PHMSA Advisory – Preventing Pipeline Hurricane Damage

Today the DOT’s Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration (PHMSA) published an advisory in the Federal Register (80 FR 36042-36044) concerning “Potential for Damage to Pipeline Facilities Caused by the Passage of Hurricanes”. The purpose of this advisory bulletin is to remind owners and operators of gas and hazardous liquid pipelines, particularly those with facilities located in offshore and inland areas, about the serious safety-related issues that can result from the passage of hurricanes. 

The actual advisory (ADB-2015-02) is only six paragraphs long so it does not provide any real detailed guidance to pipeline owners and operators; much less information than was provided in their April advisory on river flooding (ADB-2015-01) for example. It does, however, provide a brief listing of general principles that owners and operators should consider in developing their plan for protecting their pipelines from potential damage in the event of the passage of a hurricane.

With the second named storm of the Atlantic Hurricane Season already passed, this advisory is probably just a little late.

First Tropical Storm of the 2015 Atlantic Hurricane Season

This evening the National Hurricane Center issued the first public advisory for the 2015 Atlantic Hurricane Season 23 days before the season officially beings on June 1^st. Currently listed as Subtropical Storm Ana. As currently forecast by the NHC the storm is expected to make landfall on the South Carolina Coast Sunday evening before making its way up the East Coast with it expected to be off the tip of Long Island Tuesday evening.

It is a little bit late to begin making plans for protecting chemical facilities from hurricanes (this storm is not forecast to become more than a moderate tropical storm), but I will remind facility owners that flooding, storm surge and high winds are the most common causes of facility damage and flooding predominates the further you are from the coast.

This is forecast to be a relatively mild hurricane season with just 7 named storms, 3 hurricanes and 1 major hurricane predicted for this season. If we are just a little bit lucky we will see another season with no hurricanes landing on the US coast.