RCP is planning a two day Operator Qualification seminar on November 14-15, 2000 in Houston, Texas. This will be a "hands-on" workshop, and attendance will be limited to ensure adequate time for individual questions and breakout group activities. Topics to be covered will include:

• Overview of the OQ rule
• Key decisions that must be made concerning your OQ program
• How to define your tasks
• How to establish qualification guidelines and criteria
• Developing a company-specific task list
• Taking credit for what you have already done
• Developing your final OQ program

Group and multi-day discounts available. For more information on the seminar, please contact Bill Byrd at wrbyrd@your-rcp.com, phone 225-229-8080, or visit our seminar website at http://www.your-rcp.com/dotseminar2000.htm. You can also download a seminar brochure in .pdf format by going here (Requires Adobe Acrobat)

Several people have asked us if we can provide copies of the CNN/Time video on the Bellingham, WA pipeline accident. We have located a source for this video at the Federal Document Clearinghouse website http://www.fdch.com/ms4.html. Ask for the "fireball" episode that aired on June 4, 2000. They can also be reached at 1-800-CNN-NEWS. The price of the video depends on your intended use and delivery options – from about $30 to $125 per copy. If you aren't familiar with this episode, it is a very moving human interest story about the pipeline accident and its effects on the people involved. Pipeline company executives, pipeline controllers, and line managers could benefit from viewing this video and seeing just how the pipeline industry (and OPS) is perceived by outsiders.

Acquiring a pipeline?

RCP can provide due diligence audits to help you ensure that potential compliance issues have been addressed before the sale is final.

Northwestern University will conduct their annual Pipeline Economics and Management workshop from November 6-10, 2000, in Evanston, IL. This unique workshop benefits from a high-caliber faculty that includes pipeline company presidents, representatives from FERC and U.S. DOT, key industry consultants and academic experts. Together, they provide insight into pipeline economic theory, environmental and safety issues, evolving FERC policy, effective pipeline operating and marketing strategies, and the forces shaping the future of the industry. Featured topics of this year's workshop include:

• Pipeline accounting policies and procedures
• Changing financial structure of pipelines
• Environmental regulations: local, state and federal
• Pipeline operations in the information age
• The Presidents' Panel
• Developing and executing an effective spill plan
• Evolving FERC policy regarding oil pipelines
• Cost of service
• Industry/government collaboration

The seminar website is located at : http://www.nutc.northwestern.edu/public/Executive/PL/epPLHome.html

Washington, DC – The National Transportation Safety Board has scheduled a Pipeline Safety Hearing for November 15 and 16, 2000. The hearing will be held in the NTSB Board Room and Conference Center, 429 L'Enfant Plaza, S.W. Washington, D.C.

The Pipeline Safety Hearing will provide a forum to examine technologies available to assess the integrity of pipelines, such as the use of internal inspection tools, and the capability of pipeline operating systems to identify leaks and to prompt timely responses. The hearing will also seek to determine the status of ongoing research in these areas.

This hearing was prompted by the Safety Board's past investigations of numerous pipeline accidents in which pipe with time-related defects failed, and the Safety Board's current investigations of six pipeline accidents that have occurred in 1999 and 2000, which include potential pipeline integrity issues. Five of those six accidents involve controllers who may have failed to promptly recognize pipeline ruptures and then initiate timely action to reduce the consequences of the spill.

Recent accidents under investigation by the Board include pipeline failures in Bellingham, Washington on June 10, 1999 – in which three youths lost their lives after a spill of about 250,000 gallons of gasoline – and in Carlsbad, New Mexico on August 19, 2000 – in which a 30-inch natural gas pipeline violently ruptured near the Pecos River. Preliminary examination of the pipeline section that failed in Carlsbad revealed significant internal corrosion and pipe wall loss in some areas greater than 50 percent. This section of pipe was almost 50 years old. The Carlsbad accident resulted in 12 fatalities – the deadliest pipeline accident in the continental United States in almost 25 years.

Many of the hazardous liquid and natural gas transmission pipelines in our country are 30 to 50 years old. Although age alone does not indicate that a pipeline may be unsafe, determining the integrity of pipelines becomes increasingly important as our pipeline systems age.

In announcing the hearing, Jim Hall, Safety Board Chairman, said: "The safe transportation of natural gas and liquid petroleum products by pipeline is vital to meeting the energy needs of every community in our country. However, during the past two years, we have seen several failures involving aging pipelines. It is time to examine the technologies available to assess the condition of our pipeline systems."

Because of the importance of this national safety issue, the Chairman and all four Board Members will preside over the hearing.

Details of the hearing will be found on the Board's web page in the near future at http://www.ntsb.gov/events/2000/pipeline_hearing/default.htm.

NTSB press contact: Keith Holloway, 202-314-6100

The full text of the press release is available on RCP's website here

The Dig Safely Team will meet in New Orleans on November 15, 2000 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The meeting location has not been established. Agenda items will include: strategic plan for Dig Safely; nationwide and stakeholder industry focus areas; Dig Safely Awareness Video distribution model; handling of Dig Safely funding contributions; others. Final agenda will be posted in advance of the meeting here.

Pending Audits?