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APGA Holds 2021 Operations Conference in Memphis

By Erin Kurilla posted 10-28-2021 11:46 AM

  
This week, APGA welcomed over 200 individuals to the APGA Operations Conference in Memphis, TN at the Guest House at Graceland. APGA thanks all the presenters, panelists, moderators, sponsors, exhibitors, and attendees that joined us for this event. The conference program was packed with informative content that educated attendees on a range of topics from using ground penetrating radar to locate plastic lines to vacuum purging to mitigate methane emissions during natural gas projects. We also hope that the program challenges attendees to think beyond their everyday operational challenges with member panels on topics like environmental stewardship and safety culture.
The opening general session included keynote presentations on pipeline safety and security from Alan Mayberry, the Associate Administrator of Pipeline Safety at the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), a state regulator pipeline safety update from Mary Friend, the current chair of the National Association of Pipeline Safety Regulators and West Virginia’s Director of Pipeline Safety, and Joshua Otters and Jason Middleton both from Memphis Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation who presented on pipeline security.

On Wednesday there were three concurrent breakout tracks: Safety & Compliance, Operations & Engineering, and Environmental in the morning and Workforce Development in the afternoon. Attendees heard from peer APGA member systems, the industry research and development community, and subject matter experts on over 30 different topics.
This is a special industry that values sharing and collaborating. APGA is thankful for the opportunity to facilitate the only event that brings together public natural gas operators from all over the country and the vendors and service providers that support them.

APGA is also offering a virtual opportunity for the APGA Operations Conference this year. The presentations will be a combination of highlights from the Operations Conference and new presentations from presenters who were unable to attend the event in Memphis. Registrants for the virtual event will have access to eight live presentations on the following topics:

1. November 10 - Pipeline Safety & Compliance
2. November 12 - APGA Member Best Practices
3. November 17 - Engineering & Construction: Tools and Technologies
4. November 18 - Environmental Stewardship for Gas Distribution Operators

All in-person APGA Operations Conference registrants are invited to participate free of charge and for those that missed the event there will be a small, separate fee. Sessions will be recorded and available to all registrants at the conclusion of the virtual event.

For questions on this article, please contact Erin Kurilla of APGA staff by phone at 202-464-2742 or by email at ekurilla@apga.org.

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