DoT Announces Pipeline Safety Action Plan
From Department of Transportation at http://www.dot.gov/affairs/2011/dot4111.html
Monday, April 4, 2011
ALLENTOWN, Pa. – U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood today launched a national pipeline safety initiative to repair and replace aging pipelines to prevent potentially catastrophic incidents.
Following several fatal pipeline accidents, including one that killed five people in Allentown, PA, Secretary LaHood called upon U.S. pipeline owners and operators to conduct a comprehensive review of their oil and gas pipelines to identify areas of high risk and accelerate critical repair and replacement work. Secretary LaHood also announced federal legislation aimed at strengthening oversight on pipeline safety, as well as plans to convene a Pipeline Safety Forum on April 18th in Washington, DC, to gather state officials, industry leaders, and other pipeline safety stakeholders in order to discuss steps for improving the safety and efficiency of the nation’s pipeline infrastructure.
“People deserve to know that they can turn on the lights, the heat, or the stove without endangering their families and neighbors,” said Secretary LaHood. “The safety of the American public is my top priority and I am taking on this critical issue to avoid future tragedies we have seen in Allentown and around the country.”
Secretary LaHood was joined by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administrator Cynthia Quarterman, Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey, Congressman Charlie Dent and other federal, state and local officials to unveil the Department’s new pipeline safety action plan (http://www.phmsa.dot.gov/staticfiles/PHMSA/DownloadableFiles/110404%20Action%20Plan%20Executive%20Version%20_2.pdf) in Allentown, where a devastating natural gas pipeline failure killed five people and leveled homes and businesses on February 9…