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Reauthorization of the Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act and the Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Safety Act
Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality
Mr. Edward C. Sullivan
On behalf of the three million
members and fourteen affiliated unions of the Building and Construction Trades
Department, I am pleased to be here to help inform this committee about the
current status of the pipeline industry. Let
me take this opportunity to thank Chairman Tauzin, Ranking Member Dingell,
Subcommittee Chairman Barton and Ranking Member Boucher for holding this
hearing. Our workers care
very deeply about passing an effective pipeline safety bill that will protect
the public, pipeline workers and the environment from pipeline accidents and
from new national security threats. The Building Trades represent a
large contingent of workers in different crafts who work on and around
pipelines. They construct, operate
and maintain gas, oil, and other pipelines all over the country.
It is critically important to our workers that these pipelines are safe
and secure. Unfortunately, after
the events of September 11, protection of the pipelines and their related
facilities from terrorist attack has become a new concern.
The Building Trades men and women who work on pipelines have one
priority: safety. We want to
protect our country's pipelines from new terrorist threats, and protect
communities from future accidents like the tragedies that occurred in
Bellingham, Washington and New Mexico. While the Building Trades is
actively working with Congress to help shape the best pipeline safety bill
possible, today I'd like to talk about our biggest safety concerns.
I request that the committee please enter my entire statement into the
record even though I won't have time to speak to all the aspects of the bill
today. In general, a worker on a
pipeline will tell you that standards issued by the Office of Pipeline Safety
are good enough. The problem lies
in the enforcement. More
enforcement is needed to make sure that pipelines are tested for leaks, but more
importantly that they are tested for integrity.
When a leak is detected,
pipeline companies notify a contractor with whom they have an agreement to do
repair work. The contractor is
usually called out to replace only the section of the line that is leaking and
not the entire line. This often
leaves our members wondering, when will they be called on to fix the other
sections of the same pipeline? Although leaks often pose a
threat to public safety, when a pipeline rupture occurs human lives are put at
risk. A pipeline will come apart
when its integrity fails. When you
have products flowing through a pipe that has a compromised integrity, at a high
pressure, heat is created and an explosion is imminent. The
best means of testing the integrity of a pipeline is called hydrostatic testing.
This is accomplished by purging the section of pipe to be tested and then
filling the pipe with water and putting it under a constant pressure for a
specified number of hours. Pipeline
companies will complain, that this test is costly, it will shut a line
down and interrupt service, it will put pressure on the pipe that is above its
normal operating pressure and may damage the pipe. These are all true.
If the pipe is damaged however, it's because the pipe's integrity was
failing. But wouldn't the members of this committee rather have water spilling
out of a weak and deteriorating pipe than have it blow up, and only then find
out that the integrity was failing? This
test will tell you if the pipe's integrity is in good condition.
The pipeline in Bellingham, Washington had been tested weeks before the
pipe ruptured by a smart pig testing device.
A pig test only reveals corrosion and leaks, it does not conclusively
tell an operator how the integrity of the pipeline is holding up. A pipeline's integrity must
be tested. Testing for leaks only
is not sufficient. Over half of the nation's pipelines were originally
constructed before 1970. Those
lines are subject to both internal and external corrosion and their integrity
must be periodically checked. The
Building Trades supports required periodic inspections of pipelines that look
for leaks and integrity failures. The
Building Trades is also aware of the major cost factor to the operating
companies to do this type of testing. We are therefore also suggesting for the
safety of U.S. Citizens and in these times of uncertainty the U.S. Government
should give these pipeline operators some type of incentive or tax relief to
perform these tests on a periodic basis. Pipelines are now a national
security issue because there are approximately 2.2 million miles of them in the
United States. They are a unique
national security concern because many of them run underneath communities and
the above ground pumping stations are visible with little protection.
Just as in New York City when the planes struck the twin towers,
construction workers from all over New York State dropped their tools to help
with rescue and recovery, if a pipeline were to be attacked, our members would
again be rushing to the site to help with rescue and recovery.
Our members know how to clear away debris, shut down a pipe, and repair
it to restore product flow. If a pipeline in upstate New
York was blown up by terrorists in the middle of winter, thousands of people
would go without heat until the pipeline operators and constructors could repair
the lines to restore service. How long would it take to repair the line and
restore full service? The answer to
that question depends on the cooperative response of local fire fighters,
federal, state and local emergency management officials and the area's
pipeline workers. Currently, we are not aware of
coordinated response plans already in place in the majority of this country's
communities. If such an attack were
to take place, we would have difficulty responding because of the following
obstacles. Only pipeline workers
who are certified to work on that company's pipeline would be allowed to do
the repair work. (Workers on a
nearby line employed by another company would not be able to help because they
are not certified by that company to work on their lines, this presents the
problem of having enough workers immediately on the scene.)
Chances are, that replacement pipe would not be nearby and would take
time to locate and retrieve. Large
volumes of tools and operating equipment would have to be easily accessible and
a plan to redirect product flow would need to be in place.
These are just a few of the immediate concerns that would have to be
dealt with for an effective response.
The Building Trades believes
that emergency response teams need to be assembled and coordinated as soon as
possible. Building Trades men and
women and contractors working on pipelines today are ready and willing to work
with officials to enhance safety around pipelines and to create emergency
response plans. We believe that the
new Office of Homeland Security should be consulted and involved in helping
communities create emergency plans and response teams. To aid this effort, we
would like to see national standards put in place for workers that would give
them certification to work on different company lines during an emergency. The Building Trades strongly
urges Congress to pass a pipeline safety bill as soon as possible.
Our members fear that without better enforcement for testing pipeline
integrity and detection of leaks another explosion will certainly happen again. Emergency
response teams must also be coordinated immediately, around the country, to help
prevent terrorist attacks on pipelines and to create swift and effective
responses to such attacks. The Building Trades are
committed to making sure this country's pipeline infrastructure is operated
properly, safely and is protected from national security threats.
As pipeline legislation evolves in the House, we look forward to working
with the members of this committee to pass the best pipeline safety bill
possible. Thank You. The Building and
Construction Trades Department is committed to working with Members of Congress
to make sure that all pipelines are safe and secure.
To craft the best pipeline safety bill possible and in order to take
steps to protect our pipelines from new threats, the Building Trades would like
to see a pipeline safety bill pass the House that includes the following
provisions.
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