Summary of Presentation
Enbridge Operations in Northern Michigan: Line 5
Brad Shamla, Vice President, U.S. Operations,
Enbridge
Biography
Brad Shamla has been with Enbridge for more than two decades, working in Operations, Engineering, Business Development and Administration across Canada and the U.S. He is currently Vice President, U.S. Operations where he is responsible for U.S. Liquids Pipelines operations and gathering systems.
Since he started with Enbridge in 1991, Brad has taken on roles of increasing responsibility within the organization, including leadership positions in Business Development, Canadian Operations, the Control Center, Gathering Systems, U.S. Engineering and the U.S. Operations Group. In his most recent role, as Vice President, Market Development, Brad was responsible for leading the business development activities related to the Enbridge Mainline, New Market Access, Contract Terminals, and Strategic Acquisitions and Divestitures for Liquids Pipelines (LP).
Prior to joining the Business Development group in 2008, Brad served as General Manager in the Liquids Pipeline Operations Group, overseeing mainline operations in Saskatchewan and Manitoba as well as the Company's first wind farm near Gull Lake, Saskatchewan.
Enbridge Operations in Northern Michigan: Line 5
Brad Shamla, Vice President, U.S. Operations,
Enbridge
Biography
Brad Shamla has been with Enbridge for more than two decades, working in Operations, Engineering, Business Development and Administration across Canada and the U.S. He is currently Vice President, U.S. Operations where he is responsible for U.S. Liquids Pipelines operations and gathering systems.
Since he started with Enbridge in 1991, Brad has taken on roles of increasing responsibility within the organization, including leadership positions in Business Development, Canadian Operations, the Control Center, Gathering Systems, U.S. Engineering and the U.S. Operations Group. In his most recent role, as Vice President, Market Development, Brad was responsible for leading the business development activities related to the Enbridge Mainline, New Market Access, Contract Terminals, and Strategic Acquisitions and Divestitures for Liquids Pipelines (LP).
Prior to joining the Business Development group in 2008, Brad served as General Manager in the Liquids Pipeline Operations Group, overseeing mainline operations in Saskatchewan and Manitoba as well as the Company's first wind farm near Gull Lake, Saskatchewan.
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Remarks
Enbridge operates the world’s largest pipeline system in Canada and the United States. It is about 50,000 miles of pipelines, between gathering systems, main lines, and others across North America. Movement through the Enbridge system accounts for about 15% of all total U.S. petroleum imports. Enbridge delivers about 2.5 million barrels per day of crude oil and liquids petroleum through the system, which accounts for more than 50% of the crude that is provided for the Great Lakes refineries in Chicago, Detroit, and Superior, Wisconsin. Enbridge also is a player in the gas pipeline gathering and processing system. Enbridge owns about 1,000 miles of offshore pipeline in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico and gathers and moves about 50% of the offshore gas production in the Gulf. On the Canadian side of the system, in Eastern Canada, Enbridge owns and operates the largest gas distribution system in the Toronto and Ontario areas. They also have an emerging green energy platform, with ownership interests in about 1,800 megawatts of wind, solar, geothermal, and heat waste recovery, for a total capital investment of about $3.5 billion dollars in green energy technologies. Enbridge currently employs about 11,000 employees and contractors, with 250 of those employees and contractors located here in Michigan. |
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In total, Enbridge has 4 pipelines in Michigan, totaling about 930 miles of pipe: Line 5 traverses through Northern Michigan, Line 6B traverses down in Southern Michigan, and Lines 17 and 79 feed markets in Detroit and Toledo. Looking more specifically at the pipeline in Northern Michigan, Line 5 is a 645 mile pipeline. It is 30 inches in diameter, with the exception of the Straits of Mackinac crossing which consists of two 20 inch, heavy wall, seamless pipes, and then it’s back to a 30 inch pipe for the remainder of the way. Its capacity is about 540,000 barrels per day and it is a light crude system which consists of natural gas liquids batched with various light products including light crude oil and condensates.
For Enbridge, safety is the cornerstone of the business. Since 2012, Enbridge has spent $4.4 billion in the area of reliability and safety. During the last 10 years, Enbridge has delivered approximately 13 billion barrels of crude oil for which the safety record overall, based on the barrels, is very good. However, the goal and target for Enbridge is zero pipeline incidents.
There are a number of components that contribute to safe operation of pipelines, including engineering design, materials used, corrosion control through coating and cathodic protection, integrity management, control center operations, and monitoring. Enbridge conducts routine aerial patrols over pipelines on a biweekly basis looking at right of way, looking for any problems that may be seen from the air, or any 3rd party activities that may pose a risk. Finally, Enbridge works on emergency response with training, development of response plans, and conducting/participating in live exercises and drills. Tactical response plans exist that lay out where the boom would go along the shoreline, where your access points would be, etc.
