Agenda Packets - 1987/03/16 - Laserfiche WebLink

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4 DOCKETS UNIT PAGE TWENTY-ONE MARCH 24, 1987 Response: It is the considered opinion of the City of Mounds View that ERW pipe, particularly low voltage electric resistance weld pipe, are susceptible to seam failure while in operation due to defects that are inherent in the manufacturing process. These defects are weakened during the course of normal pipeline operations and the deterioration of these defects can be exacerbated by poor maintenance, such as inadequate cathodic protection, of the pipeline by the operator. Based on these beliefs, the City feels that operators having low voltage ERW pipe in their system should be required to develop and implement a replacement program over the next ten years, irrespective of the location of the pipeline. Until those pipelines are replaced, the operators should further be required to establish and implement an intensified testing program to monitor the structural integrity of those pipes. The aforementioned testing programs should also be applied to all high voltage ERW pipelines and operators should be required to replace these lines when failures attributable to seam degradation becomes an issue of concern. (c) What remedy, if any, should be applied to deter continued ERW-degradation discovered on pipe- lines in any irea? Response: The City is unaware of any remedies short of replacement currently available and technologically feasible to deter continued ERW seam degradation. 17. Proposal: Require operators to create or participate in 'one call" systems. (HR 262) Response: on the morning of the Mounds View incident, WPL made no effort to notify those jurisdictions through which their pipeline runs of a rupture. Had they done so, there is a possibility that the injuries and deaths that resulted from the fire which occurred 25+ minutes after the first note of a rupture may have been prevented.