Our business involves many hazards and operational risks, some of which may not be fully covered by
insurance.
Our operations, and the operations of third parties, are subject to many hazards inherent in the gathering,
compressing, treating, processing, storage and transporting of natural gas, propane and NGLs, including:
• damage to pipelines, plants, terminals, storage facilities and related equipment and surrounding
properties caused by hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, fires and other natural disasters and acts of terrorism;
• inadvertent damage from construction, farm and utility equipment;
• leaks of natural gas, propane, NGLs and other hydrocarbons from our pipelines, plants, terminals, or
storage facilities, or losses of natural gas, propane or NGLs as a result of the malfunction of equipment
or facilities;
• contaminants in the pipeline system;
• fires and explosions; and
• other hazards that could also result in personal injury and loss of life, pollution and suspension of
operations.
These risks could result in substantial losses due to personal injury and/or loss of life, severe damage to
and destruction of property and equipment and pollution or other environmental damage and may result in
curtailment or suspension of our related operations. We are not fully insured against all risks inherent to our
business, including offshore wind. In accordance with typical industry practice, we do not have any property
insurance on any of our underground pipeline systems that would cover damage to the pipelines. We are not
insured against all environmental accidents that might occur, which may include toxic tort claims, other than
those considered to be sudden and accidental. In some instances, certain insurance could become unavailable or
available only for reduced amounts of coverage, or may become prohibitively expensive, and we may elect not
to carry such a policy.
Volatility in the capital markets may adversely impact our liquidity.
The capital markets may experience volatility, which may lead to financial uncertainty. Our access to
funds under the Credit Agreement is dependent on the ability of the lenders that are party to the Credit
Agreement to meet their funding obligations. Those lenders may not be able to meet their funding commitments
if they experience shortages of capital and liquidity. If lenders under the Credit Agreement were to fail to fund
their share of the Credit Agreement, our available borrowings could be further reduced. In addition, our
borrowing capacity may be further limited by the Credit Agreement’s financial covenant requirements.
A significant downturn in the economy could adversely affect our results of operations, financial position
or cash flows. In the event that our results were negatively impacted, we could require additional borrowings. A
deterioration of the capital markets could adversely affect our ability to access funds on reasonable terms in a
timely manner.
Future disruptions in the global credit markets may make equity and debt markets less accessible and
capital markets more costly, create a shortage in the availability of credit and lead to credit market
volatility, which could disrupt our financing plans and limit our ability to grow.
From time to time, public equity markets experience significant declines, and global credit markets
experience a shortage in overall liquidity and a resulting disruption in the availability of credit. Future
disruptions in the global financial marketplace, including the bankruptcy or restructuring of financial
institutions, could make equity and debt markets inaccessible and adversely affect the availability of credit
already arranged and the availability and cost of credit in the future. We have availability under our credit
facility, but our ability to borrow under that facility could be impaired if one or more of our lenders fails to
honor its contractual obligation to lend to us.
As a publicly traded partnership, these developments could significantly impair our ability to make
acquisitions or finance growth projects. We distribute all of our available cash, as defined in our partnership
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