Looking specifically at the Straits of Mackinac crossing, the initial design is vitally important to the current state of the pipe. Back when the pipeline was constructed in 1953, it was an extensive engineering project. It was one that took a lot of attention and focus. It was done by probably the leading engineering company in North America at that time, Bechtel Corporation. It included peer reviews by the University of Michigan, Department of Naval Studies, and another university to make sure the design was appropriate for the location and environmental conditions of the Straits.
The pipe in the Straits is a 20 inch diameter, seamless pipe that is about 1 inch thick. It has an upper limit of testing at 1,700 pounds per square inch (psi) and an established maximum operating pressure of 600 psi. The pressure in that pipe across the Straits is generally under 200 psi, with an operating range from 0 to 300 psi.
Safety of the Straits involves inspections both inside the pipe and outside the pipe. Enbridge conducts external inspections of the pipe on a biannual basis; doing a full inspection of the Straits crossing every two years. Enbridge uses remote operated vehicles for these inspections and is working with Michigan Tech to develop an autonomous underwater vehicle to traverse the pipeline and get good quality data on spans, anchors, and support structures along the pipelines. Enbridge also conducts aerial patrols of the pipelines at least 26 times per year and more, if warranted. The Straits have automatic shutoff valves where the valves will shut automatically in the event that pressure drops, which starts shutdown of the pipeline system. There are remotely operated valves which control center operators can operate. There is new leak detection equipment technology and electric backup generation at the Straits to make sure valves can operate even in the event of a power outage. Enbridge is also working to improve secondary containment which will keep a leak from a facility or pipelines from migrating.
As mentioned, Enbridge spent 4.4 billion dollars over the past couple of years to improve safety. One of primary areas of focus is integrity and operational reliability programs - taking a look at all the pipelines in the system, doing extensive inspection runs through the pipes, identifying any anomalies, and doing thousands of integrity digs which include a comprehensive evaluation of the integrity of the pipeline and conducting repairs, if needed.
Enbridge has been working on many areas since the incident in Marshall, Michigan to improve safety and operational reliability of the pipeline system. Improvements since 2010 have occurred in the areas of pipeline and facility integrity, leak detection, pipeline and control center operations, public awareness, emergency response, and instituting a culture of safety. In particular, control center operations have seen tremendous change including a new facility, development of new procedures for control center operators and how they operate the line, new personnel with enhanced oversight and training, and a new accountability system. Public awareness efforts have been increased to make sure people know where pipelines are, what commodities they transport, and what to do in the event of a leak or rupture. Enbridge has created an Enbridge-wide emergency response team, making sure members throughout the various departments are trained in incident command system standards. There is an upcoming large-scale live exercise in Indian River involving the United States Coast Guard, EPA, other emergency responders, and local organizations to make sure the community is prepared to handle a spill. Enbridge has also made a $50 million investment over the last 2 years in emergency response equipment.
What are the benefits of the pipeline to the State and to the residents of Michigan? In 2013, Enbridge paid approximately 21 million dollars to the state in the form of state property tax, use, and income taxes. They employ approximately 250 employees and contractors in the state at 24 locations with an average annual salary of $82,000 per year. As far as the commodities transported in the pipeline, the natural gas liquids (NGLs) provide propane for Wisconsin and Michigan. Finally, the pipelines act as a conduit for the growing Michigan oil production.
Enbridge has also developed an emergency responder education program. It is an online training program that is free for pipeline emergency responders. First responders are encouraged to go through the program as it helps to establish the basics of gas and liquid pipelines and what are response tactics. As an incentive, Enbridge provides each organization with a $250 grant on an annual basis if they have employees do this training. The program is available to about 8,800 first responders in the U.S. and Canada and about 1,200 individuals have completed the training. It is part of Enbridge’s community investment program which provides funding through grants for first responders to obtain training or emergency response equipment. The grant program provides grants of $750-$1500 per year to participating entities and in 2013 that represented about $70,000 dollars to the State of Michigan.
Enbridge has been operating Line 5 across Northern Michigan safely for more than 60 years and are more committed today than ever to safety and operational reliability of that system and providing that vital link to the state of Michigan and beyond.
For Enbridge, safety is the cornerstone of the business. Since 2012, Enbridge has spent $4.4 billion in the area of reliability and safety. During the last 10 years, Enbridge has delivered approximately 13 billion barrels of crude oil for which the safety record overall, based on the barrels, is very good. However, the goal and target for Enbridge is zero pipeline incidents.
