A Virginia natural gas pipeline operator says is revisiting its notification procedures after a routine maintenance incident prompted more than 100 emergency calls and dozens of evacuations last month.

While the incident was an isolated one, critics are calling it a cautionary tale as pipeline infrastructure proliferates. Further, there appear to be no specific state or federal guidelines for alerting the public and local governments before such work takes place.

As Dominion Resources vented its pipeline compressor station in Loudoun County on September 26, natural gas – mixed with an odorant for detection – spread as many as 10 miles east and north of the station throughout several residential and commercial developments. Normally, natural gas dissipates quickly into the air. But low cloud cover and humid conditions that day allowed the gas to spread, prompting the calls to emergency personnel, according to the county’s Fire Marshal, Linda Hale.

Dominion spokesman Frank Mack said – and county spokesman Glen Barbour confirmed – that notice was issued to the county in advance. But it is unclear whether the county shared the information with emergency personnel; and if it did, if any organizations beyond the county government, such as home owners’ associations and area businesses, received such a notice.

When Hale and her staff realized that the venting was not an emergency, Dominion and county staffers quickly wrote and issued a press release declaring such with Loudoun County officials.

Mack said the company, which apologized publicly for the incident, “never had an odorant event this significant as a result of venting” which is “a new factor that we are evaluating on how to best address going forward.”

In its apology, Dominion stated “at no time was the public in any danger from the venting operation.”

A reading of regulations administered by the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration at the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and calls to Virginia’s State Corporation Commission and other agencies indicated there are no specific rules requiring how public notifications are to be carried out in advance for venting and other maintenance procedures.

Title 49, Subtitle B, Chapter 1, Subchapter D, Part 192.616 in the Code of Federal Regulations cited by DOT specialist Tewabe Asebe states that pipeline operators are required to “develop and implement a written continuing public education program” about operations and address any “unique attributes and characteristics of the operator’s pipeline and facilities.” Some details are captured in recommended practices maintained by the American Petroleum Institute.

Mack said Dominion does have an “Integrity Management Program” in place, which he said is updated every two years. A partial summary of it is posted online here.

Dominion operates 7,800 miles of pipelines in Virginia, West Virginia and four other states. The Virginia Corporation Commission has safety jurisdiction for more than 16,000 miles on intrastate pipelines that transport natural gas and hazardous liquids through the state.

ABOUT JIM PIEROBON

Jim Pierobon is a former Chief Energy Writer at the Houston Chronicle and is the principal writer of The Energy Fix blog. He is a policy, marketing and social media strategist who has reported on, testified and consulted about solar energy, energy efficiency, smarter grids, energy cyber-security, fossil fuel price spikes and the rise and fall — and the rise again — of nuclear energy. He resides in Northern Virginia.

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