[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 60 (Monday, March 29, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16338-16339]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-6903]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Research and Special Programs Administration

[Docket No. RSPA-04-17375; Notice 1]


Pipeline Safety: Request for Waiver; GulfTerra Field Services LLC

AGENCY: Research and Special Programs Administration (RSPA); U.S. 
Department of Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Notice of intent to consider waiver request.

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SUMMARY: GulfTerra Field Services LLC (GTFS), requested a waiver of 
compliance with the regulatory requirements at 49 CFR 
192.619(a)(2)(ii), 192.503, and 192.505 for certain offshore pipeline 
segments of the deepwater Phoenix Gas Gathering System (Phoenix). GTFS 
is requesting a waiver from the post-construction hydrotesting 
requirement for selected segments of the Phoenix system.

DATES: Persons interested in submitting written comments on the waiver 
request described in this Notice must do so by April 28, 2004. Late 
filed comments will be considered as far as practicable.

ADDRESSES: You may submit written comments by mailing or delivering an 
original and two copies to the Dockets Facility, U.S. Department of 
Transportation (DOT), Room PL-401, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, 
DC 20590-0001. The Dockets Facility is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., 
Monday through Friday, except on Federal holidays when the facility is 
closed. Alternatively, you may submit written comments to the docket 
electronically at the following web address: http://dms.dot.gov.
    All written comments should identify the docket and notice numbers 
stated in the heading of this notice. Anyone who wants confirmation of 
mailed comments must include a self-addressed stamped postcard. To file 
written comments electronically, after logging on to http://dms.dot.gov, click on ``Comment/Submissions.'' You can also read 
comments and other material in the docket. General information about 
the Federal pipeline safety program is available at http://ops.dot.gov.
    Anyone is able to search the electronic form of all comments 
received into any of our dockets by the name of the individual 
submitting the comment (or signing the comment, if submitted on behalf 
of an association, business, labor union, etc.). You may review DOT's 
complete privacy Act Statement in the Federal Register published on 
April 11, 2000 (Volume 65, Number 70; Pages 19477-78) or you may visit 
http://dms.dot.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: James Reynolds by telephone at 202-
366-2786, by fax at 202-366-4566, by mail at DOT, Research and Special 
Programs Administration (RSPA) Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS), 400 7th 
Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590, or by e-mail at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    GTFS, a wholly owned subsidiary of GulfTerra Energy Partners L.P., 
has entered into a gas gathering agreement with Kerr McGee Oil & Gas 
Corporation and the Devon Louisiana Corporation to design, build, own, 
and operate the Phoenix Gas Gathering System (Phoenix). GTFS will 
transport natural gas from the Red Hawk Spar, a deepwater production 
facility, to the Pioneer Platform, an existing downstream pipeline 
facility.

System Description

    The GTFS pipeline will extend 76 miles through Federal waters on 
the Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) and will cross one 
shipping channel, known as a ``fairway.'' The pipeline will include a 
subsea `wye' and a subsea `tee' for future interconnections to other 
pipelines. The planned maximum allowable operating pressure (MAOP) of 
this pipeline and the associated platform facilities is 2,875 pounds 
per square inch gauge (psig). The system will normally operate at 
pressures up to 2,500 psig.
    The Phoenix system will consist of the following primary 
components, in order of occurrence from deep to shallow water:
    1. A steel catenary riser (SCR) consisting of 16-inch outside 
diameter (O.D.) x 1.00-inch wall thickness (w.t.), API 5L X65 seamless 
pipe, on the Red Hawk Spar at a depth of 5,300 feet. The SCR will be 
coated with triple-layer polypropylene at the touchdown point and 14 to 
16 mils of thin film fusion bonded epoxy (FBE) and 2 to 3 mils of rough 
coat FBE through the midsection. There will be 23 mils of thin film FBE 
in the vortex induced vibration (VIV) suppression strake section, and a 
1-inch thick sleeve of Splashtron coating in the pull-tube;
    2. A 76-mile pipeline from the Red Hawk platform to the Vermilion 
riser (VR). Beginning at the deepwater end, approximately 40 miles of 
pipe will be 18-inch O.D. x 0.791-inch w.t., API 5L X65 double 
submerged arch weld (DSAW) pipe, followed by approximately 36 miles of 
18-inch O.D. x 750-inch w.t., API 5L DSAW pipe. All joints will be 
coated with 14 to 16 mils of thin film FBE with an additional 2 to 3 
mils of FBE rough coating;
    3. An 18-inch diverless, piggable `wye' assembly downstream of the 
Red Hawk Spar in Garden Banks to accommodate future connection(s) to 
the pipeline;
    4. An 18-inch O.D. x 16-inch diverless `tee' assembly in Garden 
Banks to accommodate future connection(s) to the pipeline; and
    5. Pipeline support facilities located on the VR 397 ``A'' 
platform, including a pig receiver and related piping and safety 
controls. The platform riser will be 18-inch O.D. x 0.875-inch w.t., 
API 5L X60 DSAW pipe coated with 14 to 16 mils of thin film FBE. In the 
wave (splash zone) area, the riser pipe will be

