Pollution From Pipelines

DOT Lacks Prevention Program and Information for Timely Response Gao ID: RCED-91-60 January 28, 1991

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO examined federal efforts to prevent and respond to water pollution from petroleum pipeline spills.

GAO found that: (1) the Department of Transportation (DOT) did not establish a program to prevent water pollution caused by pipeline spills; (2) DOT delegated the responsibility for preventing water pollution from transportation and pipeline activities to the Coast Guard; (3) the Coast Guard had a program to prevent water pollution from vessels, but not from pipelines, and had not dedicated the necessary resources to establish such a program; (4) the Research and Special Programs Administration (RSPA) had a program to reduce the risk of pipeline accidents, but preventing water pollution was an incidental effect, not a specific goal of the program; (5) DOT began to reevaluate the delegation of responsibility to the Coast Guard for pipeline pollution prevention; (6) federal agencies lacked information needed to adequately plan for pipeline spills and quickly stop and contain ongoing spills; and (7) no responsible federal agency knew the locations and operators of all petroleum pipelines.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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