UTC Case Docket Details

Event History

• 04/28/2016 -- Approved (Commissioner Jones moved to issue an order granting Puget Sound Energy’s request for a waiver of Title 49 Code of Federal Regulations (49 CFR) 193.2167 for a buried Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) transfer pipeline to deliver LNG product from PSE’s proposed LNG facility to Totem Ocean Trailer Express (TOTE) shipping for use as a transportation fuel. Title 49 CFR 193.2167 “Covered Systems: states, “A covered impounding system is prohibited except for concrete wall designed tanks where the concrete wall is anouter wall serving as a dike.” We recommend approval of this waiver subject to the following conditions in the staff memorandum: a) The enclosed drainage channel is made of carbon steel 48 inches in diameter and 1 inch thick and bored at least 11 feet below grade to provide a conservative level of clearance beneath the roadway, rail road tracks, and existing underground utilities. b) The LNG transfer system is composed of two vacuum jacketed LNG lines and one vacuum jacketed vapor return line that are installed on a movable pipe rack that will be inserted into the buried enclosed drainage channel. c) The moving pipe rack is inserted into the completed enclosed drainage channel and sealed. d) During operation and LNG transfer, the vacuum jacketing of the liquid and vent lines are constantly monitored for loss of vacuum. e) The enclosed drainage channel is filled with nitrogen gas and constantly purged with a monitor for hydrocarbons at the nitrogen vent. f) The bottom of the enclosed drainage channel is instrumented with cryogenic temperature monitors that will detect any liquid release and will also act as a secondary containment vessel. g) The entire pipeline is continuously monitored from the Tacoma LNG Facility Control Room which will be staffed twenty four hours a day, year round. h) The casing is cathodically protected. i) Commission staff will secure an independent geotechnical engineering consultant to assist in ensuring that PSE’s design of this pipeline meets federal code requirements as it relates to forces applied by a seismic event. In this regard, PSE will comply with all sections of module 5 of Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), Form 18, Evaluation of LNG Facility Siting, Design, Construction, and Equipment (Rev 03/18/11). Commissioner Rendahl seconded the motion. The motion carried (3:0) )
• 04/28/2016 -- Open Meeting
• 10/07/2015 -- Open