# PACIFIC GAS & ELECTRIC CO — Gas transmission and gathering — incident on 2015-02-28 **Citation:** PHMSA Report 20150041 **Type / status:** incident / historical **Agency:** Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration **Effective:** 2015-02-28 **Published:** 2015-03-30 Gas transmission and gathering incident in CARMEL, MONTEREY County, CA. Reported cause: EXCAVATION DAMAGE. Reported consequences: 0 fatalities, 0 injuries, 3784 NATURAL GAS released, $450,000 reported property damage. Operator-reported incident data submitted to PHMSA, generally within 30 days. Records may be supplemented or corrected and do not represent final agency causal findings. PHMSA trend classification: significant incident, not serious. ## Document text Gas transmission and gathering incident in CARMEL, MONTEREY County, CA. Reported cause: EXCAVATION DAMAGE. Reported consequences: 0 fatalities, 0 injuries, 3784 NATURAL GAS released, $450,000 reported property damage. Operator-reported incident data submitted to PHMSA, generally within 30 days. Records may be supplemented or corrected and do not represent final agency causal findings. Report number: 20150041. Operator ID: 15007. Reported incident date: 2/28/2015 0:00. Location detail: DFM 1815-15 Cause detail: EXCAVATION DAMAGE BY THIRD PARTY Cause detail: NOTIFICATION ISSUE Cause detail: NO NOTIFICATION MADE TO THE ONE-CALL CENTER/811 Cause detail: ON FEBRUARY 28, 2015 AT 1133 HOURS PACIFIC GAS AND ELECTRIC'S (PG&E) GAS CONTROL ROOM RECEIVED A LOW PRESSURE ALARM ON DISTRIBUTION FEEDER MAIN (DFM) 1815-15 (A TRANSMISSION PIPELINE) AND IMMEDIATELY CONTACTED THE LOCAL SUPERVISOR TO VERIFY THE LOW PRESSURE READINGS IN THE FIELD. WHILE LOCAL FIELD PERSONNEL WAS EN ROUTE, AT 1145 HOURS, PG&E DISPATCH RECEIVED A REPORT OF THIRD PARTY DAMAGE TO PG&E'S PIPELINE NEAR 610 VIEJO RD IN CARMEL THAT RESULTED IN AN UNINTENTIONAL RELEASE OF GAS. A HOMEOWNER HIRED A DAY LABORER TO GRADE HIS PROPERTY FOR A NEW ROADWAY, AND THE DAY LABORER STRUCK THE 10-INCH STEEL TRANSMISSION LINE WITH A RIPPER TOOTH PULLED BY A BULLDOZER. THE HOMEOWNER AND THE LABORER DID NOT CALL USA. PG&E'S GAS SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE WAS ON SITE AT 1201 HOURS. CREWS WERE ON SITE AT APPROXIMATELY 1215 HOURS. FIRE DEPARTMENT, POLICE, AND LOCAL MEDIA WERE OBSERVED ON SCENE. HIGHWAY 1 WAS TEMPORARILY CLOSED IN BOTH DIRECTIONS, AND THE FIRE DEPARTMENT EVACUATED 6 HOMES OUT OF PRECAUTION. PG&E STOPPED THE FLOW OF GAS AT 1510 HOURS BY CLOSING FOUR MAINLINE VALVES TO ISOLATE THE IMPACTED PIPELINE SECTION. A DISTRIBUTION BACK-TIE AROUND THE DAMAGED DFM SECTION WAS ABLE TO SUPPLY GAS TO THE AFFECTED AREA. COMPRESSED NATURAL GAS WAS USED TO SUPPLEMENT GAS SUPPLY; HOWEVER PG&E HAD TO CURTAIL FOUR NON-CORE CUSTOMERS.. THE FOUR IMPACTED CUSTOMERS WERE ABLE TO HAVE GAS SERVICE RESTORED BY 1000 HOURS ON MARCH 1, 2015. ON MARCH 5, 2015, A VISUAL INTEGRITY ASSESSMENT WAS COMPLETED ON DFM 1815-15 AND NO ADDITIONAL DAMAGE WAS OBSERVED ON THE PIPE, SO DFM 1815-15 WAS RESTORED TO NORMAL OPERATING PRESSURE. THIS INCIDENT WAS REPORTED TO THE DOT AND THE CPUC DUE TO DAMAGES EXCEEDING $50,000. PHMSA trend classification: significant incident, not serious. PHMSA standardized cause: EXCAVATION