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Senate Questions Pipeline Safety After Deadly San Bruno Blast
Tuesday, September 28, 2010 at 6:01 pm
- 32 Comments
A natural gas pipeline exploded in San Bruno, Calif., Sept. 9. (Flickr, Thomas Hawk)
Once PG&E discovered that a natural gas pipeline had exploded in San Bruno, Calif., earlier this month, employees from the utility company had to drive in rush-hour traffic to manually turn off two separate safety valves in order to stop the flow of gas that was fueling the blaze. It took the employees more than an hour to reach the valves and shut them off.
[Environment1] Lawmakers and pipeline safety advocates said today at a hearing of a Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation subcommittee that this is unacceptable. Utilities that operate pipelines in so-called high consequence areas — or areas near dense populations — should be required to install remote or automatic shutoff valves that will immediately stop the flow of gas in the event of an emergency.
This is not a new idea. Rick Kessler — vice president of the Pipeline Safety Trust, a non-profit group that advocates for pipeline safety — said his group has been calling for federal regulations that require the use of remote shutoff valves for about a decade. And Sen. Frank Lautenber (D-N.J.), chairman of the subsurface transportation subcommittee that held the hearing, has been calling for the valves since a massive 1994 natural gas pipeline explosion in Edison, N.J., killed one person and left 100 people without homes.
The San Bruno explosion killed eight people, injured many more and destroyed dozens of homes. The disaster has refocused attention on the issue of pipeline safety, an issue that was thrust into the spotlight earlier this year when a pipeline break in Michigan spilled 1 million gallons of oil into a tributary of the Kalamazoo River. As The Washington Independent reported in its series on pipeline safety, regulation, both at the state and federal levels, is severely lacking.
Now, Congress is moving forward to take action. The Obama administration offered its own proposal to reform pipeline oversight (the administration is also developing new leak detection rules), a proposal that Kessler said was woefully inadequate. The administration “put out a proposal that doesn’t address any of the issues raised by San Bruno,” he said, adding that it’s “too little, too late.”
Kessler recommended that any pipeline safety proposal require the installation of remote shutoff valves in high consequence areas, require companies to upgrade pipelines that cannot accommodate the best inspection equipment and mandate a complete review of the federal government’s requirements that the public be made aware of the existence and location of pipelines.
There are two other pipeline safety proposlals on the table in Congress. The first comes from California’s senators — Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D) and Barbara Boxer (D). The proposal is largely based on the Obama administration’s plan, but it would also require the use of remote shutoff valves, mandate advanced inspection technology, and require that the Obama administration write leak detection regulations. Lautenberg, along with full committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), introduced their own pipeline safety bill today that requires remote shutoff valves.
Meanwhile, in the House, the Transporation and Infrastructure Committee is in the process of reviewing the administration’s pipeline proposal and developing its own plan. As I’ve reported, it’s unlikely that any of these proposals will pass any time soon, since Congress is focusing on the mid-term elections.
Boxer, noting the potential for the legislation to take some time to move through Congress, pressed California Public Utilities Commission Executive Director Paul Clanon to require PG&E, the owner of the San Bruno pipeline, to begin installing more remote shutoff valves. Clanon said he had asked PG&E to identify the areas that it makes the most sense to install the valves.
PG&E President Christopher Johns, pressed by Boxer on the issue, said, “I will work with the PUC to put them in wherever it makes sense to put in.” Boxer said the valves should be put in all high-consequence areas. There are 3,600 miles of natural gas pipeline in high-consequence areas in California alone.
Installing the new valves across the whole country would be a massive undertaking that would require significant additional resources. As it stands now, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, the federal agency in charge of overseeing pipeline safety, is already significantly under-resourced.
PHMSA Administrator Cynthia Quarterman, pressed by Boxer on what the agency is doing to improve pipeline safety in light of the San Bruno disaster, said she is looking into the possibility of requiring more remote shutoff valves, but added that she was waiting to make significant decisions until the National Transportation Safety Board finished its investigation into the explosion.
Boxer said Quarterman should not wait. “It’s on our collective shoulders now. We have been warned,” she said. “I think you need to be proactive on this one and not wait for new information to come out.”
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32 Comments
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Comment posted September 30, 2010 @ 8:50 am
PHMSA Administrator Cynthia Quarterman, pressed by Boxer on what the agency is doing to improve pipeline safety in light of the San Bruno disaster, said she is looking into the possibility of requiring more remote shutoff valves, but added that she was waiting to make significant decisions until the National Transportation Safety Board finished its investigation into the explosion.
Comment posted October 5, 2010 @ 7:41 pm
You bet.. P.G.&E would be happy to do it as long as it is business as usual. Meaning as long as ratepayers foot the bill. Never mind it's their property and they should be responsible for its up-keep and maintenance. Nothing comes out of their pockets. Unless the ratepayers puts it there..
Pingback posted October 8, 2010 @ 3:57 am
[...] Senate Questions Pipeline Safety After Deadly San Bruno Blast … [...]
Comment posted October 8, 2010 @ 6:10 am
Boxer said Quarterman should not wait. “It’s on our collective shoulders now. We have been warned,” she said. “I think you need to be proactive on this one and not wait for new information to come out.”
It is a serious matter and he need to take any action soon.
Pingback posted October 11, 2010 @ 6:52 am
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Pingback posted October 12, 2010 @ 6:51 pm
[...] Senate Questions Pipeline Safety After Deadly San Bruno Blast … [...]
Pingback posted October 14, 2010 @ 2:15 pm
[...] Senate Questions Pipeline Safety After Deadly San Bruno Blast … [...]
Comment posted October 20, 2010 @ 6:46 am
They just keep on talking… unless their pockets are full…they won't take ant action.
Such a pipeline tragedy is a big concern to worry about the safety of people and standard of advanced countries…
Action should be taken immediately…instead of talking on it..
Pingback posted October 24, 2010 @ 12:08 pm
[...] Senate Questions Pipeline Safety After Deadly San Bruno Blast … [...]
Pingback posted October 25, 2010 @ 5:20 am
[...] Senate Questions Pipeline Safety After Deadly San Bruno Blast … [...]
Comment posted November 7, 2010 @ 2:14 pm
Why they all fight for the money???
Steven
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Trackback posted November 8, 2010 @ 4:00 am
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Comment posted December 20, 2010 @ 1:17 pm
This is Sad and Bad and pathetic on the part of the Government. Now we surely know that all the tax that we pay goes inside their fast filling bank accounts rather towards the constructions of bridges, pipelines and other things which concerns us. Senators are bigger Liars than Lawyers !
Comment posted December 23, 2010 @ 6:08 am
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Comment posted April 7, 2011 @ 9:11 am
Boxer said Quarterman should not wait. “It’s on our collective shoulders now. We have been warned,”
Nice statement come out finally.
Comment posted May 12, 2011 @ 10:06 am
Did u guys know? National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Deborah Hersman opened a
special three-day hearing on the San Bruno accident on Tuesday. She
acknowledged the pipeline rupture that sent a giant pillar of fire into
the air and left dozens of homes in the suburban San Francisco
neighborhood in fiery ruins has caused investigators to question
whether the same thing could happen elsewhere.
Comment posted August 22, 2011 @ 8:01 pm
Great and informative post.
Thanks for sharing!
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