SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GAS CO

Incident Narrative

LEAKING HIGH PRESSURE WATER SERVICE SCOURED HOLE INTO 1' PE GAS MAIN, ALLOWING WATER TO ENTER SYSTEM. THIS RESULTED IN 50 OUTAGES AND A SIGNIFICANT WATER REMOVAL EFFORT. TOTAL COST OF WATER REMOVAL, REPAIR AND RESTORES EXCEEDED $50K, MEETING PHMSA REPORTING CRITERIA. ALTHOUGH MONITORED BY SOCALGAS SR. SAFETY ADVISOR, THIS INCIDENT WAS NOT REPORTED DUE TO AN ERROR IN INTERPRETATION OF REPORTABILITY REQUIREMENTS. USING THE PHMSA INSTRUCTIONS FOR FORM PHMSA F 7100.1 (REVISION 01-2010) GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS, PAGE 1, THE SR. SAFETY ADVISOR ASSUMED THAT ONLY COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH DAMAGE FROM ESCAPING GAS AND CONTOL OF ESCAPING GAS WERE TO BE CONSIDERED. IN THE INFORMATION RELATED TO SECONDARY IGNITION NOT NEEDING REPORTING, HE ASSUMED THAT THE ONLY COSTS REPORTABLE WOULD BE DAMAGE CAUSED BY ESCAPING GAS AND COSTS TO REPAIR ASSOCIATED LEAK. UPON FURTHER REVIEW OF INSTRUCTION, EMPLOYEE REALIZED THIS ERROR, BASED UPON PAGE 12 OF THE INSTRUCTIONS. EMPLOYEE IMMEDIATELY REVIEWED RECORDS OF INCIDENTS GOING BACK TO THE DATE OF RECEIVING THE REVISON 01-2010, AND DISCOVERED THIS SINGLE INCIDENT THAT HAD GONE UNREPORTED. WATER IN GAS INCIDENTS OCCURRING PRIOR TO REVISION 01-2010 WERE REGULARLY REPORTED WHEN ALL ASSOCIATED COSTS EXCEEDED $50K.