Major PG&E gas line ruptures during test (and blows crater in rural field) [View All]

[Newsjock]

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

A major Pacific Gas and Electric Co. gas transmission line serving the Bay Area ruptured during a pressure test Monday south of Bakersfield, just as the company was planning to boost gas levels on the pipeline to meet winter demand.

The 34-inch transmission line that runs from the Arizona border to Milpitas failed during a spike test at 9 a.m., blowing a crater in an alfalfa field near the town of Weedpatch (Kern County), PG&E officials said.

The line is one of two parallel transmission pipes that run to a major PG&E terminal in Milpitas and provide much of the Bay Area's natural gas, officials say. A one-mile stretch was being tested as part of PG&E's effort to assure that its gas system is safe in the aftermath of last year's deadly pipeline explosion in San Bruno.

Company officials said it was too early to tell whether gas supplies will suffer this winter as a result of the failure. They did not have a timetable for when repairs would be made and the pipe returned to service.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/10/24/BA9U1LLOJ9.DTL&tsp=1