Kinder Morgan
Public | |
Traded as |
NYSE: KMI S&P 500 Component |
Industry | Oil and gas |
Founded | 1997 |
Founder | Richard Kinder, William V. Morgan |
Headquarters | Houston, Texas, U.S. |
Area served | USA and Canada |
Key people |
Richard Kinder (Executive Chairman) |
Services |
Pipeline transport Oil storage |
Number of employees | ~12,000 (2016) |
Website |
www |
Kinder Morgan is a company headquartered in downtown Houston, Texas.[1] It is the largest energy infrastructure company in North America.[2]
Kinder Morgan owns an interest in or operates approximately 84,000 miles of pipelines and owns about 180 terminals.[3] Their pipelines transport natural gas, refined petroleum products, crude oil, carbon dioxide and more. They also store or handle a variety of products and materials at their terminals such as gasoline, jet fuel, ethanol, coal, petroleum coke and steel.[3]
The company has approximately 69,000 miles of natural gas pipelines[4] and moves about 38 percent of the natural gas consumed in the United States.[5] Kinder Morgan is also the largest independent terminal operator and the largest independent transporter of petroleum products in North America.[6] The company's CO2 division provides carbon dioxide (CO2) for enhanced oil recovery projects in North America.[7]
In addition to the company's Houston, Texas headquarters, the company also has large offices in Birmingham, Alabama and Colorado Springs, Colorado.
CEO
Steven J. Kean has been the President at Kinder Morgan, Inc., since March 31, 2013 and has been its Chief Executive Officer since June 1, 2015. Kean served as Chief Operating Officer of Kinder Morgan, Inc. since February 2011. Kean has been President of El Paso Pipeline GP Company, L.L.C., the general Partner of El Paso Pipeline Partners, L.P. since March 31, 2013 and has been its Chief Operating Officer since May 25, 2012.[8][9]
History
Kinder Morgan was founded in 1997 when a group of investors acquired the general partner of a small, publicly traded pipeline limited partnership (Enron Liquids Pipeline, L.P., later renamed Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, L.P.).[2]
In 1999, Kinder Morgan conducted a reverse merger with KN Energy, a utility and pipeline company.[10] The utility operations were sold to GE Energy Financial Services and Alinda Investments in 2007.[11]
Leveraged buyout
On August 28, 2006, Kinder Morgan announced that it would be taken private in a management-led leveraged buyout totaling approximately $22 billion. Outside participants in the transaction include Fayez Sarofim, Goldman Sachs Capital Partners and Highstar Capital (then owned by American International Group).[12]
On September 8, 2010, a notice of a class action settlement was filed in the District Court of Shawnee County Kansas. The proposed settlement is to resolve claims of breach of fiduciary duty owed to Kinder Morgan shareholders by persons involved with the buyout. The settlement payment is to be $200 million. A hearing on the settlement was scheduled for November 12, 2010.[13]
In October 2011, Kinder Morgan Inc. agreed to buy El Paso Corp. (EP) for $21.1 billion and gave the combined company 67,000 miles (107,000 kilometers) of gas lines, eclipsing Enterprise Products Partners LP (EPD) as the biggest U.S. pipeline operator. The transaction paid with shares of Kinder Morgan, Kinder Morgan warrants, and all of cash portion $11.5 billion through Barclays Plc (BARC) borrowing.[14]
American Petroleum Tankers
On December 23, 2013, Kinder Morgan announced that, through its Kinder Morgan Energy partner subsidiary (ticker KMP on NYSE), it would acquire the US oil tanker operator American Petroleum Tankers (APT) and its affiliated company SCT (State Class Tankers) from the US private equity investment firms Blackstone Group and Cerberus Capital management. APT operates a fleet of five US flagged MR 50,000 tons - 330,000 barrels - oil tankers and has four other similar tankers on order from the General Dynamics shipbuilding company NASSCO in California. This acquisition appears to be the first case whereby a pipeline operator will also be able to offer marine transportation.[15]
This acquisition would facilitate the export of U.S. natural resources to overseas markets, and Kinder Morgan had lined up "some LNG export customers" by July 2014.[16]
Subsequent Events
On August 10, 2014, Kinder announced it was moving to full ownership of its partially owned subsidiaries Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, Kinder Morgan Management, and El Paso Pipeline Partners in a deal worth $71 billion.[17]
Prior to November 26, 2014, the Kinder Morgan group publicly traded companies included Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE: KMI), Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, L.P. (NYSE: KMP), Kinder Morgan Management, LLC (NYSE: KMR) and El Paso Pipeline Partners, L.P. (NYSE: EPB); a merger transaction combined all under Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE: KMI), on November 26, 2014.[18]
In addition to its role in the energy transportation and storage industry, Kinder Morgan operates in two major oil fields in Texas: the Yates Oil Field and the SACROC Unit. Kinder Morgan produces approximately 55,000 barrels per day between the two areas, and claims to be the second-largest oil producer in Texas.[19]
Companies
Key to Abbreviations:
- GG Gas Gathering
- GT Gas Transmission
- HL Hazardous Liquids
This list may not be up to date due to turnover in holdings:
- Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, SFPP (Santa Fe Pacific Pipelines), Mission Valley, California
- Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, L.P., Houston, Texas
- Cypress Gas Pipeline (HL), North System, Heartland Partnership, and Central Basin Pipeline (1997)
- Plantation Pipeline (2000)(HL)
- Calnev Pipeline (2001) (HL)
- Central Florida Pipeline (2001)(HL)
- Tejas Gas LLP (2002) (GT,GG)
- Midcontinent Express Pipeline (KM owned 50% by 2007) (GT)
- Fayetteville Express Pipeline LLC (co-owned with Energy Transfer Partners 2008) (GT)
- Rockies Express Pipeline (REX) purchased 2009 (GT). km owned it and Trailblazer Pipeline until November 2012; sold Trailblazer & 50% of REX to Tallgrass Energy.
