PG&E Faces Fines After 2008 Rancho Cordova Explosion
RANCHO CORDOVA, Calif. (AP) -- Pacific Gas and Electric Company is facing possible fines after investigators found multiple failures by the utility ahead of a deadly gas explosion in a Sacramento suburb, state regulators said Friday.
The California Public Utilities Commission said it will investigate whether PG&E broke any laws in the 2008 blast in Rancho Cordova.
The explosion killed 72-year-old Wilbert "Bill" Paana and injured five others, including Paana's daughter and granddaughter. It also damaged several homes.
PG&E could face fines of up to $20,000 a day for each possible violation, the commission said. Any violations could span more than two years.
"Natural gas safety is always at the forefront of our minds, and it is now on the minds of many Californians as a result of the tragic explosion of a PG&E pipeline in San Bruno in September," said CPUC President Michael Peevey. Peevey was referring to the Sept. 9 blast in a San Francisco suburb that killed eight people and destroyed some 35 homes.
The commission's decision to investigate comes after a probe by federal and state officials found PG&E workers installed the wrong type of pipe at Paana's Rancho Cordova home during a 2006 repair for a gas leak.
The National Transportation Safety Board concluded earlier this year that a gas leak from that pipe was the likely cause of the explosion.
Investigators found significant delays in PG&E's response to complaints of a gas smell before the explosion.
The first worker on the scene also did not have the proper equipment to test for outdoor leaks, investigators concluded.
PG&E says it is cooperating with the public utilities commission and has made changes such as equipping all first responders with leak detention devices since the 2008 explosion.
"The accident was a terrible tragedy and our focus from the very beginning was to do the right thing for the families who were impacted," said company spokesman Brian Swanson.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
