Kennewick-based Cascade Natural Gas Corp. could be required to pay a $1 million fine if the state’s utilities and transportation commission agrees with its staff’s findings that the company violated an agreement regarding the safety of its pipelines.

The Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC) had previously agreed to suspend the penalty in connection with a 2018 settlement. However, the agency’s pipeline safety staff said the reporting of a pipeline leak in March 2024 allegedly showed that Cascade failed to conduct a required leak survey in the right location due to errors in the company’s Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping. 

Cascade questioned the agency staff’s findings in response documents filed with the UTC,  noting that “imposing the entirety of the suspended penalty is disproportionate and inconsistent” with the earlier settlement as leak surveys had no penalty amount associated with a violation.

“We believe we have satisfied the terms of the 2018 Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (WUTC) Amended Settlement Agreement and have submitted the appropriate documentation to support our compliance with the commission’s order,” said Mark Snider, Cascade’s senior public relations representative, in a statement to the Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business. “We also continue to invest in our systems and processes to best manage the business.”

Cascade serves more than 222,000 customers in 67 communities throughout Washington state, including Aberdeen, Bellingham, Bremerton, Kennewick, Longview, Moses Lake, Mount Vernon, Sunnyside, Walla Walla, Wenatchee and Yakima. 

The settlement agreement stems from standard inspections in 2013 of Cascade’s facilities in Kennewick, Longview and Bellingham. Cascade was found to not have proper documentation regarding its high pressure pipelines, specifically data validating the maximum allowable operating pressure, or MAOP, of several pipelines.

UTC agreed to suspend $1.5 million of the original $2.5 million penalty as long as the company implemented a plan to validate the MAOP for all its pipelines operating above 60 pounds per square inch gauge. The plan also required Cascade to conduct quarterly leak surveys over its transmission pipelines until validation of those pipelines was complete. That validation work is to include pressure testing existing pipelines to ensure it can safely operate at its intended pressure levels.    

In March 2024, Cascade reported it had discovered a leak in a transmission pipeline in Skagit County following a failed pressure test in June 2023, according to a news release. Cascade was initially unable to find the leak despite conducting six leak surveys. UTC staff found that Cascade’s leak surveys were conducted in the wrong location due to inaccuracies in the company’s GIS mapping, allowing the pipeline to leak for an undetermined amount of time. Cascade repaired the pipeline segment and returned it to service in May 2024.

Cascade contends in its response that it kept UTC staff informed and updated of its efforts regarding the leak, including keeping the pipeline below the level that the settlement agreement would require the pipeline to be surveyed.

“Despite mapping errors, which were unexpected and were not contemplated in either the initial or Amended Settlement Agreement, Cascade has substantially complied with its obligations,” Cascade said in its response. “The Commission should exercise its discretion to deny Staff’s Motion and continue suspension of the penalties.”

The UTC is not bound by its staff’s recommendation for the penalty to be reinstated.