- Kinder Morgan Altamont LLC (GG)
- Kinder Morgan Cochin LLC (HL)
- Kinder Morgan CO2 Company, Houston, Texas (HL)
- Kinder Morgan Management, LLC, Houston, Texas
- Kinder Morgan, Inc., Houston, Texas
- Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America (co-owned with Myria Holdings by 2007) (GT)
- Kinder Morgan Terminals, Houston, Texas (HL)
- Kinder Morgan Power Company, Lakewood, Colorado
- Kinder Morgan Louisiana Pipeline LLC (KMLP), Crowley, Louisiana (GT)
- Kinder Morgan North Texas Pipeline (GT)
- Kinder Morgan Wink Pipeline (HL)
El Paso Corporation was purchased in 2012 with subsidiaries:
- Tennessee Gas Pipeline (GT) (2012)
- Southern Natural Gas Company (GT) (2012)
- Colorado Interstate Gas Co (HL & GT) (2012)
- Ruby Pipeline (2012)
- Wyoming Interstate Co (2012)
- El Paso Natural Gas Co (GT) (2012)
- Mojave Pipeline Co (GT) (2012)
- Copano Energy (purchased 2013)
- Florida Gas Transmission Company, LLC (50% by 2014) (GT)
Pipelines
Kinder Morgan, through a subsidiary, is the general partner and owner of many of the interests in Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, a publicly traded pipeline and terminal limited partnership. Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, L.P. is a leading pipeline transportation and energy storage company in North America. Kinder Morgan owns or operates approximately 82,000 miles of pipelines transporting primarily natural gas, crude oil, and petroleum products.
Trans Mountain Oil Pipeline
In Canada, Kinder Morgan operates the Trans Mountain oil pipeline which links Alberta with Vancouver, BC, as well as the Cochin natural gas pipeline between Western Canada and the US Midwest.
In 2013, Kinder Morgan filed its application to the Canadian National Energy Board (NEB) for building a second pipeline roughly parallel to the existing Trans Mountain, for transporting diluted bitumen between Edmonton, Alberta and Burnaby, east of Vancouver, BC. The new pipeline would nearly triple the transportation capacity from 300,000 to 850,000 barrels per day, for an estimated investment of $5.4 billion. This expansion would enable the export of larger volumes of Alberta's bituminous sands oil to the US and to Asian countries.[20]
However, a study by Simon Fraser University claims that Kinder Morgan has overestimated the economic benefits of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.[21]
Kinder Morgan had the support of several large petroleum industry customers for this expansion, (BP Canada Energy Trading Co., Canadian Natural Resources, Canadian Oil Sands Ltd., Cenovus Energy Inc., Devon Canada Corp., Husky Energy Marketing Inc., Imperial Oil Ltd., Nexen Marketing Inc., Statoil Canada Ltd., Suncor Energy Marketing Inc., Suncor Energy Products Partnership, Tesoro Refining & Marketing Co. and Total E&P Canada Ltd).
This project is controversial, as are similar pipeline projects Northern Gateway from Alberta to Kitimat, BC, Keystone XL to the US south and Line 9 (Enbridge's project, from Sarnia to Montreal), all of which expand the transportation capacity of heavy crude to refineries or loading ports for export to the US or overseas.
Pipeline accidents or spills are a concern. The National Response Center, the sole federal point of contact for reporting oil and chemical spills in the U.S. and its territorial waters, has found Kinder Morgan responsible for more than 1,800 violations since it was incorporated in 1997; nearly 500 were pipeline incidents.[22]
Since purchasing the Trans Mountain pipeline in 2005, Kinder Morgan has been responsible for four major spills:
- Abbotsford 2005: A ruptured pipeline dumped 210,000 litres of crude oil. In a 2007 report from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, Kinder Morgan was criticized for a delay in response time because the line between the Sumas tank farm and the Sumas pump station was not part of a leak detection system.
- Burnaby 2007: A road crew ruptured a pipeline, causing 250,000 litres of crude oil to flow into Burrard Inlet Bay via the Burnaby storm sewer system. Eleven houses were sprayed with oil and about 250 residents evacuated. Cleanup took more than a year. The Transportation Safety Board ruled the accident was the fault of Kinder Morgan as it was responsible for ensuring the excavation crew knew the pipeline’s exact location before they started digging.
- Burnaby 2009: 200,000 litres seeped from a storage tank into a surrounding containment bay at the Burnaby Mountain tank farm.
- Sumas 2012: 110,000 litres of oil leaked from a Sumas Mountain holding tank, caused by freezing water placing pressure on a gasket. The National Energy Board’s investigation found that “the leak was detected later than it should have been,” the company’s management of procedures was “inadequate” and that the operator “failed to recognize the leak situation.” It took three alarms and a shift change before someone was sent out to investigate.[22]
The expansion project faced strong opposition from civic governments, First Nations, environmentally concerned citizens, and others. Protests in November 2014 focused on Kinder Morgan's surveying work.
Members of the Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations of British Columbia, Canada paddled canoes on the waters of Burrard Inlet to the Kinder Morgan Burnaby Terminal for a ceremony to protest the expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline, in North Vancouver, B.C., on September 1, 2012. Tsleil-Waututh leaders hoped to shut down the project altogether.[23]
The existing and proposed pipelines ship diluted bitumen through the Strait of Juan de Fuca, an extremely sensitive environmental region. The tankers have to pass through a very narrow channel of shallow water to reach the open sea, making the project controversial and strongly opposed by some Canadians and Americans, for reasons similar to the opposition to Keystone XL, Line 9, and Northern Gateway and offshore deep ocean oil drilling.
