PG&E planned to fix nearby pipe
David R. Baker - 09/16/2010
Pacific Gas and Electric Co. asked state regulators three years ago for permission to spend $4.87 million to replace a portion of the same natural gas pipeline that ruptured last week and set a San Bruno neighborhood on fire.
David R. Baker - 09/16/2010
Pacific Gas and Electric Co. asked state regulators three years ago for permission to spend $4.87 million to replace a portion of the same natural gas pipeline that ruptured last week and set a San Bruno neighborhood on fire.
Preparing for the worst
Suzanne Phan - 09/16/2010
One week after an unprecedented explosion and fire in San Bruno, the horror of the devastation is serving as a lesson to many about the importance of being prepared for a disaster.
Suzanne Phan - 09/16/2010
One week after an unprecedented explosion and fire in San Bruno, the horror of the devastation is serving as a lesson to many about the importance of being prepared for a disaster.
Localities lack pipeline info for zoning
Jennifer Gollan - 09/16/2010
One week after a deadly pipeline explosion in San Bruno, some Bay Area governments are discovering that they lack crucial information about underground gas lines that would help them protect residents with zoning regulations.
Jennifer Gollan - 09/16/2010
One week after a deadly pipeline explosion in San Bruno, some Bay Area governments are discovering that they lack crucial information about underground gas lines that would help them protect residents with zoning regulations.
Oversight of aging pipeline network questioned
Rebecca Smith - 09/16/2010
California regulators are questioning their oversight of the state's aging natural-gas pipeline network in the aftermath of the Sept. 9 explosion that killed four and destroyed dozens of homes in the San Francisco suburb of San Bruno.
Rebecca Smith - 09/16/2010
California regulators are questioning their oversight of the state's aging natural-gas pipeline network in the aftermath of the Sept. 9 explosion that killed four and destroyed dozens of homes in the San Francisco suburb of San Bruno.
East Bay has PG&E's highest risk gas pipelines
Mike Taugher - 09/15/2010
The sobering news about the vulnerability of PG&E's high-pressure natural gas pipelines has reached the East Bay and the tip of Silicon Valley: In regulatory filings unearthed this week, the utility revealed last year that its highest-risk gas pipelines in the Bay Area are not on the Peninsula, where a devastating blast leveled a San Bruno neighborhood last week. They are across the bay in Fremont and between Livermore and Sunol.
Mike Taugher - 09/15/2010
The sobering news about the vulnerability of PG&E's high-pressure natural gas pipelines has reached the East Bay and the tip of Silicon Valley: In regulatory filings unearthed this week, the utility revealed last year that its highest-risk gas pipelines in the Bay Area are not on the Peninsula, where a devastating blast leveled a San Bruno neighborhood last week. They are across the bay in Fremont and between Livermore and Sunol.
Obama administration proposes pipeline oversight
Mike Zapler - 09/15/2010
The Obama administration on Wednesday proposed legislation to stiffen oversight of the nation's pipelines and boost fines for safety violations.
Mike Zapler - 09/15/2010
The Obama administration on Wednesday proposed legislation to stiffen oversight of the nation's pipelines and boost fines for safety violations.
Local utilities carefully inspect pipelines
Andrew Maykuth - 09/15/2010
Local utility operators say that they are closely monitoring the investigation of a deadly California pipeline explosion but that they already rigorously inspect their own pipelines for leaks.
Andrew Maykuth - 09/15/2010
Local utility operators say that they are closely monitoring the investigation of a deadly California pipeline explosion but that they already rigorously inspect their own pipelines for leaks.
Job of keeping miles of gas lines safe
Onell R. Soto - 09/15/2010
San Diego Gas & Electric Co. says it is constantly working to prevent a tragedy like the one that occurred in San Bruno, where a pipeline burst last week, killing at least four people and destroying nearly 40 houses.
Onell R. Soto - 09/15/2010
San Diego Gas & Electric Co. says it is constantly working to prevent a tragedy like the one that occurred in San Bruno, where a pipeline burst last week, killing at least four people and destroying nearly 40 houses.
San Bruno wasn't riskiest PG&E pipeline
Cromwell Schubarth - 09/15/2010
The pipeline that exploded in last week's disastrous San Bruno fire wasn't ranked as the riskiest in the region in a report prepared last year when Pacific Gas & Electric Co. was seeking to raise rates.
Cromwell Schubarth - 09/15/2010
The pipeline that exploded in last week's disastrous San Bruno fire wasn't ranked as the riskiest in the region in a report prepared last year when Pacific Gas & Electric Co. was seeking to raise rates.
PG&E inspected pipeline after explosion
Gerry Shih - 09/14/2010
In the wake of Thursday night's gas line explosion in San Bruno, PG&E employees went out Friday to inspect what the utility has classified as a section of Line 132 at high risk of failure located north of the rupture and did not find any leaks, according to an e-mail PG&E sent on Sunday morning to state government officials.
