PACIFIC GAS & ELECTRIC CO

Incident Narrative

ON NOVEMBER 13, 2015, PG&E'S GAS CONTROL CENTER DETECTED A BACKFLOW ALARM VIA SCADA AT 1533 HOURS ON L-300A NEAR WIBLE RD & HOUGHTON RD. IN BAKERSFIELD. A THIRD-PARTY EXCAVATOR, JEFF ALEXANDER/BIG N DEEP AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT, WAS PERFORMING AGRICULTURAL WORK WITH HEAVY EQUIPMENT, STRUCK NATURAL GAS TRANSMISSION LINE 300-A, CAUSING AN UNINTENTIONAL RELEASE OF GAS. THE GAS IGNITED RESULTING IN ONE FATALITY AND TWO INJURIES. WITHIN 4 MINUTES OF IDENTIFYING THE LOSS IN PRESSURE ON L-300A, GAS CONTROL INITIATED REMOTE SHUT OFF OF TWO MAINLINE VALVES AND ISOLATED THE PIPELINE BY 1547 HOURS. PG&E'S FIRST RESPONDERS ARRIVED ON-SITE AT 1604 HOURS AND MANUALLY SHUT OFF VALVES V-267.26A AND V-278.70A TO ISOLATE A SMALLER SECTION OF PIPELINE. THE REMAINING GAS WITHIN THE PIPELINE BURNED UNTIL APPROXIMATELY 1630 HOURS. THE VALVE CLOSEST TO THE INCIDENT, VALVE-270.85, WAS CLOSED AT 1700 HOURS ONCE THE FIRE WAS OUT AND THE EQUIPMENT WAS COOL ENOUGH TO OPERATE. THE EXCAVATOR DID NOT HOLD A VALID USA TICKET. FIRE AND POLICE DEPARTMENT WERE ON-SITE, AND BLOCKED OFF THE AREA. APPROXIMATELY NINETY GAS CUSTOMERS LOST SERVICE AS A RESULT OF THE INCIDENT. MAJORITY OF THE GAS SERVICES WERE RESTORED BY 11/14/15 AT 1500 HOURS. THERE WERE SIX TO SEVEN REMAINING CUSTOMERS THAT WERE EITHER VACANT OR OUT-OF-TOWN. SERVICE WAS RESTORED TO THE OUT-OF-TOWN CUSTOMERS WITHIN A WEEK FOLLOWING THE INCIDENT. A NEARBY HOME AND BARN ALSO SUSTAINED DAMAGES FROM THE FIRE. REPAIRS TO THE PIPE WERE COMPLETED ON 11/20/15 AT NOON, X-RAYS WERE COMPLETED BY 1330 HOURS, AND THE LINE WAS PUT BACK TO NORMAL OPERATION AT 1645 HOURS. DAMAGES RESULTING FROM THE INCIDENT ARE APPROXIMATELY $2.5 MILLION AND VOLUME OF GAS UNINTENTIONALLY RELEASED IS 67 MMCF. MEDIA WAS REPORTED ON-SITE. SAMPLES OF THE DAMAGED PIPE WERE RETAINED AND TRANSPORTED TO A THIRD PARTY CONSULTING FIRM FOR EVALUATION. THE INCIDENT WAS REPORTED TO BOTH THE DOT AND CPUC DUE TO A FATALITY, INJURIES, AND COSTS EXCEEDING $50,000, VOLUME OF GAS RELEASE EXCEEDING 3 MMCF, SUBSEQUENT IGNITION, MEDIA COVERAGE, AND TRANSMISSION EVENT.