In 2016, B.C. said that it did not support Trans Mountain, partly because Kinder Morgan has not provided enough information about its proposed spill prevention program.[24]
Northeast Development Natural Gas Pipeline
This high-pressure 30-inch gas transmission pipeline, proposed in 2014, was slated to pass from Wright, New York to Dracut, Massachusetts, to “help alleviate New England’s uniquely high natural gas and electricity costs caused by severely limited natural gas transportation capacity currently serving the region.”
However, the project faced faced stiff opposition from a coalition of anti-fracking activists, pipeline safety advocates who raised questions about the proximity of a high-pressure pipeline to their homes, sustainable-energy advocates, property owners who objected to having land seized by eminent domain, and environmentalists hoping to preserve wetlands and old-growth forests. Legislators and elected officials responded to voters' concerns.[25]
On April 21, 2016, Kinder Morgan suspended its effort to build the 412-mile NED pipeline, citing economic difficulties and lack of "distribution commitments" or customers for the gas.[26]
Palmetto Pipeline
Likewise, Kinder Morgan's proposed Palmetto Pipeline, designed to go from the Gulf Coast to the Southeast markets, was nixed. Its path would have taken it through 201 miles of eastern and coastal Georgia, and drew opposition from local residents and environmental groups. The company suspended work on the project after the Georgia state legislature passed a temporary moratorium on the use of eminent domain for pipeline construction, and commissioned a study to review the project.[27] The company filed an appeal.[28]
Connecticut Expansion Project
Kinder Morgan proposed a 13-mile long 36-inch diameter high-pressure natural gas storage loop which would include a 4-mile pipeline spur through Sandisfield, Massachusetts, crossing the Otis State Forest and using water from Spectacle Pond. The company invoked the U.S. Natural Gas Act to have the needed land condemned so they could seize it by eminent domain.[29] However, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts challenged Kinder Morgan in court, arguing that the state constitution's Article 97, which protects designated conservation land, forbids construction of a pipeline through protected lands.[30]
Pipeline safety
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Safety Standards
The U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the federal agency empowered to approve or reject a proposed pipeline project, allows high-pressure 30-42" diameter interstate natural gas pipelines to be built less than fifty feet away from occupied dwellings.[31]
Thus a FERC-approved pipeline could be built well within the blast radius of 800-1100 feet for pipelines of those diameters.[32]
Kinder Morgan Safety Violations
In 2009, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) cited Kinder Morgan for violating safety standards regarding the distance between a natural gas pipeline and a "high consequence area" such as a school or hospital; the pipeline was too close for safe operation in case of a leak.[33]
In 2011, PHMSA cited Kinder Morgan for these safety violations:
- failing to maintain update maps showing pipeline locations,
- failing to test pipeline safety devices,
- failing to maintain proper firefighting equipment,
- failing to inspect its pipelines as required,
- failing to adequately monitor pipes’ corrosion levels.[34]
Also in 2011, the U.S. Department of Transportation cited Kinder Morgan for violations including the company's failure to have and follow written startup and shutdown procedures, and failing to have or use other measures to detect abnormal operating conditions, and proposed a fine of $425,000.[35]
In 2013, the headline "Wall Street Worries About Kinder Morgan’s Safety Record: BC pipeline operator slashes and defers maintenance spending" was a concern to anyone who lived or worked near a Kinder Morgan pipeline.[36]
The Wall Street Journal asked, "Is Kinder Morgan Scrimping on its Pipelines?" after an investment analyst charged the company with starving its pipelines of routine maintenance spending in order to return more cash to investors.[37] Deferred maintenance may account for the high number of Kinder Morgan pipeline accidents in the last decade.
PHMSA's incident reports for Kinder Morgan's onshore gas transmission pipelines show that faulty infrastructure causes 45% of the significant leaks. Failure of the pipe, cracked welds, and faulty pipeline equipment together account for 28.3% of pipeline leaks, and corrosion of the pipe causes 16.8%.[38]
Accidents
In Texas from 2003 to 2014, Kinder Morgan experienced 36 "significant incidents" resulting in fatalities or hospitalization, fires, explosions, or spills.[39]
Throughout the U.S. since 2003, Kinder Morgan and its subsidiaries' pipelines (of all kinds) have been responsible for more than 400 spills, evacuations, explosions, fires, and fatalities in 24 states, incurring more than 110 federal enforcement actions. Kinder Morgan's natural gas transmission pipeline accidents caused more than $224 million in property damage.[40]
This list below is not complete; see the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration operator data at http://primis.phmsa.dot.gov for more incidents.