Gerry Shih - 09/14/2010
In the wake of Thursday night's gas line explosion in San Bruno, PG&E employees went out Friday to inspect what the utility has classified as a section of Line 132 at high risk of failure located north of the rupture and did not find any leaks, according to an e-mail PG&E sent on Sunday morning to state government officials.
Boxer, Feinstein ask feds to inspect pipelines
Staff - 09/14/2010
California's senators urged a federal agency Monday to immediately order inspections of interstate natural gas pipelines - like the one that ruptured Thursday night in San Bruno - with a priority on those near residential areas.
Staff - 09/14/2010
California's senators urged a federal agency Monday to immediately order inspections of interstate natural gas pipelines - like the one that ruptured Thursday night in San Bruno - with a priority on those near residential areas.
Pipeline explosion highlights infrastructure dangers
Garance Burke - 09/14/2010
The tragic explosion of a gas pipeline in a San Francisco suburb has shed light on a problem usually kept underground: Communities have expanded over pipes built decades earlier when no one lived there.
Garance Burke - 09/14/2010
The tragic explosion of a gas pipeline in a San Francisco suburb has shed light on a problem usually kept underground: Communities have expanded over pipes built decades earlier when no one lived there.
San Bruno raises questions about gas under neighborhoods
Paul Rogers - 09/14/2010
They crisscross the Bay Area, running under homes, highways and schools. Surging with pressures of hundreds of pounds per square inch, natural gas transmission pipelines are usually out of sight and mind -- until a disaster, like Thursday's explosion in San Bruno.
Paul Rogers - 09/14/2010
They crisscross the Bay Area, running under homes, highways and schools. Surging with pressures of hundreds of pounds per square inch, natural gas transmission pipelines are usually out of sight and mind -- until a disaster, like Thursday's explosion in San Bruno.
Officials say automatic gas shutoff needed
Shoshana Walter - 09/14/2010
Officials said today they plan to push for state legislation that requires gas utilities to install automatic shutoff valves on their transmission lines.
Shoshana Walter - 09/14/2010
Officials said today they plan to push for state legislation that requires gas utilities to install automatic shutoff valves on their transmission lines.
Gas lines take covert routes
Katie Worth - 09/14/2010
Pipelines carrying natural gas - much like the one that exploded in San Bruno last week - snake their way through heavily populated portions of San Francisco, but PG&E has a standing policy not to reveal where the lines run.
Katie Worth - 09/14/2010
Pipelines carrying natural gas - much like the one that exploded in San Bruno last week - snake their way through heavily populated portions of San Francisco, but PG&E has a standing policy not to reveal where the lines run.
PG&E won't disclose riskiest pipelines
Shoshana Walter - 09/14/2010
PG&E says it will not release the locations of its most dangerous gas-transmission pipes, citing homeland security interests, but local legislators say they're pushing back.
Shoshana Walter - 09/14/2010
PG&E says it will not release the locations of its most dangerous gas-transmission pipes, citing homeland security interests, but local legislators say they're pushing back.
San Bruno gas explosion risk less in Long Beach
Paul Eakins - 09/13/2010
In the wake of the San Bruno explosion, many residents are wondering what lies beneath their homes.
Paul Eakins - 09/13/2010
In the wake of the San Bruno explosion, many residents are wondering what lies beneath their homes.
PG&E pipeline audits were on horizon
John Upton - 09/13/2010
The state has ordered PG&E to inspect its entire natural-gas transmission network in California following a deadly explosion in San Bruno last week.
John Upton - 09/13/2010
The state has ordered PG&E to inspect its entire natural-gas transmission network in California following a deadly explosion in San Bruno last week.
PG&E ordered to check state pipes
Nanette Asimov - 09/13/2010
A state regulator on Sunday ordered Pacific Gas and Electric Co. to check for leaks in all of its thousands of miles of natural gas pipelines, an effort to protect the public as federal investigators step up their probe into why a pipe in San Bruno ruptured and touched off a deadly blast.
Nanette Asimov - 09/13/2010
A state regulator on Sunday ordered Pacific Gas and Electric Co. to check for leaks in all of its thousands of miles of natural gas pipelines, an effort to protect the public as federal investigators step up their probe into why a pipe in San Bruno ruptured and touched off a deadly blast.
Natural gas lines run near Highway 101
Richard Halstead - 09/13/2010
The main natural gas transmission lines in Marin County originate to the north and for the most part run close to Highway 101 before ending just north of Corte Madera, according to data provided by an oil and gas data mapping company.
Richard Halstead - 09/13/2010
The main natural gas transmission lines in Marin County originate to the north and for the most part run close to Highway 101 before ending just north of Corte Madera, according to data provided by an oil and gas data mapping company.