California energy giant PG&E releases list of 100 most dangerous gas pipelines

[Hannah Bell]

Following the deadly gas pipeline explosion September 9 in San Bruno, California, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and energy giant Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) have been under mounting pressure to release internal company information about the most dangerous sections of gas pipeline in northern and central California. On Monday the company reluctantly released the list, which has only heightened concerns that the region’s population is sitting on a number of gas explosion “time bombs.”

Included in the list is a section of gas pipeline stretching several dozen miles from Tracy in the San Joaquin Valley to South Fremont in the San Francisco Bay Area that has been deemed the “highest risk” section. This decrepit pipeline was originally installed in 1930 and passes through several major population centers. PG&E said in a prior funding request that 10 segments of the Tracy-Fremont line (Line 107) have a “high likelihood of design materials initiated failure.”

On Line 107 there is an especially hazardous section 10 miles long between Livermore and Sunol. Company reports say the pipeline in this area is at risk because of corrosion, aging materials and ground movement, according to the Bay Citizen. Doug Burkhart, who runs Livermore’s Smith Denison Construction Company, which works with gas pipes, told the Bay Citizen that such old pipes do not have “cathodic protection” to resist corrosion like most pipes made since the late 1960s, when regulators began to require the protection.

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/sep2010/sanb-s25.shtml

[Nikki Stone1]

1. Who would unrec this?

Thanks for posting.

[avaistheone1]

2. Yikes! I live near one of the highest risk sections

:scared:

k&r

[Nikki Stone1]

3. .

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