The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission fined Northern Indiana Public Service Co. for failing to keep accurate records of its underground pipeline facilities, in violation of state pipeline safety rules.
The NiSource Inc. utility, also called NIPSCO, agreed to pay $900,000 in civil penalties, the highest in the state's history, according to a Nov. 29 news release. Due to the inaccurate maps and records, NIPSCO failed to locate its pipelines in two days, as required under its pipeline safety rules.
NIPSCO was also directed to provide information and ongoing reporting to the state's pipeline safety division and the Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor. The utility is required to report performance metrics for locating its facilities, adopt a pipeline safety management system and improve collaboration with the pipeline safety division of the commission.
"The commission is extremely concerned that there does not appear to be a sense of urgency on behalf of NIPSCO to update and modernize its pipeline maps and records," the regulator said in its order. "Based on the evidence presented and the possible consequences that may occur as a result of being unable to accurately locate its facilities, it is imperative that NIPSCO use its resources to complete these reforms as soon as possible."
NIPSCO received notices of probable violations in 2016, which referred to information submitted by the utility between mid-2015 and early 2016.
The utility pledged to improve its pipe safety efforts. It noted that it recently terminated a contract with its existing utility locating company and started working with new companies with additional oversight to improve the timeliness and accuracy of locating requests.