Some notable examples (including spills in Canada):
- 2003
In August 2003, in Caddo County, Oklahoma, a Kinder Morgan Natural Gas Pipeline of America failed in a rural farming area about just east of the town of Stecker. A 26" diameter pipe exploded, throwing a 54-foot long section of pipe 30 feet from the ditch. The cause was environmental cracking along the length of the failed section parallel to the longitudinal weld seam.[41]
- 2004
On April 27, 2004, an underground Kinder Morgan 14" pipeline ruptured at Suisun Marsh in Solano County, California, spilling over 120,000 gallons of diesel fuel directly into the marsh. The cause was pipe corrosion. The company failed to notify authorities about the spill for 18 hours, another safety violation for which it was later cited. Kinder Morgan was fined $5.3 million for the spill, and agreed to enhance spill prevention, response and reporting practices. The company had 44 spills in 31 months, indicating "widespread failure to adequately detect and address the effects of outside force damage and corrosion," according to an order issued in August 2005 by the U.S. Department of Transportation's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA).[42][43]
On November 9, 2004, a Kinder Morgan pipeline in Walnut Creek, California was struck by a backhoe, causing a gasoline spill that ignited in an explosive fireball, incinerating five workers and severely injuring four others. CalOSHA (California Occupational Safety and Health Administration) cited Kinder Morgan for failure to accurately mark and map the pipeline location.[44] In 2005, the California Fire Marshal fined Kinder Morgan $500,000 for its role in the "completely preventable" tragedy. Kinder Morgan agreed to upgrade pipeline inspection methods and improve corrosion control.[45] In 2007, the Kinder Morgan subsidiary was found guilty of 6 felonies in the case and was fined $15 million. The company was assessed another $69 million in civil penalties.[46]
- 2005
A Kinder Morgan Energy Partners petroleum products pipeline was found to be leaking gasoline into Summit Creek, near Truckee, California, on April 1.About 300 gallons were spilled.[47][48]
In May 2005, a Kinder Morgan Natural Gas Pipeline of America 30" diameter pipe exploded near Marshall, Texas, sending a giant fireball into the sky and hurling a 160-foot section of pipe onto the grounds of an electric power generating plant. Two people were hurt, 40 evacuated. The cause was stress corrosion cracking.[49]
- 2006
On July 22, 2006, near Campbellsville, Kentucky, a Kinder Morgan Tennessee Gas Pipeline exploded. A 25-foot chunk of pipe blew out of the ground and landed 200 feet away, the pipe twisted and mangled, its external coating burned off. The 24" pipeline ruptured due to external corrosion more than two feet long at the bottom of a valley in an area of wet shale, known to cause corrosion on buried pipelines in this part of Kentucky.[50]
On November 11, 2006, a subcontractor on Kinder Morgan’s Rockies Express (REX) pipeline outside Cheyenne, Wyoming struck an existing pipeline, causing a rupture and explosion. Two months after this explosion, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission threatened to shut the project down if REX didn’t improve its "poor compliance record" involving construction activity outside the approved work area.[51]
On November 27, 2006, the Kinder Morgan Plantation Pipeline at Charlotte, North Carolina released about 4,000 gallons of gasoline from a Plantation Pipe Line Company block valve on a delivery line into a terminal owned by a third party company.[52]
- 2007
On July 24, 2007, the Trans Mountain Pipeline, operated by Kinder Morgan Canada, released over 250,000 litres (1572 barrels) of crude oil (70,000 (440 barrels) of which flowed into Burrard Inlet, requiring a C$15-million cleanup) after a backhoe broke the line in Burnaby.[53][54]
- 2008
On September 23, 2008, a Kinder Morgan pipeline exploded and burned for more than ten hours at Pasadena, Texas. One person died; another was injured.[55] The cause of this "significant event" was corrosion. The Pasadena pipeline experienced at least 18 "significant incidents" 2004 to 2013.[56]
- 2009
In May 2009, near Palm City, Florida, a Kinder Morgan Florida Gas Transmission Company 18" diameter natural gas pipeline ruptured in a sparsely populated rural area of Martin Co. and "displaced" about 106 feet of buried pipe onto the right-of-way between Interstate 95 and the Florida Turnpike (SR-91). About 106 feet of pipe weighing about 5,000 pounds was blown out of the ground. The rupture was near a high school that was within the 366-foot potential impact radius (PIR). Injuries included two people in a car that ran off the road and a Sheriff's deputy treated for inhaling gas.[57]
On July 15, 2009, a pipeline accident at Sylvarena, Mississippi involved Boardwalk Pipeline Partners, Southern Natural Gas and Kinder Morgan in an explosion that killed one person and injured three.[58] The explosion occurred at a natural gas metering station under construction while it was being pressure tested with nitrogen. There was no fire.[59] The workers were "literally right on top" of the explosion; their injuries were the result of pressure, not heat. One was injured when part of the pipe fell on him. The explosion snapped and bent a pipeline connected to a massive separator unit which was slung several yards.[60]
On October 28, Kinder Morgan's Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America above-ground storage tank north of St. Elmo, Illinois caught fire, injuring two workers. Welding caused the tank to ignite resulting in several explosions. Two workers were taken to the hospital.[61]
- 2010
On November 30, 2010, a 30" diameter Kinder Morgan / Tennessee Gas Pipeline failed in a semi-rural area between Highway 1 and State Road 3191, two miles NW of Natchitoches, Louisiana, 1/4 mile NE of a country club, and 200' south of a residential subdivision. Louisiana state police evacuated 100 homes. Pipe cracked: 52.5 inches long & about 0.5 inches in maximum width. The failure site is near where TGP had a previous failure in 1965, with multiple fatalities. That failure was attributed to stress corrosion cracking.[62]
- 2011
The Carteret, New Jersey, KMLT had a leak and fire during maintenance work on March 14, 2011. On April 4, 2013, the PHMSA Office of Pipeline Safety issued a Notice of Probable Violation, Proposed Civil Penalty and Proposed Compliance Order (NOPV) after an inspection. In 2013, KMLT paid a penalty of $63,100 and was required to complete pipeline integrity testing and other corrective measures by May 2015.[63]
On August 17, 2011, Kinder Morgan’s Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America had a flash fire and explosion south of Herscher, Illinois. Five employees went to the hospital. Kinder Morgan was cited for pipeline and workplace safety violations.[64]
