Jennifer McClellan: Information From PHMSA About Pipelines Should Be Readily Available To Public

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During a House Energy Committee hearing before the Congressional Recess, Rep. Jennifer McClellan (D-VA) asked Executive Director of the Pipeline Safety Trust Bill Caram about information available to the public concerning pipelines and pipeline construction.

Transcript

00:00And the chair now recognizes the gentlelady from Virginia's 4th District for five minutes for questions.

00:06Thank you, Chairman Latta and Ranking Member Castor, for holding this very important hearing.

00:13In recent years, we've seen several pipeline incidents in Virginia that underscore the importance of the pipeline safety program.

00:21Communities across the Commonwealth have long raised concerns about the Mountain Valley Pipeline,

00:26from construction activities contaminating drinking water to the risk of corroded pipes failing.

00:32These fears were sustained when, in 2024, a section of the pipeline failed during hydrotesting,

00:38a process that uses pressurized water to check pipe integrity.

00:43And in the summer of 2023, a TC Energy natural gas pipeline in Shenandoah Valley exploded, likely due to cracking in the pipe.

00:53In each of these cases, PHMSA has had critical responsibilities conducting testing during construction,

01:00investigating pipeline failures, and imposing corrective action.

01:04As this committee takes on reauthorization of the pipeline safety program,

01:08we must ensure that PHMSA has the personnel and resources it needs to carry out its vital responsibilities

01:14and keep our communities safe.

01:17So I'm glad that Ranking Member Castor asked questions on that point.

01:21The Mountain Valley Pipeline cuts through the Jefferson National Forest and crosses hundreds of waterways and wetlands.

01:29And since the start of the project, there have been around 1,500 reported pollution incidents

01:36impacting rivers, streams, and drinking water supply.

01:40During construction and testing of the Mountain Valley Pipeline,

01:43we heard that farmers and landowners were seeking more communication and engagement from PHMSA

01:49around the risks to their land and water resources,

01:52which I think is just as important a safety concern that we should all be worried about.

01:58So, Mr. Karam, I appreciate the Pipeline Safety Trust's work to make pipeline safety information

02:04more readily available and accessible to the public.

02:08And in addition to addressing the reckless workforce costs that we have seen,

02:12how would you recommend that PHMSA improve its efforts to prevent pollution incidents

02:17and better engage community members?

02:20Thank you for the question.

02:25I think it comes back to strong regulations and effective enforcement

02:31and pipeline safety management systems in order to limit these incidents.

02:37And really, all three need to work together.

02:41There's lots of room for improvement on all three.

02:44And I hope the committee is looking to take that on.

02:50As far as community engagement, you know, the Pipeline Safety Trust has really believed

02:56that an office of public engagement at PHMSA would be a big improvement.

03:02Public engagement hasn't been the strength of the agency historically,

03:06but they have made improvements in recent years.

03:11But I hate to see how going from 13 employees down to three is going to backpedal that progress

03:18that they've made.

03:19I agree with that.

03:20Community members and environmental groups have long raised concerns about potential corrosion

03:24issues in the Mountain Valley Pipeline in particular, which has been laying in fields exposed

03:30to the elements for years before all permitted approvals were forced through in the 2023 debt ceiling bill.

03:37Corrosion is also a growing issue for pipelines in coastal areas,

03:41where rising sea levels and saltwater intrusion exacerbated by climate change are speeding up pipe degradation.

03:48So, Mr. Karam, as we look at reauthorizing this Pipeline Safety Program,

03:53what additional authorities or resources does PHMSA need to better address corrosion control

03:59to ensure pipeline safety?

04:01So, there's two main defenses against corrosion.

04:05One is coating.

04:07That's really the first line of defense.

04:10And when coating fails, the second line of defense is cathodic protection.

04:14PHMSA has made some improvements to the cathodic protection on natural gas transmission pipelines

04:20recently.

04:21And we look forward to seeing how those are impacted, how those impact failures and effects

04:28of corrosion.

04:28But there aren't specific regulations on the condition of coating.

04:35They're pretty vague, and they leave a lot up to the operator's judgment.

04:40The consent order we saw with Mountain Valley Pipeline put some prescriptions on what coating,

04:47test coating needs to pass and things like that.

04:49And those would make a great addition to the regulations for all pipelines.

04:54And I don't have time for you to answer my last question, but for the record,

04:58because we also need to worry about cybersecurity, and I would be curious, Mr. Karam,

05:04to know if you think that PHMSA and DHS, CISA in particular, are still well-equipped to monitor

05:11and combat growing cyber threats to pipelines.

05:15And if you could submit that for the record, I'd appreciate it.

05:19The general lady's time has expired.

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