Politics & Government
PG&E Vows to Install Automatic Shutoff Valves on Peninsula Pipelines
Congresswoman Jackie Speier announced at the NTSB hearing in Washington, D.C., that PG&E's president made a commitment to have the utility make changes to its natural gas transmission pipelines.
Eight people died and 38 homes were destroyed in the Sept. 9 PG&E pipeline explosion and fire in San Bruno, which led to a focus nationwide on safety issues. On the last day of the National Transportation Safety Board hearings in Washington, D.C., Congresswoman Jackie Speier, D-San Mateo/San Francisco, announced that PG&E would adopt the main safety components of her pipeline legislation.
She said today that PG&E has committed to installing automatic shutoff valves on its gas transmission lines on the Peninsula after a meeting with utility President Chris Johns.
According to Speier, Johns also said PG&E will be notifying all Peninsula residents who live within 2,000 feet of a natural gas transmission pipeline, especially those who live near an earthquake fault line. Both commitments come as Speier is pushing her that seeks to make those requirements mandatory for pipeline operators throughout the country.
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