There are a number of components that contribute to safe operation of pipelines, including engineering design, materials used, corrosion control through coating and cathodic protection, integrity management, control center operations, and monitoring. Enbridge conducts routine aerial patrols over pipelines on a biweekly basis looking at right of way, looking for any problems that may be seen from the air, or any 3rd party activities that may pose a risk. Finally, Enbridge works on emergency response with training, development of response plans, and conducting/participating in live exercises and drills. Tactical response plans exist that lay out where the boom would go along the shoreline, where your access points would be, etc.
Looking specifically at the Straits of Mackinac crossing, the initial design is vitally important to the current state of the pipe. Back when the pipeline was constructed in 1953, it was an extensive engineering project. It was one that took a lot of attention and focus. It was done by probably the leading engineering company in North America at that time, Bechtel Corporation. It included peer reviews by the University of Michigan, Department of Naval Studies, and another university to make sure the design was appropriate for the location and environmental conditions of the Straits.
The pipe in the Straits is a 20 inch diameter, seamless pipe that is about 1 inch thick. It has an upper limit of testing at 1,700 pounds per square inch (psi) and an established maximum operating pressure of 600 psi. The pressure in that pipe across the Straits is generally under 200 psi, with an operating range from 0 to 300 psi.
Safety of the Straits involves inspections both inside the pipe and outside the pipe. Enbridge conducts external inspections of the pipe on a biannual basis; doing a full inspection of the Straits crossing every two years. Enbridge uses remote operated vehicles for these inspections and is working with Michigan Tech to develop an autonomous underwater vehicle to traverse the pipeline and get good quality data on spans, anchors, and support structures along the pipelines. Enbridge also conducts aerial patrols of the pipelines at least 26 times per year and more, if warranted. The Straits have automatic shutoff valves where the valves will shut automatically in the event that pressure drops, which starts shutdown of the pipeline system. There are remotely operated valves which control center operators can operate. There is new leak detection equipment technology and electric backup generation at the Straits to make sure valves can operate even in the event of a power outage. Enbridge is also working to improve secondary containment which will keep a leak from a facility or pipelines from migrating.
As mentioned, Enbridge spent 4.4 billion dollars over the past couple of years to improve safety. One of primary areas of focus is integrity and operational reliability programs - taking a look at all the pipelines in the system, doing extensive inspection runs through the pipes, identifying any anomalies, and doing thousands of integrity digs which include a comprehensive evaluation of the integrity of the pipeline and conducting repairs, if needed.
Enbridge has been working on many areas since the incident in Marshall, Michigan to improve safety and operational reliability of the pipeline system. Improvements since 2010 have occurred in the areas of pipeline and facility integrity, leak detection, pipeline and control center operations, public awareness, emergency response, and instituting a culture of safety. In particular, control center operations have seen tremendous change including a new facility, development of new procedures for control center operators and how they operate the line, new personnel with enhanced oversight and training, and a new accountability system. Public awareness efforts have been increased to make sure people know where pipelines are, what commodities they transport, and what to do in the event of a leak or rupture. Enbridge has created an Enbridge-wide emergency response team, making sure members throughout the various departments are trained in incident command system standards. There is an upcoming large-scale live exercise in Indian River involving the United States Coast Guard, EPA, other emergency responders, and local organizations to make sure the community is prepared to handle a spill. Enbridge has also made a $50 million investment over the last 2 years in emergency response equipment.
What are the benefits of the pipeline to the State and to the residents of Michigan? In 2013, Enbridge paid approximately 21 million dollars to the state in the form of state property tax, use, and income taxes. They employ approximately 250 employees and contractors in the state at 24 locations with an average annual salary of $82,000 per year. As far as the commodities transported in the pipeline, the natural gas liquids (NGLs) provide propane for Wisconsin and Michigan. Finally, the pipelines act as a conduit for the growing Michigan oil production.
Enbridge has also developed an emergency responder education program. It is an online training program that is free for pipeline emergency responders. First responders are encouraged to go through the program as it helps to establish the basics of gas and liquid pipelines and what are response tactics. As an incentive, Enbridge provides each organization with a $250 grant on an annual basis if they have employees do this training. The program is available to about 8,800 first responders in the U.S. and Canada and about 1,200 individuals have completed the training. It is part of Enbridge’s community investment program which provides funding through grants for first responders to obtain training or emergency response equipment. The grant program provides grants of $750-$1500 per year to participating entities and in 2013 that represented about $70,000 dollars to the State of Michigan.
Enbridge has been operating Line 5 across Northern Michigan safely for more than 60 years and are more committed today than ever to safety and operational reliability of that system and providing that vital link to the state of Michigan and beyond.
