Operational Safety

Spectra Energy ensures pipelines remain in safe and reliable operating condition

Ensuring our pipelines remain in safe and reliable operating condition, Spectra Energy employs a number of techniques — from high-tech monitoring at our gas control centers, to foot patrols of pipeline easements.

Above/Below Ground Coating Maintenance

Pipeline facilities above and below ground are protected by a coating applied under very exacting conditions. Routine visual inspection of all above ground facilities is conducted by Spectra Energy to determine if any coating damage or deterioration has occurred, and if so, to repair the coating. When underground pipeline facilities are exposed, usually due to excavation or maintenance activities, Spectra Energy always inspects the coating for damage or deterioration.

Aerial Patrols

Company planes conduct aerial patrols of the main pipeline rights of way at least once a week (in some places, as often as three times a week). Aerial patrols provide a bird’s-eye view of the pipeline and surrounding community. The pilots look for ground changes, construction activities, or other conditions that could affect the pipelines.

Cleaning

Spectra Energy conducts cleaning of its pipeline facilities to minimize internal corrosion and maintain high flow efficiencies ensuring reliability of delivery. Cleaning is conducted using devices called “pigs” that remove liquids and debris from inside the pipe. The vast majority of the company’s pipelines are configured to allow this type pigging to occur.

Compressor Station Operations

As natural gas flows through a pipeline, the pipeline pressure will decrease due to friction and elevation differences. To maintain pipeline flow and pressure, compressor stations are located every so often along the pipeline route. Experienced and well trained Spectra Energy employees operate over 100 compressor station sites around the clock - with nearly two million horsepower in the United States.

Corrosion Protection

Spectra Energy provides the pipeline and related facilities with protection from corrosion because corrosion is a significant factor that can impact pipeline integrity.

Gas Control

Gas Control, Spectra Energy’s high-tech computer control centers, monitor the flow of gas through our 12,100 miles of U.S. pipelines and the 330 miles of Canadian Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline. Staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week, the centers collect data from all of these pipelines so that we will always know what is happening along its system.

In addition to monitoring the flow of the natural gas with the use of Supervisory Control Data Acquisition (SCADA), we monitor pressures and temperatures as well as the operating status of all its facilities. Gas Control monitors and reacts to equipment malfunctions, and, when necessary, dispatches Spectra Energy employees who live and work along the pipeline to respond to a malfunction or alarm. As an added safety measure, we’ve installed remote control equipment on 350 valves along our pipeline system, enabling us to operate them remotely from Gas Control.

Gas Measurement

Spectra Energy precisely measures the quantity of natural gas when it is received at thousands of points along the pipeline from producers and at interconnections with other cross-country pipeline operators. We also measure the gas when it is delivered to local distribution companies, power plants, large industrial facilities, and at interconnections with other cross-country pipeline operators. Spectra Energy constantly samples the natural gas at many sites to identify potential corrosive components and to ensure the high standard of quality is maintained.

Ground Surveys

Spectra Energy patrols pipeline easements in populated areas and some other areas of interest on foot. Ground surveys can reveal leaks and other potential problems, enabling us to quickly repair the problem and minimize the impact.

Inhibitors - Offshore

Spectra Energy injects corrosion inhibitors into its pipelines, especially offshore pipelines, to prevent hydrate formation which could affect flow efficiencies and pipeline integrity.

Inline Inspection

Spectra Energy pipelines pioneered many of the inline inspection techniques in use in the industry today. These inline inspections are performed with “smart pigs”—mechanical tools—that enable us to examine the pipelines from the inside. Smart pig inspections provide us with valuable information, locating possible internal and external corrosion or other irregularities of the pipeline, so they can be monitored and fixed as needed.

Internal Pipe Maintenance

Maintenance of the inside of the pipeline is as important to a prudent natural gas pipeline operator as the maintenance of the outside. Spectra Energy performs internal pipeline maintenance using a number of proven methods.

Leak Surveys

Spectra Energy also performs leak surveys on all of its facilities on a routine basis. Our records show, however, that natural gas leaks rarely occur on our pipelines. Leak surveys look for fugitive emissions of natural gas so we can take action to eliminate them. Many miles of the pipeline are surveyed with ground survey techniques in addition to aerial patrol.

Mowing

Mowing and clearing the right of way allows us to patrol the area by ground and air to discover activity that could lead to pipeline damage. It also allows the company to easily discover leaks and natural earth movement that could lead to damage of the pipeline facilities.

Painting of Aboveground Facilities

Aboveground pipeline facilities are routinely painted to inhibit corrosion. This corrosion could affect the integrity of the facilities. Painting our aboveground facilities also makes them more visible.

Rectifiers

Rectifiers are devices that transfer a regulated amount of current flow to the pipelines. Rectifiers receive electric current from AC sources like the power lines that come to your home. Spectra Energy checks all of its nearly 1800 rectifiers along the pipeline system every 2 months to ensure they are operating properly.

Right of Way Maintenance

Right of way maintenance is important to us because it makes the location of Spectra Energy’s pipelines clearly apparent to the public and to any other individuals that might consider excavation in the area.

Routine Current Monitoring for Cathodic Protection

Proper electric current flow along the surface of a pipeline impedes corrosive activity and can prolong the useful life of pipelines for many decades. The amount of current applied to the pipelines is harmless to humans, animals, and other forms of life. Spectra Energy monitors the current level on the pipeline at thousands of locations every year.

Sign/Marker Maintenance

Spectra Energy places markers and signs along the pipeline right of way to inform the public of the presence of the natural gas pipelines. The markers are placed at road crossings, railroad crossings and other significantly visible points along the right-of-way to reduce the possibility of damage to or interference with the pipelines.

In densely populated areas, we frequently place the markers within “line of sight” proximity—this means the markers are so close together that you can see from one marker to the next. Signs are placed where the pipelines cross major waterways. The markers and signs include the name of the Spectra Energy pipeline business unit and the phone numbers to call if any abnormal condition or suspicious activity is detected that would threaten the integrity of the pipeline.

Waterway Inspections

Locations where the pipeline crosses waterways are inspected at the surface every year by Spectra Energy employees to check for bank erosion, visible pipeline exposure, and natural gas leaks indicated by bubbles. Many waterway crossings are inspected at the bottom of the waterway each year by contract divers under the direction of Spectra Energy. These divers determine if the pipeline is adequately covered. If the pipeline does not have adequate cover, any coating damage is repaired and the pipe is re-covered with grout bags or other suitable material.