, in San Pedro Bay, resulted from an anchor strike on the pipeline that occurred eight months earlier, when anchors…

Freeport LNG, the second-biggest U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter, got approval from federal regulators on Thursday to take early steps to restart its fire-idled LNG export plant in Texas.Freeport, however, has not yet sought permission to restart the liquefaction trains that turn natural gas into LNG for export. That resumption of LNG production will have to come in a later request with federal regulators.Energy analysts have said they still expect most of the plant's…

Top U.S. gas exporter, Freeport LNG, is expected to further extend the seven-month-long outage of its liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plant in Texas to February, as it awaits regulatory approvals, three sources told Reuters on Wednesday.Accounting for 20% of U.S. LNG exports, resumption of the facility is important to ease the squeeze of global LNG supplies, especially as Europe is rebuilding its gas storage after Russia cut gas exports following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine."There has been no official messaging…

Freeport LNG on Friday again delayed the restart of the second-biggest U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facility, pushing start-up plans for its Texas plant to the end of the year, pending regulatory approval.In November, the company said it was on track to restart the plant in mid December and get most LNG production back in January with a return to full service in March.Freeport shut the plant on June 8 after an explosion that energy consultants said was the result of human error…

A few liquefied natural gas (LNG) vessels have turned away from the Freeport LNG export plant in Texas over the past few days on expectations the plant's restart will be delayed until December or later, according to ship tracking data from Refinitiv.Federal pipeline safety regulators on Tuesday released a heavily redacted consultant's report that blamed inadequate operating and testing procedures, human error and fatigue for the June 8 explosion that shut the Freeport plant.Freeport had not yet submitted a request to resume service to the Department of Transportation's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) as of earlier this week.

The second-largest U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter on Wednesday said it reached an agreement with a federal regulator that will allow it to resume some operations at its Quintana, Texas, plant in October.Freeport LNG shut the plant, which supplies about 20% of U.S. LNG exports, following an explosion and fire on June 8. Its closure helped to push up LNG prices in Europe and Asia, and dampening U.S. natural gas prices.The operator reached a consent agreement with the…

An electrical fault from an improperly disconnected battery in a used vehicle led to the fire aboard vehicle carrier Höegh Xiamen that resulted in $40 million worth of damages, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said Thursday.As a result of the investigation, NTSB issued eight safety recommendations to federal regulators and the companies involved in the accident.On June 4, 2020, while the Höegh Xiamen was in Jacksonville, Fla., the ship's crew noticed smoke coming from the ventilation housing while preparing to depart port for Baltimore, Md.

The National Transportation Safety Board issued 10 safety recommendations Tuesday during a public board meeting held to determine the probable cause of the fatal August 21, 2020, hazardous liquid pipeline strike and subsequent explosion and fire aboard the dredging vessel Waymon Boyd.The Waymon Boyd struck a submerged 16-inch hazardous liquid pipeline carrying propane during dredging operations in Corpus Christi, Texas. A geyser of propane gas and water erupted adjacent to the vessel. Shortly thereafter, propane gas engulfed the dredge and an explosion occurred.

The company that operates the pipeline that spilled an estimated 3,000 barrels of oil into the Pacific Ocean off California has an 800-page manual on handling an oil spill - but it is unclear whether its employees followed those procedures.Houston-based Amplify Energy Corp and several state and federal regulatory agencies have provided differing accounts of what happened on Oct. 2, when the pipeline spill that fouled beaches, killed wildlife, and closed down fishing along miles of coastline was officially reported.The U.S.

Eagle LNG, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ferus Natural Gas Fuels, informed that the United States Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) granted the company their draft environmental impact statement (DEIS).The draft EIS puts Eagle LNG on a clear path to FID on the Jacksonville Export Project and continues Eagle LNG’s success in using small-scale LNG to supply bunkering to the marine industry and to provide small scale LNG cargoes to markets in the Caribbean.“Our customers, and potential clients, join us in being encouraged that FERC has released the DEIS ahead of schedule. It moves us considerably closer to meeting our goal of expanding clean burning, domestic, and affordable LNG supply for marine bunkering and for small-scale LNG projects in the Caribbean.

Devon Grennan, president and CEO of Global Diving & Salvage, and president of the Spill Control Association of America (SCAA) asks the tough questions. What are the biggest challenges the spill response industry faces in light of the current political and economic climate in the United States? And what is SCAA doing to meet these challenges? I see the primary challenge that the spill response industry – as well as SCAA’s membership – currently has is to manage expectations and competing interests at a unique point in our nation’s energy renaissance.

Offshore energy presents a golden opportunity for Alaska and the United States. As we enter the final quarter of the year, one of the last and most pressing pieces of business facing the Interior Department is to finalize its next offshore leasing program, which will specify exactly which parts of the United States’ Outer Continental Shelf will be open to oil and gas development between 2017 and 2022. Having already cut the Atlantic from its proposed program back in March, the…

The U.S. Senate has unanimously passed bipartisan legislation to reauthorize the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) through 2019, in addition to improving safety and oversight. The bill increases standards for pipeline workers operating near or in the Great Lakes. It also mandates that pipeline companies prepare their equipment for harsh winter weather and create an emergency plan for spills in icy conditions. "The legislation would include designating the Great Lakes a high consequence area, updating oil spill response plans to include ice cover and requiring reviews of pipeline age and integrity," says an official statement. The pipeline legislation now heads to the House of Representatives for consideration.

