2013
Awards Review
American Gas Association Operations Conference
May 21-24 - Orlando, FL
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AWARDS LISTING GUIDE
Awards of Merit………………...…….….4
Gild of Ancient
Supplers Award…………………………..2
Industry Leader Accident
Prevention Certificates……...………..3
Meritorious Service Award…..……..1
Milton W. Heath, Sr.
Memorial Award……………….………..2
Safety Achievement Awards………3
Trailblazer Award..……………...………2
The 2013 AGA AWARDS REVIEW highlights industry specific awards and recognizes individuals who have made major contributions to the natural gas industry. The recipients are formally recognized at AGA’s Annual Operations Conference. The selection process is based on criteria involving professional and personal commitment and dedication to improving the operations and engineering sectors of the natural gas industry through safety, accident prevention, research, active AGA committee and event participation. Visit the Operations & Engineering Section of AGA’s web site, www.aga.org to download the Awards Manual.
The Meritorious Service Award, sponsored by Consolidated Edison Company of New York, is
awarded annually to the "individual who has performed the most meritorious act in the gas
industry in saving a human life during the prior calendar year." This year, AGA is proud to honor
National Grid's Collin Cathnott and Cleon-Sean Christie.
In early 2012, Mr. Christie and Mr. Cathnott witnessed an assault on a
woman in Queens, NY. The employees reported the incident to
Central Dispatch, who in turn contacted 911. The two service persons
heard the woman screaming, “Help me. He’s going to kill me.”
Mr. Christie, who was driving the company vehicle, quickly stopped
and both men witnessed the assailant punch the woman in her
stomach. When she fell to the ground the employees noticed a knife
in his hands.
Collin Cathnott immediately called 911 while Cleon-Sean Christie
again reported the incident to Central Dispatch. The attack continued
even while Mr. Christie and Mr. Cathnott yelled for the assailant to
leave the woman alone. The men then drove towards the attacker at
which point he stopped and began to walk away.
Mr. Christie left the vehicle and followed the assailant at a safe distance while keeping him in
sight. Mr. Cathnott, not wanting to lose sight of his partner, followed both men with the vehicle.
With the suspect in his sights, Mr. Christie flagged down a nearby NYPD vehicle which resulted
in the capture and arrest of the attacker.
Emergency Management Services (EMS) and New York City Police
Department officers (NYPD) arrived on the scene within a matter of
minutes. EMS proceeded to attend to the female victim, who was
injured, transporting her to a local hospital for treatment of her
injuries. A follow-up with the NYPD confirmed that following
treatment for her injuries, the woman was discharged to recuperate
at home. The attacker was arrested and charged and he’s currently
awaiting prosecution.
Mr. Cathnott and Mr. Christie had options on that winter day. They
didn't have to act on that situation. They had a list of calls to answer
and they could have just as easily turned a blind-eye and continued
on their way. Or they could have misread the situation and headed
in in full-force and made matters worse. Instead they assessed the situation, remained calm and
acted wisely. Those are the actions that make everyday people into life-saving heroes.
Christie
Cathnott
MERITORIOUS SERVICE AWARD
MILTON W. HEATH, SR. MEMORIAL AWARD
The Milton W. Heath, Sr. Memorial Award,
sponsored by Heath Consultants Inc., recognizes
the individual who, in the past five years, has
made an outstanding contribution to leak
detection, prevention or repair.
This year's Milton W. Heath, Sr. Memorial Award
is presented to Angelo Fabiano formerly with
NYSEARCH/Northeast Gas Association.
Mr. Fabiano's initiatives to introduce new
technologies to the marketplace for such things
as advanced mobile leak detection systems
(ViewGas, realSense, RMLD, etc.); monitoring of
activities near pipeline (PLE Video Surveillance,
Advanced PipeGuard System, etc.); inspecting
and evaluating PE joints (NDE Technologies) and
PE sleeve for joint repair and integrity (NUPI-
GECO project) have been of great help to the
natural gas industry.
AGA and Health Consultants, Inc. are pleased to
honor him today for his efforts in developing
these technologies for enhancing pipeline safety
and integrity.
GILD OF ANCIENT
SUPPLERS AWARD
Don Kopczynski, vice president of
operations with Avista Corporation
in Spokane, WA, is honored with
this year’s Gild of Ancient Supplers
Award for his exceptional
leadership and service to AGA and
the natural gas industry.
America’s natural gas utilities operate the safest
energy delivery system in the nation made up of
more than two million miles of pipelines. Utility
leadership and employees think about their
customers every moment of every day as they
work to deliver essential energy safely and
efficiently to homes and businesses across the
country. I want to congratulate our award
recipients who exemplify this effort and are shining
examples of the commitment their utility and our
industry have to serving our communities.
Dave McCurdy, AGA President & CEO
TRAILBLAZER AWARD
AGA's Trailblazer Award is reserved for those individuals who have made a notable commitment in
representing AGA on time-sensitive matters of advocacy and/or technology outside the general scope of
technical committees in the AGA Operating Section. These individuals championed their cause and
benefited the entire natural gas utility community.
