PORTLAND, Maine — Summit Natural Gas of Maine has agreed to pay a $100,000 fine to state regulators and change several of its training practices for employees and contractors after it caused damage to sewer mains during installations in the Kennebec Valley.
The Maine Public Utilities Commission approved the fine amount and a consent agreement outlining how the company will change its training practices to prevent future problems related to using trenchless horizontal drilling to lay natural gas pipelines.
Mark Vannoy, chairman of the PUC, said during deliberations Tuesday he believes the company has taken seriously the violations, which he said “are a reflection on management.”
“I find [the contractor’s] lack of oversight to be particularly egregious,” Vannoy said before approving the consent agreement to resolve the matter.
In the report alleging the violations, the PUC’s gas safety manager noted the violations in the worst case could have led to gas leaking out between sewer lines and the soil, then entering basements, where pilot lights or furnaces could have ignited the gas.
Since discovering the probable violations, state regulators have required the company to verify it has not damaged sewer lines before starting the flow of gas through its lines. That has delayed installation of natural gas lines in the region before the current heating season.
Commissioner David Littell also voted to approve the consent agreement and said preventing damage to other utilities during the expansion of natural gas pipelines using trenchless drilling is a national issue.
“It’s an issue of many areas where they’re expanding their local distribution company infrastructure, and it has to be managed appropriately,” Littell said, noting that natural gas infrastructure safety was a topic at a recent meeting of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners.
The consent agreement resolves the second recent violation notice from state regulators to Summit. The company in December agreed to pay $25,000 to settle a proposed $100,000 fine related to problems with contractor and worker training.
Regulators also have suggested a $30,000 fine for the company not following proper procedures when fusing plastic pipes and $20,000 for improperly fusing butt joints.