Piling on to Enbridge Inc.’s regulatory troubles, the Northern Gateway proponent is facing new safety-enhancement demands from a U.S. regulator following the company’s recent Wisconsin pipeline oil spill.
Following the spill, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) issued an order against Enbridge prohibiting the company from resuming operations of Pipeline 14 in Adams Co., Wisconson, until the company submitted a satisfactory restart plan to the regulator.
A day later, the regulator announced additional requirements that Enbridge must meet before restarting the pipeline. Those requirements include that Enbridge must:
- submit, for review and approval, a comprehensive written plan, including timelines for specific actions to improve the safety record of the company’s Lakehead pipeline system;
- hire an independent, third-party pipeline expert to review and assess the written plan;
- have the third party oversee the creation, execution and implementation of the actions identified in the plan and provide monitoring and summaries to PHMSA and Enbridge concurrently; and
- make a commitment to address any deficiencies or risks identified in the third party’s assessment.
Explaining its rationale for the additional requirements, the regulator pointed to “a history of failures” on Enbridge’s Lakehead Pipeline system.
“PHMSA has communicated its longstanding concerns about this pattern of failures with [the] respondent over the past several years,” the regulator stated. “Given the nature, circumstances and gravity of this pattern of accidents, additional corrective measures are warranted.”