[[Page 16339]]

protected with a \1/2\-inch thick sleeve of Splashtron coating.

Need for Hydrotest

    GTFS contends it is unnecessary to hydrostatically test this 
pipeline. GTFS asserts that a hydrostatic test will not demonstrate the 
strength and integrity of the pipeline because the pipeline is designed 
of heavier wall pipe and it will never experience the wall stress 
intended to be produced by a hydrotest. The heavier wall pipe is used 
to prevent the collapse of the pipeline in the face of the huge 
external pressures exerted on it at a water depth of 5,300 feet.

Proposed Alternative Risk Control Activities

    GTFS proposes the following alternative risk control activities to 
provide a margin of safety and environmental protection comparable to 
that required by the pressure-test regulations:
    1. Utilize thick wall, high strength, and high quality DSAW pipe;
    2. Perform a pipe mill hydrotest on each length of fabricated pipe 
equivalent to 95% specified minimum yield strength (SMYS) to detect 
defects in the seam weld and prevent the deployment of defective pipe 
joints;
    3. Perform extensive inspection and quality control during the line 
pipe manufacture, transport, fabrication, and installation to prevent 
pipe damage;
    4. Utilize Automated Ultrasonic Inspection (AUT) for inspection of 
offshore welds to improve defect detection in the girth weld and to 
improve the weld quality during the pipeline and SCR fabrication;
    5. Subject all buckle arrestors to complete radiographic and 
magnetic particle inspection, including radiographic inspection of all 
buckle arrestor to line pipe welds;
    6. Perform complete radiographic inspection and hydrotesting of all 
welds connecting subsea valves and assemblies to the pipeline;
    7. Perform a leak test of the pipeline's subsea tie-in flange that 
connects to the VR 397 riser flange; and
    8. Perform factory acceptance hydrotests of all subsea `wye', 
`tee', ball valve, and check valve assemblies.

Intent To Consider Waiver

    Although performing an in situ hydrotest on this pipeline would 
comply with the plain language of the regulation, GTFS believes the 
intent of the regulations cannot be met by hydrostatic testing. Due to 
the heavier wall thickness requirements and external hydrostatic 
pressures in deep water, the traditional pipeline hydrostatic test 
generates stresses as a percentage of SMYS that are well below those 
typically experienced in a pipeline test. GTFS asserts that the 
hydrostatic test cannot demonstrate the strength or integrity of the 
system.
    Therefore, RSPA/OPS will consider whether a hydrotest of this 
pipeline is necessary and whether the alternative risk control 
activities proposed by GTFS will yield an equivalent or greater degree 
of safety. This Notice is RSPA/OPS' only request for public comment 
before making its final decision in this matter. After considering any 
comments, RSPA/OPS will make a final determination to grant or deny the 
waiver as proposed or with modifications and conditions. If the waiver 
is granted and RSPA /OPS subsequently determines that the effect of the 
waiver is inconsistent with pipeline safety, RSPA/OPS may revoke the 
waiver at its sole discretion.

    Issued in Washington, DC on March 23, 2004.
Stacey L. Gerard,
Associate Administrator for Pipeline Safety.
[FR Doc. 04-6903 Filed 3-26-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-60-P