On November 16, 2011, near Glouster, Ohio, a weld failed on a Kinder Morgan Tennessee Gas Pipeline 36" diameter pipe; the leak exploded, leaving a blast crater 30 feet across and 15 feet deep. Three homes were destroyed by the fire.[65] The leak was caused by "displacement produced by a landslide and an inadequate understanding by (TGP) of the influence of the geotechnical threats on the pipeline in this location."[66] A girth weld failed due to earth movement, inadequate design, materials or workmanship, exceeding operational limits & gaps in integrity management.[67]
- 2012
In May 2012, at Arvin, California, a Kinder Morgan El Paso Natural Gas pipeline's relief valves and pipe supports failed, causing an explosion that damaged the Mojave facility and a surrounding cherry orchard, causing "the complete structural failure of the overpressure protection support system."[68]
In June 2012, in Gray County, Texas, a Kinder Morgan Natural Gas Pipeline of America 26" diameter pipe failed at Compressor Station 154, Mile Post 52, 4 mi. east of Laketon. The gas ignited, blowing a crater 30 feet in diameter and burning 2 acres of agricultural land as well as two 500-gallon plastic tanks used to store liquid fertilizer plus two telephone poles and transformers. State Highway 152 was closed for several hours. The cause was a 50-foot-long longitudinal rupture in the pipe.[69]
On December 26, 2012, in West Melbourne, Florida, a Kinder Morgan Florida Gas Transmission Company pipeline exploded in a pasture.[70] The blast ejected a 20-foot section of 20" diameter pipe which landed about 15 feet from the rupture.[71]
- 2013
On May 8, 2013, a Kinder Morgan Tejas pipeline compressor station near Crockett, Texas, had a fire that caused $7,502,188 in property damage.[72]
On June 18, 2013, in Louisiana, a Kinder Morgan Florida Gas Transmission Company 30" diameter pipeline ruptured and exploded before dawn, jolting residents out of their beds in a rural, wooded area of Washington Parish. No one was seriously hurt but 55 homes were evacuated. The blast knocked down trees in an area about 200 yards across and the fire burned those within another 300 yards. "The ground around the crater is completely bare. The dirt around it is just like it had been cooked in a kiln," and an 80-foot section of pipe was destroyed.[73]
- 2014
On May 17, at Port St. John, Florida, Kinder Morgan's 36" Florida Gas Transmission pipeline ruptured, forcing evacuation of 7 homes and halting train traffic through Brevard Co. for 3 hours near the Florida Power & Light plant. Florida Gas Transmission workers searched for a leak when pressure dropped in the line. Homes, vehicle & train traffic were reopened after the remaining gas escaped from the pipe.[74] This pipeline failure caused $177,321 in property damage.[75]
On June 26, 2014 near East Bernard, Texas, a gas pipeline next to the Kinder Morgan compressor plant blew out, destroying the road and setting a truck on fire at FM 1164 just south of Highway 59. Flames shot as high as 150 feet.[76]
On July 23, at Milledgeville, Georgia, Midway Elementary School faculty and staff were evacuated due to a fire caused by a gas leak at the nearby Southern Natural Gas Company tap station. Fire rescue personnel closed Highway 441 South for an hour. Precautionary measures were taken so pipe wouldn't rupture under the road while Southern Natural Gas tried to determine the cause of the leak, which was thought to be failure in a valve or regulator. No injuries were reported.[77]
- 2015
On January 16, a transmission pipeline operated by KM subsidiary Southern Natural Gas had an equipment malfunction in Walthall County, Mississippi.[78]
On February 10, in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, the temperature caused "natural force damage" to a Kinder Morgan / Tennessee Gas Pipeline.[78]
On March 2, a Tennessee Gas Pipeline leaked due to equipment failure, causing $281,890 of property damage in Marshall, Mississippi.[78]
On March 20, a pipe owned by KM subsidiary Southern Natural Gas failed in Rolling Fork, Mississippi, and on March 23, another of that subsidiary's pipes failed due to equipment malfunction in Augusta, Georgia.[78]
On April 13, in Hutchinson County, Texas, KM subsidiary Natural Gas Pipeline of America failed due to environmental cracking, causing a fire and $455,000 in property damage.[79] The 30-inch diameter pipe exploded; a 60-foot section and a 30-foot section of pipe were blown about 60 feet and 100 feet, respectively, from the failure site. NGPL’s pipeline systems in the area have a history of stress corrosion cracking and had also leaked in 2003 and 2012.[80]
In June, Marshall, Texas experienced its third leak from the Natural Gas Pipeline of America.[78]
On August 3, two individuals were injured in Falfurrias, TX when a natural gas pipeline operated by Kinder Morgan ruptured along a seam and exploded.[81] The blowout resulted in a 70-foot by 30-foot crater 350 feet from a house; the longitudinal split in the pipe was about 55 feet long. The metallurgical report concluded that the cause was high ph stress corrosion cracking. The pipe was manufactured in 1947.[82]
On August 8, an El Paso Natural Gas relief valve released gas at the Monument compressor station near Hobbs, New Mexico. Investigation showed that the relief valve actuated and vented gas for several hours. The cause of the equipment failure could not be determined, but contributing to the incident was the controller’s misunderstanding of what constitutes abnormal operation.[83]
- 2016
On January 6, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection fined Kinder Morgan $745,000 for violations at two Philadelphia liquid storage facilities, including a spill of 8,000 gallons of fuel grade ethanol from an aboveground storage tank at the Kinder Morgan Liquids Terminal on the Delaware River, as well as allowing storm water to accumulate in containment dikes surrounding storage tanks.[84]
References
- ↑ "Contact Us." Kinder Morgan. Retrieved on October 29, 2014. Click "General Questions": "Questions for us Corporate Headquarters: Kinder Morgan 1001 Louisiana St, Suite 1000 Houston, TX 77002"
- 1 2 "About Us". http://kindermorgan.com. Retrieved 25 Aug 2014. External link in
|website=
(help) - 1 2 http://www.kindermorgan.com/
- ↑ http://www.kindermorgan.com/pages/business/gas_pipelines
- ↑ Otterbourg, Ken (2 Jun 2014). "Kinder Morgan: The energy boom’s mighty middleman". Fortune.com. Retrieved 8 Sep 2014.
- ↑ http://ir.kindermorgan.com/sites/kindermorgan.investorhq.businesswire.com/files/doc_library/file/Corporate_Fact_Sheet.pdf
- ↑ Failure Investigation Report – Central Florida Pipeline 10-inch Jet Fuel Pipeline Failure, July 22, 2011, http://www.phmsa.dot.gov/pv_obj_cache/pv_obj_id_4DFEE9C3F71E6C9384A34BA182C1F157C5212A00/filename/cntrl_FL_red_appD.pdf.
