Depth of Cover

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PHMSA issued an updated advisory regarding the potential for damage to pipeline facilities caused by severe flooding. Presumably prompted by the January 2015 release to the Yellowstone river in Glendive, Montana, associated with an area of exposed pipeline on the river bottom, the Agency reiterated the nine (9) actions it has set forth in prior advisories to prevent and mitigate damage to pipelines impacted by flooding. …
Continue Reading Advisory Regarding Damage to Pipelines from Flooding

PHMSA issued an Advisory Bulletin to operators of both oil and gas pipelines regarding the potential damage to pipeline facilities caused by severe flooding.  78 Fed. Reg. 41991 (July 12, 2013).  The Agency has issued several prior Advisory Bulletins on this subject, each of which followed an event that involved severe flooding that affected…

PHMSA released its report to Congress regarding liquid pipeline incidents at certain inland water crossings, finding that 16 of 20 release incidents occurring since 1991 in pipeline water crossings greater than 100 feet in width were associated with flooding or stream overflow.  The Report concludes that “depletion of cover” and “the dynamic and unique nature…

President Obama signed H.R. 2845, the “Pipeline Safety, Regulatory Certainty, and Job Creation Act of 2011” into law on January 3, 2012. Among other pipeline safety requirements, this bill doubles the maximum civil fine for all safety violations; requires operators to confirm, through records or testing, the MAOP of certain untested gas pipelines in populated…