SALEM, Ohio — Enbridge Gas Ohio will pay $350,000 for violating state and federal natural gas pipeline safety regulations in a recent settlement agreement with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio.
Enbridge Gas Ohio, formerly known as Dominion Energy, has violated pipeline safety regulations several times since 2012, which previously resulted in three explosions.
The most recent set of violations pertains to the company’s pipeline operations across Ohio. This includes a failure to maintain proper construction, abide by necessary procedures and ensure proper qualifications for outside contractors.
Violations
PUCO staff conducted a routine inspection at several Enbridge Gas Ohio locations between February and March 2023 and found several issues, including 36 instances of exposed pipelines.
The company was also issued 11 Notice of Probable Noncompliance letters for a failure to monitor, clean and coat newly installed or exposed piping in communities like North Canton, Akron and Youngstown.
Enbridge Gas Ohio also failed to keep adequate records. In its case filing, PUCO states that “most Dominion project folders reviewed were disorganized and difficult to review and understand.”
PUCO found that the company does not keep records of abandoned pipelines, meaning it can’t ensure abandoned pipelines are disconnected from supplies of natural gas.
The agency determined problems in the company’s qualification program, as well, in which two individuals did not have proper qualifications to conduct certain tasks and one individual on two separate occasions was said to have performed a task but did not work that day.
PUCO notified Enbridge Gas Ohio of these violations in June 2023 and initially proposed a $500,000 fine.
The state agency issued several orders for the company to come into compliance, which included creating an improved system of record keeping, establishing effective oversight of contractors and implementing a plan to regularly schedule maintenance tasks.
A history of issues
Dominion Energy Ohio was acquired by Enbridge Inc. in March. Before then, the company had a history of violations since 2012, when a gas explosion and fire destroyed 11 homes and damaged another 150 in Fairport Harbor, Ohio, on Jan. 24, 2011.
State Fire Marshall and PUCO investigators determined the explosion was a result of two gas line pressure regulators that failed on a village street. This sent highly pressurized gas from delivery lines into homes.
The incident was the result of improperly designed regulators and the lack of an annual safety inspection, according to PUCO. Dominion Energy estimated a cost of $1.3 million in damages. PUCO later fined the company $500,000.
Dominion Energy was also fined two other times in 2019. The company had to pay $25,000 for a fire in Cleveland on Feb. 3, 2019, that was caused by a natural gas release from a pipeline.
Several months later, a pipeline ruptured in Pepper Pike, Ohio, on Nov. 15, 2019, that generated a gas line explosion. The incident was caused by a faulty weld which PUCO said was a result of poor construction, a failure to follow established procedures and a lack of oversight. The company was fined $1 million.
According to Matt Schilling, director of public affairs at PUCO, the latest violations were “part two” of unresolved issues carried over from the Pepper Pike explosion.
(Liz Partsch can be reached at epartsch@farmanddairy.com or 330-337-3419.)
