Public Meeting on Pipeline Operator Use of Inline Inspection Devices

The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration’s Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS ) is hosting a public meeting to discuss concerns it has with how operators are applying, interpreting, and evaluating data acquired from In-Line Inspection (ILI) devices, and OPS’s expectations about how operators should be effectively integrating this data with other information about the operator’s pipeline.

Subsequent to information acquired from integrity management program inspections and problems discovered during accident investigations, OPS has become concerned with performance issues associated with in-line inspection devices and how the data from these devices is being integrated with other information on the pipeline system. So that OPS can share these concerns in a public forum, OPS invites public participation in the meeting.

ILI technology has been used for approximately 20 years and has become the preferred method used by pipeline operators to ensure the integrity of their pipeline assets. However, as demonstrated by recent accidents on hazardous liquid and natural gas pipeline systems, some pipelines that were inspected by ILI devices continue to fail.

OPS will share its findings from these accidents and from recent Integrity Management Program (IMP) inspections. OPS needs to determine if the problem resides in the technology or in the secondary and tertiary stages of the ILI data evaluation—data characterization, validation, and mitigation. Specifically, is the problem data analysis, peer review of technicians involved in data review, lack of common standards for data review, detection thresholds, data validation, or the understanding of each tool’s strengths and weaknesses? A secondary objective of this meeting is for OPS to understand how the government, pipeline operators, standards organizations, and ILI vendors can help improve pipeline assessment using ILI technology. At this public meeting, OPS will highlight effective practices and use this medium to share these practices with the public.

For further information regarding the subject matter of this notice contact Joy Kadnar (PHMSA/OPS) at 202-366-0568 (joy.kadnar@dot.gov). For information regarding meeting logistics, please contact Veronica Garrison at (202) 366-4996 (veronica.garrison@dot.gov) or Janice Morgan at (202) 366-2392 (janice.morgan@dot.gov).

See the Federal Register Notice (FRN) regarding this meeting at http://ops.dot.gov/new/New_2005/ILIPublicMtgNoticeFinal.pdf