According to a Wall Street article, California Gas Line Had Unusual Construction, a natural gas pipeline, owned by PG&E Corporation, exploded in San Bruno on Thursday September, 9, 2010. This disaster took the lives of more than four individuals and destroyed 58 homes. Though the cause of the explosion is not yet verified, many believe that it may be attributed to the configuration of the pipeline. The pipeline contained numerous welds which NTSB Vice Chairman, Christopher Hart, believes “could have weakened the pipe” thus making it more susceptible to rupture. It could also be attributed to the manual shutoff valves, despite the recommendation of many researchers to install automatic shutoff valves. Automatic shutoff valves would have stopped the continual flow of gas thus preventing gas from further fueling the fire.
Federal investigators continue to investigate for other factors such as, pre-existing leaks-as claimed by the members of the community, heavy excavation done in the vicinity, and the kind of affect having too much welds could have on the strength of the gas pipeline.
PG&E, who supplies gas and electricity to millions of families in California, may be put into a tight situation due to this explosion. The unusual configuration of the pipelines, PG&E’s refusal to report dates of last inspection or last repairment, and their lack of action when some members of the community placed complaints of a possible gas leak before the explosion, is unethical and may as a result cause PG&E their reputation.
I also think that this incident will start to raise question about the safety of gas pipelines altogether.
ReplyDelete~Mimi Tekeste
I see many similarities between a company like PG and E and BP in the area of safety. In my most rect blog post I talked about how the oil industry had become complacent with policies and safety since their had been no major incidents in 20 years. Im sure in the case of PG and E they also had become complacent with their procedures and safety protocol. I don't understand why companies in the energy field don't become more responsible and start worrying about risk instead of profit especially when so many people depend on their services.
ReplyDelete-Jaisukh Samaha