This year AGA recognizes two such individuals - Henry W. Poellnitz III of Kinder Morgan and Robert D.
Wilson of National Grid - who were instrumental in creating and leading the task force focused on
development of AGA's "Natural Gas Quality Management Manual."
AGA's Transmission Measurement Committee recognized a need to create a comprehensive technical
document explaining the basic concepts of gas properties and the related impacts on distribution and
transmission pipelines. The purpose was to provide engineers and technicians with a reference that fully
explains every aspect of gas properties allowing for effective management of the gas quality within their
systems and to avoid any adverse effect on their customers and their pipeline operations.
While many individuals generously lent their expertise and time to the development of this document,
AGA is very pleased to award Mr. Poellnitz and Mr. Wilson with the Trailblazer Award for going above and
beyond in developing and finalizing the publication.
The following AGA member companies
earned Safety Achievement Awards by
experiencing the lowest motor vehicle
accident rate for companies of their
type.
LOCAL DISTRIBUTION
UniSource Energy Services (Tucson, AZ)
COMBINATION
Liberty Utilities (Salem, NH)
TRANSMISSION
Dow Pipeline Company (Freeport, TX)
SMALL MEMBER COMPANIES*
Cheniere Pipeline Company - Creole
Trail Pipeline (Cameron, LA)
* All companies with a fleet mileage less than
1,000,000 miles were considered a small
member.
LOCAL DISTRIBUTION
Small
Knoxville Utilities Board (Knoxville, TN)
Medium-Small
Intermountain Gas Company (Boise, ID)
Medium-Large
TECO Peoples Gas (Tampa, FL)
Large
We Energies (Milwaukee, WI)
Very Large
COMGÁS (Sao Paulo, Brazil)
Columbia Gas of Ohio (Columbus, OH)
Mega
Enbridge Gas Distribution (Ontario, Canada)
COMBINATION
Medium
CoServ Gas (Corinth, TX)
Large
PECO Energy (Philadelphia, PA)
TRANSMISSION
Medium
ONEOK Natural Gas Pipeline Company
(Tulsa, OK)
Large
Southern Star Central Gas Pipeline, Inc.
(Owensboro, KY)
2012 SAFETY ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS The following AGA member companies have earned Safety Achievement Awards by experiencing the lowest incident rate for the number of days away from work, restricted or transferred (DART) among companies of their size and type, based upon a maximum figure of 1,960 hours worked per employee.
2012 INDUSTRY LEADER
ACCIDENT PREVENTION
CERTIFICATES
The AGA member companies listed below have earned Accident Prevention Certificates by achieving a DART (days away from work, restricted or transferred) incident rate below the industry average for their company type. Local Distribution Companies
Small
Knoxville Utilities Board (Knoxville, TN)
The Energy Cooperative (Newark, OH)
Columbia Gas of Maryland (Canonsburg, PA)
Fort Pierce Utilities Authority (Fort Pierce,
FL)
Clearwater Gas System (Clearwater, FL)
Columbia Gas of Kentucky (Lexington, KY)
Medium-Small
Intermountain Gas Company (Boise, ID)
Entergy Gas Distribution (New Orleans, LA)
Dominion Hope Gas (Clarksburg, WV)
Peoples TWP (Butler, PA)
Delmarva Power & Light Company
(Wilmington, DE)
Large
We Energies (Milwaukee, WI)
Black Hills Energy Gas Utilities (Rapid City,
SD)
Citizens Energy Group (Indianapolis, IN)
PSNC Energy, A SCANA Company (Gastonia,
NC)
Peoples Natural Gas (Pittsburgh, PA)
Consolidated Edison Co. (New York, NY)
Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania (Canonsburg,
PA)
Large
PECO Energy (Philadelphia, PA)
Puget Sound Energy (Bellevue, WA)
Vectren Corporation (Evansville, IN)
Ameren Corporation (St. Louis, MO)
Xcel Energy (Minneapolis, MN)
Northern Indiana Public Service Company
(Merrillville, IN)
MidAmerican Energy Company (Des
Moines, IA)
Baltimore Gas & Electric Company
(Baltimore, MD)
Transmission Companies
Medium
ONEOK Natural Gas Pipeline Co. (Tulsa,
OK)
Dow Pipeline Company (Angleton, TX)
Eastern Shore Natural Gas Co. (Dover, DE)
Cheniere Pipeline Company - Creole Trail
Pipeline (Cameron, LA)
Crossroads Pipeline Company (Houston,
TX)
Carolina Gas Transmission Corp.
(Columbia, SC)
Columbia Gulf Transmission (Houston, TX)
Large
Southern Star Central Gas Pipeline, Inc.
