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PHMSA 16-06
Wednesday, August 12, 2006
Contact: James Wiggins/Joe Delcambre
202-366-4831

PHMSA Assistant Administrator/Chief Safety Officer Wins NASFM Award

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) Assistant Administrator/Chief Safety Officer Stacey Gerard was presented the National Association of State Fire Marshals’ (NASFM) second annual Norman Y. Mineta Excellence in Transportation Safety Award during the NASFM annual conference banquet August 12 in Washington, DC.

In September 2002, PHMSA and the NASFM created a Partnership for Excellence in Pipeline Safety through a Cooperative Agreement focused on the ambitious goal of zero pipeline incidents. The driving force at PHMSA in making the Partnership a reality was Stacey Gerard. Her outstanding encouragement and leadership in the Partnership earned her the honor of this year’s NASFM award.

Since its inception, the Partnership has completed several major pipeline safety projects. These projects include the Pipeline Emergencies Training Program, a training package that helps emergency responders understand pipeline operations, products transmitted, and tactical response guidelines to deal with accidents; the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Safety Assessment, a NASFM published LNG educational document and video for use by fire service and emergency planners at the local level; and the Hydrogen Executive Leadership Panel, an initiative that positions NASFM as the lead agency in developing a safety framework for the use and transportation of hydrogen as a fuel.

“Making the Partnership for Excellence in Pipeline Safety an effective champion of pipeline safety advances all of our programs and is a success model that needs to be duplicated with other industry stakeholders,” said PHMSA Administrator Thomas Barrett. “Congratulations to Stacey on a job well done.”

The Mineta Award is given annually by the NASFM to an individual or team that made a significant and lasting contribution to the safety of people, products and materials in transit. The NASFM is especially interested in recognizing the achievements of individuals and teams that have encouraged transportation safety standards above what is required, and have worked to ensure the safety of emergency responders.

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