Pipeline Safety Enforcement
Florida Gas escapes fines over Sanford Lateral burst
The Fifth Circuit said Florida Gas Transmission complied with the rules at issue, even after a 2020 rupture on a 1959 pipeline burned more than 51,000 square feet. The ruling limits the federal pipeline safety agency’s room to fine every accident.
The Fifth Circuit reversed the federal agency’s penalty order in Florida Gas Transmission’s case. It found no basis on this record for the fines tied to the Sanford Lateral rupture.
- PHMSA’s fines were vacated.
- The line at issue was built in 1959.
- The court said Florida Gas Transmission complied with the rules.
- The ruling may matter for older gas pipelines.
- A burst on Florida Gas Transmission’s Sanford Lateral triggered a federal safety investigation, then fines from the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, or PHMSA
The rupture mattered because this was not a new line. The Sanford Lateral was built in 1959 and is made of low-frequency electric-resistance-welded steel, a type of pipe with seams that can be vulnerable to corrosion and seam-integrity problems.
A burst on Florida Gas Transmission’s Sanford Lateral triggered a federal safety investigation, then fines from the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, or PHMSA. The Fifth Circuit said the company complied with the rules at issue and vacated the agency’s final order, wiping the penalties off the books.
What the court would not let stand
PHMSA had concluded that Florida Gas Transmission violated two federal regulations after the burst and imposed fines. The court rejected that outcome, saying the company met the applicable rules on this record.
That leaves the agency without the penalty order it used to punish the rupture. For pipeline operators, the ruling narrows one route regulators can take when an older line fails and the aftermath turns into an enforcement case.
Why the age of the pipe matters
The Sanford Lateral’s age is part of the story. A 1959 pipe made of seam-sensitive steel draws a different kind of scrutiny than newer infrastructure, especially when investigators are looking for corrosion or weld problems.
The decision does not make those risks disappear. It does, though, mean this particular case did not support the fines PHMSA imposed after the burst.