PHMSA Announcement: Today, PHMSA issued a corrective action order that requires Texas Eastern Transmission, LP, a subsidiary of Spectra Energy Corp., to take necessary corrective action to protect the public, property, and the environment from potential hazards associated with the recent gas transmission pipeline failure on the operator’s Penn Jersey System.  The pipeline that failed and three nearby pipelines are currently shut down under PHMSA’s authority.  The order requires the operator to take several immediate actions to determine the root cause of the incident and to ensure the safety of three nearby lines that could have been affected by the failure before they can be restarted.   

PHMSA is investigating the cause of the failure, any factors that contributed to the severity of the incident, and the operator’s adherence to Federal pipeline safety standards.  As our investigation continues, the order can be amended to direct the operator to take additional actions to address the root cause of this incident, as well as any other factors that may have contributed to the pipeline failure.  If PHMSA determines the operator has violated any Federal pipeline standards, the agency can issue an enforcement action, levy civil penalties, or refer the case for criminal investigation.

Here is a link to the operator’s information page on PHMSA's website: http://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/comm/reports/enforce/Actions_opid_19235.html. The report includes basic system, mileage, incident, inspection, and enforcement information covering the past five years.