May 2014, Vol. 241, No. 5
Features
PHMSA Shifts Emphasis Toward Preventing Highest Risk Events
Pipeline integrity management is a hot topic. Pipeline failures, while statistically rare, can be catastrophic and have captured attention as never before. Risk tolerance for pipeline failures from existing pipelines is very low, and getting lower. Federal, state and local agencies are focusing on pipeline integrity, and numerous pipeline safety advocacy groups are well organized and well informed – demanding ever-higher levels of performance. The pipeline industry operates a lot of legacy pipe that was designed and built before the advent of federal pipeline safety regulations – some of those pipelines have few, perhaps no original records. Even modern pipes are s

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