(Owensboro, KY)
CenterPoint Energy (Houston, TX)
TransCanada Corporation (Alberta,
Canada)
El Paso Pipeline Group (Houston, TX)
Spectra Energy Corporation (Houston, TX)
Medium-Large
TECO Peoples Gas (Tampa, FL)
Equitable Gas Company (Pittsburgh, PA)
Columbia Gas of Virginia (Chester, VA)
Very Large
COMGÁS (Sao Paulo, Brazil)
Columbia Gas of Ohio (Columbus, OH)
Questar Gas Company (Salt Lake City, UT)
Dominion East Ohio (Cleveland, OH)
SourceGas LLC (Lakewood, CO)
UGI Utilities, Inc. (Reading, PA)
Mega
Enbridge Gas Distribution (Ontario, Can-
ada)
Public Service Electric and Gas (Newark,
NJ)
CenterPoint Energy Gas (Houston, TX)
Union Gas Limited (Ontario, Canada)
DTE Gas Company (Detroit, MI)
AGL Resources (Atlanta, GA)
Atmos Energy Corporation (Dallas, TX)
Southwest Gas Corp. (Las Vegas, NV)
Piedmont Natural Gas (Charlotte, NC)
Combination Companies
Medium
CoServ Gas, Ltd. (Corinth, TX)
NorthWestern Energy (Butte, MT)
Alliant Energy (Madison, WI)
Duke Energy (Charlotte, NC)
Montana-Dakota Utilities (Bismarck, ND)
Madison Gas & Electric Co. (Madison, WI)
Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp.
(Poughkeepsie, NY)
AWARDS OF MERIT
The individuals listed have earned AGA Awards of Merit for
their active and continuous service to the AGA Operating
Section through participation on technical committees, as well
as leadership on AGA events. The awards are based on a
cumulative point system.
Platinum Award of Merit (100 points)
Craig R. Hoeferlin, Laclede Gas Company
Richard R. Lonn, AGL Resources Gold Award of Merit (75 points)
Eugene Conkling, New Jersey Natural Gas Company
Janet R. Fox, Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc.
Bruce Paskett, NW Natural
Tushar Shah, Eagle Research Corporation
Parashar N. Sheth, PE, National Grid
Silver Award of Merit (50 points)
Joe W. Bronner, (Consultant)
David W. Busch, Citizens Energy Group
John R. Hand, Spectra Energy Corp
Kimberley Heimsath, Questar Gas Company
Abed Houssari, DTE Energy
Dennis R. Jarnecke, GTI - Gas Technology Institute
Paul J. LaNasa, Consultant - CEESI
Daniel A. Norden, Baltimore Gas & Electric Company
Thomas L. Puracchio, Integrys Energy Group
Daniel H. Rebman, UniversalPegasus International
Thomas R. Reburn, Alagasco
Joseph R. Ryan, Louisville Gas and Electric Company
Silver Award of Merit (50 points) cont...
Douglas E. Stearns, PE, JMS Natural Gas Consulting LLC
Kevin D. Swiger, PE, NiSource Gas Distribution
Thomas J. Taylor, Consumers Energy
Phil Whittemore, GE Oil & Gas
Daniel J. Woehrle, PE, Xcel Energy Inc.
Michael R. Zerella, National Grid
Bronze Award of Merit (25 points)
Christopher W. Ampfer, Duke Energy Corporation
Russell E. Anderson, Chevron Pipeline Co.
William D. Baker, Avista Corporation
Mark Bridgers, Continuum Advisory Group
Don Bryant, Citizens Energy Group
Mark Clayton, CenterPoint Energy
Kevin S. Dugan, Vectren Corporation
Thomas R. Eells, We Energies
Michael A. Ferens, Consumers Energy
Chris Foley, RCP Inc.
Ricardo O. Guzman, City of Corpus Christi
Jon G Huddleston, NW Natural
Thomas J. Jansen, We Energies
Larry D. Kennedy, Jr., El Paso Corporation
Joseph A. Kindernay, Ameren Illinois
Scott A. Kranstuber, Elster American Meter
Mark J. Lilly, NW Natural
Steven L. Lindsey, Laclede Gas Company (Retired)
Michael O. Lynch, DTE Energy
Deborah A. Marroquin, City of Corpus Christi
Benjamin O. McReynolds, Laclede Gas Company
Jim Miller, InfraSource Inc.
Giuseppe A. Mirasola, Consolidated Edison Company of New
York, Inc.
Luke Monaghan, Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc.
Christopher R. Moore, Enbridge Gas Distribution Inc.
Edward Newton, San Diego Gas & Electric Co/Southern California
Gas Co
Eric Pearson, Eastern Shore Natural Gas Company
Janet M. Penz, ITRON, Inc.
Kraig E. Sanders, New Jersey Natural Gas Company
Daniel D. Scarberry, Dominion East Ohio
James R. Selman, ONEOK, Inc.
Jason S. Stanek, Metropolitan Utilities District
Glenn R. Sundheimer, Louisville Gas and Electric Company
Larry R. Thorson, Questar Gas Company
Somali S. Tomczak, AGL Resources
Mark D. Whitman, PECO Energy
John B. Wyckoff, PE, New Jersey Natural Gas Company
Grant M. Yoshihara, NW Natural
Shelly K. Young, GL Noble Denton