II. CRITICAL COMMUNICATION
Prior to the hurricanes, PHMSA established 24-7 contacts with pipeline operators. In
addition, we and activated and staffed our position at the Department’s Crisis
Management Center. Secretary Mineta and PHMSA examined the potential impact of a
fuel shortage in Louisiana, Mississippi, and the Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic States, as
did our state partners. PHMSA anticipated effects on pipeline operations and pre-
positioned pipeline safety inspectors in the Gulf to make any needed safety calls and
provide assistance to operators and state agencies. We advised all pipeline operators in
the affected region to take precautions to secure their systems.
Immediately after landfall, we sent staff to the areas impacted by the hurricanes where we
surveyed damage and monitored pipeline service restoration activities throughout
Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Texas. We deployed inspectors to all sites in which
pipelines were being operated manually. PHMSA immediately coordinated obtaining
fuel for relief operations in Louisiana and Mississippi and assessed where future supplies
would soon become critical beyond the affected areas.
My deputy administrator was assigned as one of Secretary Mineta’s personal
representatives to serve DOT support duties at the federal Joint Field Office in Jackson,
MS, and later in Austin, TX. While there the Department and PHMSA were able to
provide “hands-on” support to federal and state operational commands to effectively
direct transportation relief efforts for disaster locations where they were most needed.
After assuring the safety of our own employees, our first priority was assisting pipeline
operators in restoring the flow of vital products in order to ensure an adequate supply of
energy to power relief efforts. Through our contacts with operators and their customers,
we forecasted and targeted threatened fuel shortages. PHMSA predicted fuel shortages
would occur at numerous locations throughout the southeast within 48 hours of Katrina’s
landfall without the restoration of power. To mitigate the potential crisis, PHMSA
coordinated with our DOT counterparts in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety and Federal
Highway Administrations. We obtained police escorts and waivers for hours of service
and weight restrictions to guarantee the uninterrupted and safe arrival of 19 generators
and other equipment to hurricane stricken areas. The equipment was shipped from 12
locations around the US, including as far away as Tacoma, WA and was used to provide
temporary power relief for rural pumping stations and truck loading facilities impacted by
the storm.
PHMSA coordinated with the Federal Aviation Administration to allow emergency
flyovers of pipeline facilities and right-of-ways through protected airspace to conduct
damage assessments of vital infrastructure.
We issued Emergency Hazardous Materials Exemptions in the states of Mississippi,
Louisiana, Alabama, and Florida to transport hazardous materials under the authority of
state, local, and federal officials within restrictions stipulated by officials in each of the
affected areas. These emergency exemptions authorized the temporary transportation of
hazardous materials such as propane for energy usage in generators and temporary
housing.
Getting full power restored to pumping stations was crucial to avoiding widespread
gasoline, diesel and jet-fuel shortages. Once the pipelines were operating at full capacity,
our next task was filling the gaps in supply that the damaged refineries could not fill.
To help prioritize power restoration to fuel supply, we coordinated with the Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission and the Department of Energy to facilitate the
restoration of power to electrical grids for fuel transmission and distribution sites in
Louisiana and Mississippi. In one case, this meant acquiring temporary power from a
neighboring power company that could provide relief faster than a smaller power
cooperative. In another case, main electrical transmission lines had to be rebuilt
overnight. We also coordinated our assessment efforts with the Department of Interior to
analyze and restore production to offshore platforms. I would like to publicly
acknowledge each of the federal agencies involved for their support. I would also like to
publicly acknowledge non-stop efforts of CenterPoint Energy, Southern Company, and
Entergy Corporation and their employees.
When refinery supplies in storage were exhausted, we provided assistance in rerouting
fuel to make better use of capacity that would have gone unused due to disruption of
Louisiana refineries. We facilitated efforts through the Department of Energy and the
Port Authorities of Lake Charles, LA; Pascagoula, MS; Mobile, AL; and Richmond, VA
to allow marine vessels to unload refined products into a major pipeline serving the South
and Mid-Atlantic States.
Without this prompt action, the country could have experienced severe shortages of
gasoline, diesel and jet fuel throughout the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic States. Instead,
we assisted in augmenting and restoring power supplies allowing pipeline companies to
operate at 50 percent capacity within three days of identifying the problem and to full
operating capacity within a week of each storm’s landfall.
We worked with the Common Ground Alliance and our underground utility damage
prevention partners to ensure recovery operations were safe and excavation damage to
existing utilities was minimal.
We averted potential fuel shortages following the hurricanes. The fast action and
teamwork between the Department’s of Transportation, Energy and Interior; Louisiana,
Mississippi, and Texas state and local governments; and PHMSA pipeline industry
partners led to restarting critical energy facilities by providing power for diesel generators
at local hospitals, supporting emergency relief operations and providing critical gasoline
supplies for the Federal Emergency Management Agency and local authorities.
![[Header] PHMSA - U.S. Department of Transportation - Pipeline and Hazardous materials Safety Adminis](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090510111444im_/http://www.phmsa.dot.gov/staticfiles/PHMSA/SiteHeaders/Images/PHMSASiteHeader.gif)