- ↑ Company profile on KM web site
- ↑ "Steven J. Kean: Executive Profile & Biography". Bloomberg.
- ↑ KN Energy makes deal to buy Kinder Morgan
- ↑ Kinder sells retail gas business to GE Energy Financial, Alinda
- ↑ SEC Form 10-Q, March 31, 2009
- ↑ Consolidated Case No. 06-C-801, http://www.shawneecourt.org/DocumentCenter/Home/View/239, accessed 2014-10-03.
- ↑ Mider, Zachary (October 18, 2011). "Kinder Morgan to Buy El Paso for $21 Billion in Cash, Stock". Bloomberg.
- ↑ Kinder Morgan Tankers, http://www.kindermorgan.com/business/terminals/apt.cfm
- ↑ Kinder Morgan Energy Partners' (KMP) CEO Richard Kinder on Q2 2014 Results - Earnings Conference Call July 18, 2014, 2:46 AM ET, by SA Transcripts, http://seekingalpha.com/article/2322165-kinder-morgan-energy-partners-kmp-ceo-richard-kinder-on-q2-2014-results-earnings-conference-call, accessed 2014-07-20.
- ↑ "Pipeline King Kinder rakes in $1.5 bn in one day". Houston Mirror. 11 August 2014. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
- ↑ http://www.kindermorgan.com/investor/km_transaction.aspx
- ↑ Kinder Morgan CO2: description of CO2 and oil operations
- ↑ Rolfsen, Catherine (2014-11-06), "Kinder Morgan pipeline: First Nations fight back with fish", CBC, retrieved 2014-12-01. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-10/kinder-morgan-increases-size-of-trans-mountain-pipe-expansion.html. Elisabeth Rosenthal, Canada Seeks Alternatives to Transport Oil Reserves, New York Times, June 13, 2012, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/14/science/earth/canada-seeks-new-ways-to-get-oil-reserves-to-market.html, accessed June 14, 2012. http://www.transmountain.com/project/project-overview/.
- ↑ http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/kinder-morgan-s-trans-mountain-pipeline-benefits-questioned-1.2829911
- 1 2 "Assessing the risks of Kinder Morgan’s proposed new Trans Mountain pipeline," Conversations for Responsible Economic Development, 2013, http://credbc.ca/assessing-the-risks/, accessed 4/21/2016.
- ↑ "B.C. First Nation launches legal challenge over Kinder Morgan pipeline," http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/b-c-first-nation-launches-legal-challenge-over-kinder-morgan-pipeline-1.1804190#ixzz350lGUDK4 and http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/b-c-first-nation-launches-legal-challenge-over-kinder-morgan-pipeline-1.1804190#ixzz350kqw2ja, accessed 2014-06-18.
- ↑ Tracy Johnson, "Trans Mountain pipeline battle set for NEB hearing," CBC News, 1/19/2016,http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/transmountain-pipeline-hearings-start-1.3408090, accessed 4/21/2016.
- ↑ No Fracked Gas In Mass, http://www.nofrackedgasinmass.org/; Nashoba Conservation Trust, http://nashobatrust.org/additional-resources/; Dracut/Tyngsboro Pipeline Awareness Group, http://www.scribd.com/doc/227298012/Questioning-the-Need-for-Northeast-Energy-Direct, May 29, 2014; Susan Phillips, "Praying with our legs: on pilgrimage against fracked gas," United Church of Christ, Massachusetts Conference, http://www.macucc.org/blogdetail/947845, accessed 1/6/2016.
- ↑ Clarence Fanto, "Company suspends pipeline project," Berkshire Eagle, April 21, 2016, pp.1 and 5. Heather Bellow, "Kinder Morgan suspends work on $3.3 billion Northeast Direct gas pipeline," Berkshire Edge, April 20, 2016, https://theberkshireedge.com/kinder-morgan-suspends-work-northeast-direct-pipeline/.
- ↑ "Kinder Morgan Inc. Presses Pause on the Palmetto Pipeline Project," The Motley Fool, http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/03/31/kinder-morgan-inc-presses-pause-on-the-palmetto-pi.aspx, accessed 4/21/2016.
- ↑ Mary Landers, "A glimpse of how the pipeline could have gone in GA," Savannah Now, April 18, 2016, http://savannahnow.com/blog/mary-landers/2016-04-18/glimpse-how-pipeline-could-have-gone-ga, accessed 4/21/2016. "Kinder Morgan files appeal on pipeline ruling," http://www.wrdw.com.
- ↑ Heather Bellow, "Kinder Morgan pipeline project scorns state constitution, could set precedent," Berkshire Edge, March 22, 2016, https://theberkshireedge.com/kinder-morgan-pipeline-project-scorns-state-constitution-set-precedent/.
- ↑ Clarence Fanto, "Gas company vs. state today in Berkshire Court," Berkshire Eagle, April 15, 2016, pp. 1 and 5. Jim Therrien, "Speedy Pipeline Review Promised," Berkshire Eagle, April 16, 2016, pp. 1 and 5.
- ↑ "An Interstate Natural Gas Facility on My Land?", http://www.ferc.gov/for-citizens/citizen-guides/citz-guide-gas.pdf, accessed 2014-10-03.
- ↑ The equation for calculating impact radius is in H. Noel Duckworth and Robert Eiber, Report On Assessment of Pipeline Integrity of Kinder-Morgan Conversion Of the Rancho Pipeline To City of Austin Texas (June 2004), pp. 29-30, primis.phmsa.dot.gov, accessed 2014-06-23. The equation is also in "Managing System Integrity of Gas Pipelines," American Society of Mechanical Engineers, B31.8S-2004. The calculation used 1460 psig for the gas pressure.
