NTSB vice chairman says PHMSA has to do more

WASHINGTON - In testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives
Subcommittee on Energy and Environment on Sept. 29, which was meeting on the reauthorization of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety
Administration (PHMSA), NTSB Vice Chairman Christopher Hart recognized recent improvements in the agency's performance but prodded them to enhance the effectiveness of their oversight functions.
Hart credited PHMSA with implementing regulations addressing integrity
management programs for gas transmission pipelines, hazardous liquid
pipelines, and natural gas distribution pipeline systems.
Saying that PHMSA needed to make additional improvements, Hart cited three pipeline accidents between 2004 and 2009 in which the Safety Board
discovered that both PHMSA and operator oversight of risk-based
assessment programs has been lacking and has failed to detect flaws and
weaknesses.
As a result of the investigations, Hart indicated that the NTSB is concerned that the level of self-evaluation and oversight currently being exercised is not uniformly applied by some pipeline operators and PHMSA to ensure that the risk-based safety programs are effective.
"The NTSB believes that to ensure effective risk-based integrity management programs are employed throughout the pipeline industry, PHMSA must establish an aggressive oversight program that thoroughly examines each operator's decision-making process for each element of its
integrity management program," he said.
Hart concluded his testimony by briefly summarizing four pipeline accident investigations (Cleburne, Texas.; Marshall, Mich.; Romeoville,
Ill.; and San Bruno, Calif.) that the Safety Board has undertaken since
the start of the summer.
Hart said that while the investigations of the Marshall rupture and spill of between 800,000 and 1,000,000 gallons of crude oil, and the San Bruno rupture and fire that killed eight, are still in the very early stages, area of focus on either or both investigations would likely include control center operations, operator notification and emergency responder activities, pipeline inspection and maintenance, oversight activities and actions, and pipeline aging.