Features
Pipelines: Safest Form of Transportation, Critical to Energy Supply
By Amy Chmura, Staff Writer
Crisscrossing the country are more than 320,000 miles of natural gas transmission pipelines that serve as underground highways transporting the nation’s energy.
Pipelines are a critical component of our nation’s energy infrastructure. They safely and reliably transport 25 percent of the country’s total energy consumption that is delivered to more than 70 million United States consumers.
“In general, pipelines are the safest means of transportation out there,” said Al Davis, who has been in the pipeline industry since 1977. This is not just a bold statement, but a fact backed up by the National Transportation Board statistics which indicate that pipelines are indisputably the safest way to transport natural gas and other energy products both for the public and the environment. Admittedly one of the factors for this safety is federal regulation. He said, “As an industry, we are one of the most regulated out there.”
Transmission pipelines are rigorously regulated by three federal agencies including the Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Transportation Security Administration’s Pipeline Security Division. As part of the regulatory process, pipeline personnel regularly check for visible signs of leaks or corrosion during regular aerial and foot patrols, use special equipment to inspect and clean the inside of pipelines, and test valves and gas samples to identify early signs of corrosion.
Today, with the regulatory standards and technological advances that allow companies to monitor pipelines 24 hours a day from state-of-the-art facilities, serious pipeline incidents are increasingly rare. According to statistics from the Interstate National Gas Association of America, incidents have decreased 30 percent in the past 20 years while the amount of gas delivered has increased by 30 percent.
However, no matter how much has changed since the first lines were built more than 150 years ago, accidents do happen and there are steps that can be taken to prevent them.
“Anytime you are disturbing soil, contact your one-call center,” Davis said. “Talk with the pipeline companies before doing any work near a pipeline, particularly in a pipeline right-of-way. All of us are willing to come out and work with you.”
Safety of Pipeline Right-of-way
A pipeline right-of-way is a strip of land over and around pipelines where some property owners’ legal rights have been granted to the pipeline company through what is known as an easement.
“The easement allows the pipeline company to place their lines through the property, but not own the property,” Davis said. “There are easement restrictions that require the owner to maintain the land in certain ways. These are federally regulated agreements that provide for the safety of the pipelines and people around them.”
Davis said it is important for everyone to be aware of the presence of pipelines in an area whether it is a homeowner, excavator or just someone out enjoying activities such as hunting or operating a recreational vehicle.
“You can see if a power line is in a right-of-way, but if you are out on a four wheeler or hunting or mowing, you will not see an underground pipeline and face different dangers,” Davis said. To help alert those living and working around these pipelines to the possible dangers, pipeline rights-of-way are well marked.
“Any transmission line is required to be marked,” Davis said. Markers and warning signs are placed in bright colors, usually yellow or orange, along different intervals on the right-of-way and wherever the pipeline intersects a street, highway, railway or waterway.
These markers display a 24-hour emergency telephone number, the type of material being transported and the name of the pipeline company.
Davis said he could not stress enough the importance of the signage. In fact, he told a story about how a pipeline marker helped a wayward motorist who became lost in the Mississippi countryside find her way onto a pipeline right-of-way. She was rescued because she found a number on a marker and called.
“There was a lady who decided to take a short cut and ended up driving near a pipeline easement. She was lost and did not know where to go when she saw the pipeline marker and called the number,” Davis recalled. “She could not tell us where she was, but because we knew where she left from and where she was going, we were able to locate her using the markers and her cell phone.”
Tampering with pipeline markers is a federal offense punishable by fine or jail, Davis said. “Hunters often think the signs make good targets, but it could put people in danger if they are not able to see the number on the sign,” he said. When out on patrols of the area, Davis said workers often find signs that were “pulled up, run over with a four wheeler or had their signage switched with another company’s sign.”
There really are common sense solutions to working and living near these pipeline rights-of-way. Some land owners believe they can still use their property as they want, but there are things they can and cannot do. This is spelled out in their agreements with the pipeline company. “One thing our patrols will look for is a permanent structure such as a barn or shed in the right-of-way,” Davis said. “Some owners will try to put a fence or mailbox up near the area and not think about the risk of driving a post into a nearby pipeline.”
Markers and warning signs only indicate the general location of the pipeline and are not to be relied on for the exact position. This is why it is vital that anyone working or digging near the pipeline call the one-call center or the pipeline company to determine the specific location prior to disturbing the earth. Know What is Below.
“One of the biggest misconceptions is that the pipelines are buried 15 to 20 feet, when in reality most are not,” Davis said. There are factors such as erosion and other destruction that can affect the pipeline’s depth.
“Simple activities such as mudding, riding, hunting or driving with four-wheel-drive across the soil can create deep holes that lead to erosion that damages the coating on the pipes,” Davis said. “Same thing with heavy equipment crossing the right-of-way during logging or construction activity: it can scratch the pipe. The pipe may not give way then, but can lead to future damage.”
Davis’s best advice is to know where the pipelines are and understand that this is not the place for recreational activities. If you must cross the area with heavy equipment, work with the pipeline company to minimize any risk.
Davis and other pipeline companies communicate this message through a series of public awareness programs as mandated by RP 1162. Under this awareness program, they reach out to four main stakeholder groups including the affected public (landowners and businesses on the rights-of-way), emergency responders, excavators and public officials. Through meetings, trainings and forums, they can talk to the stakeholders about how to increase safety and measure the results of their outreach efforts.
One particular group Davis has seen as a target audience for education on pipeline rights-of-way is real estate agents. “I have seen real estate agencies tell landowners who are about to buy a property that they can pull and dispose of the pipeline signs,” he said. “We have worked with real estate associations in the area to formally educate them on how to disclose easement agreements to potential buyers.”
It is not just pipelines running through the countryside, but also those offshore, that should be properly located and marked before any type of activity can occur. Pipelines can be hit if there is a dredging operation, spud barge or other anchor dropped in or around these underwater infrastructures. “The key is to be aware, file proper permits and know where pipelines are located,” Davis said.
While pipeline incidents are statistically decreasing. The leading cause of serious pipeline incidents is third-party damage from a contractor, farmer, landscaper or the do-it-yourself homeowner. This can and should be avoided. Be aware. Know what’s below, and call before you dig.
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