- ↑ PHMSA letter to Richard Kinder, September 1, 2009, http://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/comm/reports/enforce/documents/520071008/520071008_FinalOrder_09012009_text.pdf, accessed 2014-06-18.
- ↑ Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) letter to Hugh Harden, Kinder Morgan, Feb. 28, 2011, http://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/comm/reports/enforce/documents/520115005/520115005_NOPV%20PCO_02282011_text.pdf, accessed June 2014.
- ↑ "U.S. Department of Transportation Proposes Fine for New Jersey Pipeline Accident," USDOT press release May 11, 2011.
- ↑ Eric de Place, "Wall Street Worries About Kinder Morgan’s Safety Record: BC pipeline operator slashes and defers maintenance spending", September 19, 2013, http://daily.sightline.org/2013/09/19/wall-street-worries-about-kinder-morgans-safety-record/, consulted June 16, 2014.
- ↑ Tom Fowler and Ben Lefebvre, "Is Kinder Morgan Scrimping on its Pipelines?" Wall Street Journal, Sep 27, 2013, http://blogs.wsj.com/corporate-intelligence/2013/09/27/is-kinder-morgan-scrimping-on-its-pipelines-the-market-shrugs/, accessed June 16, 2014. Claudia Assis, "Research firm rebuts Kinder Morgan’s rebuttal," September 26, 2013, Marketwatch / Wall Street Journal, http://blogs.marketwatch.com/energy-ticker/2013/09/26/research-firm-rebuts-kinder-morgans-rebuttal/, accessed June 16, 2014.
- ↑ Leak data from http://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/comm/reports/safety/AllPSIDet_1994_2013_US.html?nocache=1724#_ngtranson, accessed 2014-07-10.
- ↑ Building Safe Communities: Pipeline Risk and its Application to Local Development Decisions, (Washington D.C.: U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Pipeline Safety: 2010), p. 10, at http://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/comm/publications/PIPA/PIPA-PipelineRiskReport-Final-20101021.pdf, accessed June 18, 2014.
- ↑ PHMSA Pipeline Safety State Pages and Operator Incident Pages at http://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/comm/States.htm?nocache=3971.
- ↑ PHMSA Corrective Action Order, CPF No.4-2003-1008H.
- ↑ Scott Marshall, "Kinder-Morgan to pay $5.3 million for fuel spills," Contra Costa Times, May 21, 2007, http://www.contracostatimes.com/search/ci_5950251, accessed June 16, 2014.
- ↑ http://www.solano.courts.ca.gov/materials/Suisun_Marsh_Oil_Spill.pdf
- ↑ Officials Dole Out Fines In Fatal Pipeline Explosion, May 5, 2005, http://www.ktvu.com/news/news/officials-dole-out-fines-in-fatal-pipeline-explosi/nKYpc/.
- ↑ "Cal/OSHA Issues Multi-Employer Citation," http://www.dir.ca.gov/dirnews/2005/ir2005-20.html; California Fire Investigation Report, http://osfm.fire.ca.gov/pipeline/pdf/WCFinalReport/PenaltyLetter.pdf; "Kinder Morgan reaches safety deal," April 10, 2006, http://www.marketwatch.com/story/kinder-morgan-energy-us-reach-safety-deal, accessed June 2014.
- ↑ Henry K. Lee,"Energy Firm Convicted in Walnut Creek Pipeline Blast that Killed 5," http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Energy-firm-convicted-in-Walnut-Creek-pipeline-2539356.php, accessed April 27, 2015.
- ↑ http://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/comm/reports/enforce/documents/520055020H/520055020H_corrective%20action%20order_04212005.pdf?nocache=4253
- ↑ http://www.law360.com/articles/25295/kinder-morgan-pays-5-3m-for-california-oil-spills
- ↑ http://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/comm/reports/enforce/documents/420051011H/cpf_420051011H.pdf?nocache=8618.
- ↑ PHMSA Corrective Action Order, CPF No. 2-2006-3 007 H, aka CPF 220061007H.
- ↑ Tom Beyerlein, "Fatal explosion puts Kinder Morgan’s past in spotlight," Dayton Daily News [Ohio], September 14, 2008, in Tar Sands Free BC, September 15, 2008, http://tarsandsfreebc.org/?p=236, accessed June 16, 2014.
- ↑ Kinder Morgan 2009 annual report, p. 198.
- ↑ "Cleanup continues on B.C. oil spill". CBC News. July 24, 2007. Retrieved August 27, 2014.
- ↑ "3 companies plead guilty to Burnaby oil spill". CBC News. October 3, 2011. Retrieved August 27, 2014.
- ↑ Eric James, "Pipeline at Pasadena plant explodes," September 24, 2008, ABC Eyewitness News, Houston, Texas, http://abc13.com/archive/6408372/, accessed June 17, 2014.
- ↑ "Texas Significant Incidents Listing," 2003-2014, PHMSA Pipeline Safety Stakeholder Communication, U.S. DOT, http://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/comm/reports/safety/IncDetSt_st_TX_flt_sig.html?nocache=8751, accessed June 17, 2014.
- ↑ NTSB pipeline accident brief DCA09FP007.
- ↑ "Pipeline explosion kills 1, injures 3 in Smith county". MS News. Retrieved 23 January 2014.
- ↑ "Pipeline accident investigation could take months – KLTV.com-Tyler, Longview, Jacksonville, Texas | ETX News". Kltv.com. Retrieved 2013-04-02.
- ↑ "Pipeline explodes, killed 1 injured 3," http://www.clarionledger.com/article, posted at https://www.industrialprojectsreport.com/forum/showthread.php?8590-Pipeline-explodes-killed-1-injured-3, accessed 1/12/2016.
