National Pipeline Reform Coalition Insists That Congress End Pipeline Tragedies

Following a series of major oil and gas pipeline disasters including an August natural gas pipeline explosion in New Mexico that killed 12 adults and children, the National Pipeline Reform Coalition today released a publication titled Out of Sight, Out of Mind No More: Pipeline Tragedies Across the U.S., which can be found at www.fuelsafewashington.org on the web. The Coalition calls for Congress to significantly strengthen the pipeline safety law this year, and to develop an oversight strategy for the Office of Pipeline Safety.

The Pipeline Tragedies report makes clear that pipeline ruptures are not isolated events, and these incidents frequently result in serious public safety and environmental consequences. According to the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO), approximately four major pipeline accidents occur each week (a major accident results in a fatality, an injury, or property damage greater than $50,000). GAO also noted that major accidents are increasing by approximately 4% annually at the same time that fines against the industry are declining. Currently, only one in 25 violators receives a proposed fine, and fewer are actually fined.

“The majority of interstate pipeline releases are preventable because they are caused by factors such as corrosion, material defects or employee errors,” according to Environmental Defense senior engineer Lois Epstein, a board member of the National Pipeline Reform Coalition. “Pipeline tragedies like the one last month in New Mexico are inevitable unless Congress ensures that the deficiencies in standards and enforcement are immediately remedied.”

“A gasoline pipeline rupture in June forced me and my family, as well as hundreds of others, to leave our homes to ensure our safety,” stated Ray Hall from Blackman Township, Michigan, who has come to Washington, D.C. today to lobby for pipeline safety. “Some of my neighbors have not been able to return to their homes, and the environmental cleanup still is ongoing months later.” Additionally, as is becoming increasingly common, the June pipeline rupture in Michigan resulted in a significant spike in fuel prices.

“The federal pipeline law must be substantially strengthened to protect our families and the environment,” said Epstein. “A federal fix is essential since, by law, states cannot solve these problems.”

The Pipeline Tragedies report contains extensive information about the pipeline industry and the Office of Pipeline Safety (the part of the U.S. Department of Transportation charged with regulating pipelines). “The publication is an invaluable resource for anyone concerned about this massive, but little understood, threat to public safety and the environment,” said Anne Bricklin, publication editor and President of Fuel Safe Washington. “The report documents what our organizations have learned from people across the country who are fighting to protect their communities from unsafe oil and gas pipelines.”

What Provisions Must Federal Legislation Include to Prevent Pipeline Tragedies?

1. Liability and Enforcment: Pipeline ruptures that create substantial safety and environmental impacts must receive swift and certain penalties, and effective citizen enforcement must be allowed;
2. Standards: Establish federal requirements for oil pipelines that are now lacking (i.e., for pipeline testing, re-testing, and repairs, leak detection, emergency shut-off valves, and failsafe mechanisms to prevent overpressurization), and improve the corrosion prevention requirements since corrosion is the biggest single cause of oil pipeline releases;
3. Right-to-Know: Require oil pipeline and natural gas transmission companies to provide accountability directly to the public on important aspects of their operations;
4. Regional Advisory Councils: Provide the funds and authority for establishment of independent regional advisory councils, modeled after the post-Exxon Valdez councils established in Alaska, to enable public and local government representatives to provide oversight and make substantive recommendations to the pipeline industry and regulators on their activities;
5. State Oversight: Strengthen the ability of states to inspect and regulate interstate pipeline operations; and,
6. Eliminate the Bias Against Safety Standards: Remove the cost-benefit provisions put into section 60102(b) of the law during the 1996 reauthorization, which are designed to limit development of pipeline safety standards by requiring any new standards to meet economic and judicial tests that no other federal agency’s regulations must meet.