PACIFIC GAS & ELECTRIC CO

Incident Narrative

ON WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2020 AT 1259 HOURS, PG&E WAS NOTIFIED OF AN UNINTENTIONAL RELEASE OF GAS WITH IGNITION AT 2147 N. STATE ST IN UKIAH, CA. DURING A CLEARANCE ON PLANNED PROJECT R-583 TO RE-ROUTE L-21E, A WELDER WAS WELDING A 2"" SAV-A-VALVE ON L-21E MP 115.5 WHEN HE BREACHED THE PIPELINE, CREATING A PIN HOLE LEAK THAT SUBSEQUENTLY IGNITED. ONSITE EMPLOYEES CALLED 911. POLICE PERFORMED STREET CLOSURES AND TRAFFIC CONTROL, AND FIRE DEPARTMENT PERFORMED LOCAL EVACUATIONS (MENDOCINO SHERIFF'S OFFICE ISSUED AN EVACUATION ORDER TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC FROM 3 ZONES SURROUNDING THE INCIDENT. THE NUMBER POPULATED IN A23 IS AN ESTIMATE BASED ON THE NUMBER OF BUILDINGS IN THESE ZONES). THE LINE WAS ISOLATED AT 1730 HOURS AND WAS RETURNED TO SERVICE BY 1941 HOURS. THERE ARE NO REPORTED INJURIES OR FATALITIES. TWO LARGE VOLUME CUSTOMERS WERE IMPACTED FROM 2200 HOURS TO 900 HOURS THE NEXT MORNING. A QUALIFIED PROCEDURE WAS USED AS WELL AS A QUALIFIED WELDER. PG&E HAD CONTINUAL OBSERVATION OF THE WORK VERIFYING COMPLIANCE TO THE PROCEDURE. THE LEAK LOCATION ON THE PIPE WAS DESTROYED IN THE PROCESS OF RESTORING THE SYSTEM BACK TO SERVICE, SO NO ROOT CAUSE COULD BE CONCLUSIVELY DEVELOPED. THIS SAFETY MATTER WAS REPORTED AS A DOT INCIDENT (#1285001) DUE TO THE COMBINATION OF A RELEASE OF GAS RESULTING IN ESTIMATED PROPERTY DAMAGE OF AT LEAST $50K REQUIRING IMMEDIATE MITIGATION TO PROTECT PEOPLE OR PROPERTY. PLEASE NOTE: AN ALCOHOL TEST OF THE CONTRACTOR INVOLVED WAS NOT GIVEN WITHIN 8 HOURS DUE TO EXIGENT CIRCUMSTANCES RELATED TO THE CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES, A DRUG TEST WAS GIVEN AND PASSED. THIS DELAY WAS THE RESULT OF THE UNPRECEDENTED CONFLUENCE OF UNCOMMON OCCURRENCES INCLUDING A CONTRACTOR-INVOLVED DOT-REPORTABLE INCIDENT AND WILDFIRE RELATED TRAFFIC AND PERSONNEL EVACUATION ACTIVITIES. AS SUCH, IT HAS BEEN EVALUATED AS UNLIKELY TO REOCCUR, EVEN WITHOUT THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ANY CORRECTIVE ACTIONS.