- ↑ "Fire rocks plant north of St. Elmo," Effingham Daily News, November 5, 2009, at http://www.effinghamdailynews.com/news/local_news/fire-rocks-plant-north-of-st-elmo/article_944c2536-0733-5549-ba26-baacb0e805a2.html, accessed 1/12/2016. "Fiery explosion injures 2 gas plant workers," Justice News Flash, November 3, 2009, http://www.justicenewsflash.com/2009/11/03/fire-explosion-injures-2-gas-plant-workers_200911032491.html, accessed 1/12/2016.
- ↑ PHMSA Corrective Action Order, Case CPF 420101007H.
- ↑ Kinder Morgan annual report for 2013, p. 166.
- ↑ "Kinder Morgan, Owner of Illinois Natural Gas Pipeline Co. Where Explosion Occurred, Has Lengthy Record of Pipeline, Workplace Safety Violations," August 17, 2011, NaturalGasWatch.org, http://www.naturalgaswatch.org/?p=817; "Gas plant explosion injures five," Hazardex, August 17, 2011, http://www.hazardexonthenet.net/article/44270/Gas-plant-explosion-injures-five.aspx?AreaID=2, accessed June 2014.
- ↑ "Pipeline failure caused huge Morgan County blast," Columbus Dispatch, Nov 17, 2011, http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2011/11/16/gas-pipeline-explodes-in-athens-county.html, & "Gas Line Explodes ...," http://www.10tv.com/content/stories/2011/11/16/athens-county-explosion.html; "Flames From Gas Explosion Called Worst Firefighter Had Seen," http://www.10tv.com/content/stories/2011/11/16/athens-county-flames-worse-seen.html; "Pipeline co. wants to nix punitive damages in explosion lawsuit," Athens News, March 19, 2014, http://www.athensnews.com/ohio/article-41987-pipeline-co-wants-to-nix-punitive-damages-in-explosion-lawsuit.html, accessed 8/13/2014.
- ↑ Joe Higgins, 'November gas line explosion cause revealed,' Athens Messenger, OH, July 16, 2012, quote from p.14 of report cited below, http://www.athensohiotoday.com/news/november-gas-line-explosion-cause-revealed/article_a2f3a55c-cf8c-11e1-ba27-0019bb2963f4.html.
- ↑ "Final Report: Failure & Root Cause Analysis," Dynamic Risk for Kinder Morgan Nov 16, 2011 rupture, posted at http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/athensohiotoday.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/a/8a/a8aab150-cf7f-11e1-8a70-001a4bcf887a/500471418c9e3.pdf.pdf
- ↑ PHMSA Failure Investigation Report – El Paso-Mojave GT 2012-5-2.
- ↑ PHMSA Corrective Action Order re: CPF No. 4-2012-1011H.
- ↑ "Natural Gas Pipeline Fails In West Melbourne," Space Coast Daily, December 26, 2012, http://spacecoastdaily.com/2012/12/natural-gas-pipeline-fails-in-west-melbourne/, accessed 8/14/2014.
- ↑ PHMSA CPF No. 2-2012-lOOSH, http://www.phmsa.dot.gov/pv_obj_cache/pv_obj_id_14D99C24B96230D53EA8622EF83A72D57B310600/filename/220121005H_CAO_12282012_FloridaGas.pdf, accessed 8/15/2014.
- ↑ PHMSA state pipeline listings, http://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/comm/StatePages/Texas.htm; Skytruth Alert: NRC Report: Natural Gas near Crockett, TX 2013-05-08, http://alerts.skytruth.org/report/05f2642d-8a93-3b6f-bbac-9c57a37b, accessed 2014-08-12.
- ↑ "Gas line explosion rattles Washington Parish," Baton Rouge Advocate, June 26, 2013, http://theadvocate.com/home/6283023-125/gas-pipeline-explosion-in-franklinton, accessed 2014-08-14.
- ↑ Scott Gunnerson, "Port St. John gas line rupture under investigation," FLORIDA TODAY, May 17, 2014, http://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/local/2014/05/17/gas-leak-prompts-evacuations-in-north-cocoa/9210351/, accessed 8/14/2014.
- ↑ Florida Gas Transmission Operator Report, PHMSA, http://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/comm/reports/operator/Operatorlist.html#.
- ↑ http://abc13.com/news/gas-line-explosion-sends-150-foot-flames-up-in-air/142620/, accessed Aug 12, 2014.
- ↑ Felicia Cummings, "Gas leak near Midway Elementary," The Union-Recorder, July 23, 2014 4:15 pm | Updated: Aug 7, 2014.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration operator data, http://primis.phmsa.dot.gov.
- ↑ Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration operator data, http://primis.phmsa.dot.gov. See also "Natural gas pipeline fire near Borger extinguished," at http://www.newschannel10.com/story/28788786/natural-gas-pipeline-fire-near-borger-extinguished, accessed 2016.01.04.
- ↑ PHMSA Corrective Action Order 4-2003-1008H & Corrective Action Order 4-2012-1011H; PHMSA Corrective Action Order CPF No. 4-2015-1006H, at http://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/comm/reports/enforce/documents/420151006H/420151006H_Corrective%20Action%20Order_04172015_text.pdf, accessed 1/12/2016.
- ↑ "Sheriff's Office: Natural gas pipeline 'explosion' forced 150 Falfurrias families from their homes". Valley Central. Retrieved 2015-08-21.
- ↑ PHMSA Corrective Action Order CPF No. 4-2015-1009H. PHMSA data on GT & GG pipelines, 2010-2015.
- ↑ PHMSA data on GT & GG pipelines, 2010-2015.
- ↑ Susan Phillips, "DEP fines Kinder Morgan for Philadelphia storage tank violations," https://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2016/01/05/dep-fines-kinder-morgan-for-philadelphia-storage-tank-violations/, accessed 1/6/2016.
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