PACIFIC GAS & ELECTRIC CO

Incident Narrative

ON MARCH 13, 2014, AT APPROXIMATELY 1330 HOURS, A PACIFIC GAS AND ELECTRIC (PG&E) CONTRACTOR INSTALLING A COMPLETION PLUG ON A 2-INCH DIAMETER SAVE-A-VALVE NIPPLE OBSERVED A SMALL-VOLUME LEAK. THE NIPPLE HAD BEEN WELDED ONTO PG&E'S NATURAL GAS TRANSMISSION LINE L-101 IN REDWOOD CITY NEAR 640 WHIPPLE AVENUE AS PART OF WORK TO FACILITATE THE UPGRADE OF L-101 FOR PIGGING. ATTEMPTS TO PROPERLY SEAT THE COMPLETION PLUG AND STOP THE LEAKAGE FAILED. THE PG&E PIPELINE ENGINEER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE SITUATION AND BEGAN MAKING PLANS TO INITIATE THE SHUTDOWN OF L-101 AND SAFELY MAKE REPAIRS TO THE SAVE-A-VALVE NIPPLE. MEDIA ARRIVED ON-SCENE AT APPROXIMATELY 0244 HOURS ON MARCH 14, 2014. AT 0828 HOURS ON MARCH 14, 2014, PG&E DETERMINED THAT THE CRITERIA FOR REPORTING THIS INCIDENT TO THE CPUC HAD BEEN REACHED, AND THE CPUC WAS NOTIFIED. AT 0901 HOURS, THE COST TO MAKE REPAIRS WAS ESTIMATED TO EXCEED $50,000, AND THE DOT WAS NOTIFIED (NRC# 1076668) TELEPHONICALLY AT 0940 HOURS. DUE TO THE HEIGHTENED SENSITIVITY OF PIPELINE WORK ALONG THE PENINSULA, AND PRIOR TO STARTING WORK, PG&E HAD NOTIFIED MEDIA OUTLETS OF THE PLANNED WORK ON L-101. WHEN THE MEDIA ARRIVED AT 0244 HOURS ON MARCH 14, PG&E'S FIELD PERSONNEL DID NOT MAKE THE IMMEDIATE CONNECTION THAT THE MEDIA PRESENCE WAS RELATED TO THE RELEASE OF GAS THAT STARTED AT 1330 HOURS ON MARCH 13. THIS RESULTED IN DELAYED INTERNAL COMMUNICATION THAT IN TURN CAUSED THE REPORT TO BE FILED OUTSIDE OF THE REPORTING WINDOW.