City Says PG&E to Shut Down Gas to Disputed Line

By Bay City News Service

PG&E could shut down a gas pipeline running through San Carlos as soon as this afternoon in response to a court order issued on Friday, city officials said Saturday.

Utility officials verbally assured San Carlos Public Works Director Jay Walter this afternoon that Line 147 would be shut down this afternoon, City Manager Jeff Maltbie said in a statement this evening.

The injunction was issued Friday after city officials obtained emails from the utility questioning the line's safety.

Maltbie called the new deadline a "positive step forward."

PG&E had said earlier today that it would shut off service to the dispute line "as early as Monday or Tuesday," after an analysis of gas service impacts was completed and a plan developed to shut it down safely and effectively. However, the utility had assured city officials it would reduce pressure by 20 percent.

The utility also issued assurances today that the pipeline is being operated in a "completely safe manner."

"Under no circumstances would we operate this pipeline in an unsafe condition and any suggestion to the contrary is simply wrong," said Nick Stavropoulos, an executive vice president in charge of PG&E gas operations.

San Carlos city officials developed concerns over the pipe's safety after PG&E representatives forwarded city officials a series of internal emails on Thursday that cast doubt on the condition of the line after a leak repair.

 In one of the emails, a PG&E engineer, whose name was redacted, expressed concerns to PG&E executives about the thinning of the pipe, which dates back to 1929.

"Are we sitting on a San Bruno situation?" the engineer wrote. "Is the pipe cracked and near failure? I don't want to panic people but seems like we should consider this and probably move this pipe...for replacement."

The San Carlos City Council declared a state of emergency on Friday and a San Mateo County judge granted an injunction ordering the line shut down late that day.

The 3.8-mile line runs the length of the city beneath Brittan Avenue, a residential street that carries thousands of residents to their homes and schools daily, according to city officials, Maltbie said.

On Monday, city officials plan to confer with the CPUC over the issue, Maltbie said.

The state commission is weighing whether to fine PG&E up to $2 billion for the 2010 explosion of one of its pipelines in San Bruno, which killed 8 people, injured more than 60 others and decimated 38 homes.