Working with the Communities We Serve

Landowner Relations

Colonial Pipeline Co. makes a genuine effort to work together as a team with local emergency responders including fire and police departments, contractors and local and state public officials. This teamwork involves numerous open houses, meetings and training sessions including the following:

Emergency response training

Colonial provides emergency response training for responders across the country. In August 1997, Colonial held a day-long training program in protective boom deployment for emergency responders from Greenville, Pickens, Spartanburg and Anderson Counties in South Carolina. Over 60 responders, along with participants from Colonial’s Mid-Atlantic District, received classroom instruction and participated in a practice boom deployment. Because local officials are often the first to respond to a pipeline leak, these training sessions can help provide important training in how to respond to a leak.

HAZWOPER classes

Colonial holds numerous Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER) training classes yearly. These classes provide training, not only to Colonial employees, but to a number of local emergency responders who are Colonial’s pipeline neighbors as well. HAZWOPER training includes exercises such as building containment dams and structures on the ground, as well as the deployment of boom on the water.

Spill drills

Spill drills are held twice a year along Colonial’s system. These drills involve representatives from Colonial’s Emergency Response Team as well as team members from the district involved. These elaborate scenarios include the use of aerial patrol planes and boom deployment. In addition, local contractors, as well as fire and police departments, work as a team along with Colonial employees. These drills help Colonial personnel, as well as loyal contractors and emergency response personnel, to be prepared and well-trained in the unlikely event of an accident.

Colonial team members regularly meet with local officials, county sheriffs, fire chiefs and other emergency response personnel as a part of Colonial’s ongoing effort to improve pipeline safety. These meetings are held to answer any questions or concerns that they might have regarding on-going pipeline operations in the community.