Final Report On The Pacific Gas & Electric Co. Pipeline Explosion

A final report was released this past Monday by the National Transportation Safety Board laying blame on Pacific Gas & Electric Co

. for a gas pipeline explosion near San Francisco on September 9, 2010. The explosion killed eight people and devastated a suburban neighborhood, damaging over 100 homes in the area.

The Board posted online its 140-page report and 20-minute video, which revealed the details of the yearlong investigation. The explosion and fire happened in the companys San Bruno plant, where escaping gas ignited a 300 foot flame for over 90 minutes. Finally workers were able to close off the valves that cut off the source of gas, leaving eight dead and dozens more injured.

The report revealed that the Pacific Gas & Electric Co. was completely at fault for the accident due to numerous safety and precautionary failures that were overlooked by regulators. The safety failures that led up to the explosion had begun over 50 years ago with inferior welding on the pipes. Somewhere along the line, this pipe was recorded as being seamless, which allowed them a higher pressure limit.

Proper pressure tests and even visual inspections would have revealed the inconsistency, but were not performed. The company would have also experienced much less damage if they had installed an automatic shut-off valve, instead of the manual valve that took almost an hour for workers to close. In addition to the companys equipment failures, they neglected to contact emergency responders in a timely manner, allowing the fire to burn out of control. The National Transportation Safety Board is considering the explosion one of the most significant pipeline accidents in the last decade because it exposed the many unregulated safety hazards.

As a result, the National Transportation Safety Board has issued 39 safety recommendations to Pacific Gas & Explosion Co. but it is unsure if Congress and federal regulators will enforce all of 39 due to the steep price tag. Executive Director of the Safety Pipeline Trust was quoted saying, everyone knows doing that going back and putting in these valves in or doing these pressure tests that should have been done 40 years ago is a costly thingIt would cost hundreds of millions of dollars. I think Congress is hesitant to require regulations that would cost that much money without a clear sense of how many lives would be saved.

For more accident and injury news, visit our Waco or Killen personal injury lawyer blog at jeffdavislawfirm.com.

by: Davis Law

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