Fatal

The National Transportation Safety Board is expected to issue a final report Tuesday on the fatal natural gas pipeline rupture and explosion in San Bruno, CA, last year that killed eight people and destroyed a neighborhood. However, ahead of the report San Francisco-based Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) on Friday proposed a multi-year modernization plan designed to make its natural gas transmission pipeline system one of the safest in the country.

Given the events in Japan and last September’s fatal natural gas pipeline rupture in California, residents in and around California state’s capital are stirring up eleventh-hour doubts about a proposed underground gas storage facility south of their city. Some Sacramento residents will not accept a final environmental report listing as remote the chance of a leak or accident at the proposed facility.

While the commission that was appointed by President Obama to look into the fatal explosion aboard the BP plc-leased Deepwater Horizon rig on April 20 continue to press for a higher liability cap on offshore damages and the creation of a separate safety institute, some senators are concerned with the fact that liability is centered solely on the operator, allowing contractors a free pass.

While the commission that was appointed by President Obama to look into the fatal explosion aboard the BP plc-leased Deepwater Horizon rig on April 20 continued to press for a higher liability cap on offshore damages and the creation of a separate safety institute Wednesday, some senators were concerned with the fact that liability is centered solely on the operator, allowing contractors a free pass.

Consumer advocates on Wednesday asked the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to launch a new statewide investigation of the fatal natural gas transmission pipeline explosion last September in San Bruno, a suburb south of San Francisco.

In the minutes leading up to the fatal explosion at the Kleen Energy Systems LLC power plant project in Middletown, CT, last month, there was enough natural gas released into the atmosphere to fill an entire pro-basketball arena from floor to ceiling, the Chemical Safety Board’s (CSB) lead investigator into the blast said last Thursday.

In the minutes leading up to the fatal explosion at the Kleen Energy Systems LLC power plant project in Middletown, CT, earlier this month, there was enough natural gas released into the atmosphere to fill an entire pro-basketball arena from floor to ceiling, said the Chemical Safety Board’s (CSB) lead investigator into the blast.

In the minutes leading up to the fatal explosion at the Kleen Energy Systems LLC power plant project in Middletown, CT, earlier this month, there was enough natural gas released into the atmosphere to fill an entire pro-basketball arena from floor to ceiling, said the Chemical Safety Board’s (CSB) lead investigator into the blast.

Just days before Sunday’s fatal explosion at a gas-fired power plant under construction in Middletown, CT, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) issued recommendations that national codes be changed to improve safety when gas pipes are being purged. Sunday’s explosion is thought to have occurred during a pipeline purge or “blow down” (see Daily GPI, Feb. 9).