Labelmaster offers the 2016 edition of the Emergency Response Guidebook (ERG) – a must have for anyone who handles or transports dangerous goods (hazardous materials). The ERG is a go-to manual to help responders quickly identify the specific or generic classification of the hazardous material or materials that may be involved in an incident, which helps protect themselves and the general public during the initial response phase. The ERG is published every four years by the U.S.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Coast Guard issued a joint federal Clean Water Act order to ensure the cleanup of heavy crude oil leaked from a pipeline near Refugio State Beach, Santa Barbara County, Calif. The order requires Plains Pipeline, L.P. (a.k.a. Plains All American Pipeline), the pipeline owner and operator, to continue its cleanup work inland, beachside, and in the ocean, to contain the oil and prevent further shoreline contamination. Today’s…

U.S. regulators seeking data from refiners in the effort to gauge the volatility of North Dakota Bakken crude being shipped by rail will have the information by the end of May, according to the industry's trade group. Seventeen companies have anonymously submitted data from more than 1,000 samples to an undisclosed third-party auditor hired by the American Fuel and Petrochemicals Manufacturers (AFPM), the U.S. independent refining industry's trade group, the group's general counsel, Rich Moskowitz, said on Friday. A technical consultant is compiling the information into a report to be submitted to the U.S. Department of Transportation by month's end, Moskowitz said. It will be submitted without companies identifying themselves because they consider the data proprietary.

On February 20 and 21, 2014 Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) Director Brian Salerno and BSEE Alaska Region Director Mark Fesmire traveled to Bellingham, Wash. to meet with senior leaders from the U.S. Coast Guard and the American Bureau of Shipping and see first-hand Shell's containment system aboard the Arctic Challenger. Director Salerno and Alaska Region Director Fesmire also visited with Coast Guard representatives at the Coast Guard's District headquarters in Seattle.

The Bureau of Safety & Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) will host a public forum on offshore energy infrastructure hurricane preparedness and response on Thursday, June 27, 2013, as part of its efforts to improve the safety of offshore oil and gas operations. “In our continuing efforts to be fully prepared for hurricane season, we are bringing together representatives from the government, oil and gas industry and environmental community to discuss our actions to protect offshore energy infrastructure and the environment during a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico,” said BSEE Director James Watson. In the aftermath of the 2005 hurricane season, platforms toppled and pipelines were ripped from the seafloor.

Regulation shapes the workboat industry perhaps more than any other single factor. This regulatory seascape includes a myriad of onerous and ever-changing rules. A ‘SITREP’ on those choppy waters is therefore in order. Last December, the Coast Guard closed the public comment period following its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) requiring nearly all towing vessels to obtain Certificates of Inspection under Subchapter M of CFR 46. The Coast Guard’s Towing Vessel National Center of Expertise (NCE) estimates that there are 5,800 U.S.

The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) is seeking comment on its Study on Burial of Submerged Pipelines. The study addresses hazards to navigation from offshore submerged pipelines, found mostly in the Gulf of Mexico. Since 1990, there have been 58 reported instances of a vessel or its equipment striking a submerged pipeline offshore and 64 reported instances where a submerged pipeline was either uncovered or presented a hazard to navigation. Comments on the study should be submitted by May 21. Source: HK Law

The Coast Guard, along with other federal, state and local agencies, will conduct a joint operation today at the Maryland Port Administration's Seagirt and Dundalk Marine Terminals to promote awareness and verify compliance with federal and state shipping regulations. Inspections on containerized cargo ships are conducted daily by individual agencies, but this multi-agency strike force operation is one in a series of similar initiatives conducted in ports nationwide since September 1998. This joint operation is coordinated between agencies that have jurisdiction so that shipments can be simultaneously inspected for compliance with all applicable requirements. The operation will involve the inspection of trucks, cargo containers and cargo tanks as they enter and leave the marine terminals.

NACE International, The Corrosion Society, has released details for the upcoming Corrosion 2010 Conference & Expo, the world’s largest annual conference dedicated to mitigating the costly global impact of corrosion. Recently, the annual cost of corrosion of the world’s critical infrastructure was found to be over $1.8t by the World Corrosion Organization. The annual event will take place in San Antonio, Texas, March 14 to 18, 2010 and will deliver a comprehensive array of meetings and symposia across a broad spectrum of industries. Corrosion 2010 will bring together more than 5,000 corrosion industry leaders, executives, and decision makers for workshops, forums, and events.

The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) is amending the Hazardous Materials Transportation Regulations (HMTR) to add a definition for “person who offers or offeror”. Effective October 1, this term will mean any person who performs or is responsible for performing any pre-transportation function required by the HMTR or who tenders or makes hazardous material available to a carrier for transportation in commerce. A carrier is not an offeror when it performs a function as a condition of accepting a hazardous material for transportation in commerce or when it transfers a hazardous material to another carrier for continued transportation without performing a pre-transportation function. 70 Fed. Reg. 43638 (HK Law)