el paso south mainline shut - in extended el paso south mainline shut - in extended the u . s . transportation department ' s office of pipeline safety ( ops ) has ordered all three of the pipes comprising el paso natural gas ' 1 bcf / d south mainline from texas to california to remain closed until extensive tests can be done to ensure they are safe to operate . the order came in the wake of saturday ' s explosion and fire that ripped through one of those lines , the 30 - inch pipeline 1103 , at a pecos river crossing near carlsbad , nm , killing 11 people . because of the internal corrosion discovered on the failed section of pipeline , ops is directing el paso to submit a corrective action plan for ops approval that will identify all areas on approximately 330 miles of pipeline that may be subject to internal corrosion , " said kelley s . coyner , head of the research and special programs administration ( rspa ) for the ops , in a prepared statement . the dot " is requiring that all segments of the three pipelines in the vicinity of pecos river remain closed until such time that the department has determined that the pipeline segments are safe to operate . " this is necessary to " protect the public and the environment and to prevent a similar failure on this pipeline system . " the plan will require inspection , assessment , and repair or replacement of all damaged areas . " based on the results of these and other tests , el paso must develop a plan to assess the integrity of the remainder of its 10 , 000 mile pipeline system . " the ops " corrective action order " was issued late wednesday , after el paso officials had been saying for most of the day it was only a matter of hours before at least one of the lines was back in operation . one industry source said testing could easily take three weeks to a month , even if no repairs are necessary . the ops order directs el paso to : 1 ) conduct hydrostatic pressure testing of the lines ; 2 ) perform a direct assessment of the integrity of the pipelines by both x - ray and ultrasonic examinations ; and 3 ) because internal corrosion has been detected in the failed section of the pipeline , el paso also must submit a corrective action plan to ops identifying all areas on the approximately 330 miles of pipeline that may have internal corrosion . even if el paso passes all these tests and ops allows it to return to service , each of the three lines will be subject to a 20 % pressure restriction , according to coyner . the restriction will be reviewed in 10 working days , and may be removed upon the receipt of more information about the factors that contributed to the aug . 19 explosion . ops has the authority to take other actions if warranted . the ops yesterday issued the seven - page corrective action order , which permits it to suspend or restrict the operations of a pipeline , after it determined that the el paso lines were hazardous . el paso has been notified of the order , and it has 10 days to request a hearing to be held in either houston or washington dc . if el paso fails to comply with any part of the order , it could face civil penalties of up to $ 25 , 000 a day , and the case could be referred to the u . s . attorney general for " appropriate relief " in the u . s . district court , according to stacey gerard , associate administrator for pipeline safety . preliminary investigations of ruptured line 1103 by the ops and the national transportation safety board ( ntsb ) indicate that " significant internal corrosion was visible on the failed section . internal corrosion may have been a contributing factor in the line failure . the possibility of internal corrosion on other lines in the area is a safety concern . " the ops order applies to the 30 - inch line 1103 , which incurred the most damage , and the parallel 26 - inch line 1100 that " sustained an undetermined amount of damage at the pecos river crossing due to the fire . " it also covers the adjacent 30 - inch line 1110 , whose damages are still undetermined . lines 1103 and 1110 were built in 1950 , and line 1100 in 1947 . within 90 days , el paso will be required to submit to the ops southwest region director an " analysis of the continued safe operation " of the three lines " based on the testing and inspection required under this order . " in related action . rep . john dingell ( d - mi ) , who has been a sharp critic of ops for its allegedly lax handling of pipeline safety violators , is in the process of drafting a letter to the agency to determine whether its failure to take aggressive action towards pipelines may have created an atmosphere that led to the tragedy on el paso . - -