DAMAGE — THIRD PARTY EXCAVATION DAMAGE. PHMSA indexed costs: $467,100 reported total cost, $241,605.705 in 1984 dollars, $575,421.258 in current-year dollars. PHMSA trend flags, standardized causes, and indexed costs are analytical fields added to operator-reported incident data. They do not represent final agency causal findings. ## Provenance - Official: Yes - Source: - Source ID: `phmsa-pipeline-incidents` - SHA-256: `f79ac0a8d6dcac88268d808908e340fde9820de3838a3e071ee7e3b3381d8ee9` - Retrieved: 2026-08-20T03:30:32.010Z - Exported: 2026-08-24T09:46:15.817Z - Document slug: `phmsa-incident-002eb0fc3be2f085b7e12b13` ### Source metadata ```json { "recordKind": "pipeline_incident", "datasetType": "gas_transmission_gathering", "datasetLabel": "Gas transmission and gathering", "datasetPeriod": "January 2010 to present", "report": { "number": "20150041", "supplementalNumber": "16841", "type": "SUPPLEMENTAL FINAL", "receivedDate": "2015-03-30", "receivedDateRaw": "3/30/2015" }, "operator": { "id": "15007", "name": "PACIFIC GAS & ELECTRIC CO" }, "incident": { "date": "2015-02-28", "dateRaw": "2/28/2015 0:00" }, "location": { "city": "CARMEL", "county": "MONTEREY", "state": "CA", "postalCode": "93923", "latitude": 36.57622629, "longitude": -121.908681, "type": "PIPELINE RIGHT-OF-WAY", "details": { "DESIGNATED_NAME": "DFM 1815-15" }, "facilityName": "DFM 1815-15" }, "cause": { "category": "EXCAVATION DAMAGE", "details": { "CAUSE_DETAILS": "EXCAVATION DAMAGE BY THIRD PARTY", "ROOT_CAUSE_CATEGORY": "NOTIFICATION ISSUE", "ROOT_CAUSE_TYPE": "NO NOTIFICATION MADE TO THE ONE-CALL CENTER/811", "NARRATIVE": "ON FEBRUARY 28, 2015 AT 1133 HOURS PACIFIC GAS AND ELECTRIC'S (PG&E) GAS CONTROL ROOM RECEIVED A LOW PRESSURE ALARM ON DISTRIBUTION FEEDER MAIN (DFM) 1815-15 (A TRANSMISSION PIPELINE) AND IMMEDIATELY CONTACTED THE LOCAL SUPERVISOR TO VERIFY THE LOW PRESSURE READINGS IN THE FIELD. WHILE LOCAL FIELD PERSONNEL WAS EN ROUTE, AT 1145 HOURS, PG&E DISPATCH RECEIVED A REPORT OF THIRD PARTY DAMAGE TO PG&E'S PIPELINE NEAR 610 VIEJO RD IN CARMEL THAT RESULTED IN AN UNINTENTIONAL RELEASE OF GAS. A HOMEOWNER HIRED A DAY LABORER TO GRADE HIS PROPERTY FOR A NEW ROADWAY, AND THE DAY LABORER STRUCK THE 10-INCH STEEL TRANSMISSION LINE WITH A RIPPER TOOTH PULLED BY A BULLDOZER. THE HOMEOWNER AND THE LABORER DID NOT CALL USA. PG&E'S GAS SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE WAS ON SITE AT 1201 HOURS. CREWS WERE ON SITE AT APPROXIMATELY 1215 HOURS. FIRE DEPARTMENT, POLICE, AND LOCAL MEDIA WERE OBSERVED ON SCENE. HIGHWAY 1 WAS TEMPORARILY CLOSED IN BOTH DIRECTIONS, AND THE FIRE DEPARTMENT EVACUATED 6 HOMES OUT OF PRECAUTION. PG&E STOPPED THE FLOW OF GAS AT 1510 HOURS BY CLOSING FOUR MAINLINE VALVES TO ISOLATE THE IMPACTED PIPELINE SECTION. A DISTRIBUTION BACK-TIE AROUND THE DAMAGED DFM SECTION WAS ABLE TO SUPPLY GAS TO THE AFFECTED AREA. COMPRESSED NATURAL GAS WAS USED TO SUPPLEMENT GAS SUPPLY; HOWEVER PG&E HAD TO CURTAIL FOUR NON-CORE CUSTOMERS.. THE FOUR IMPACTED CUSTOMERS WERE ABLE TO HAVE GAS SERVICE RESTORED BY 1000 HOURS ON MARCH 1, 2015. ON MARCH 5, 2015, A VISUAL INTEGRITY ASSESSMENT WAS COMPLETED ON DFM 1815-15 AND NO ADDITIONAL DAMAGE WAS OBSERVED ON THE PIPE, SO DFM 1815-15 WAS RESTORED TO NORMAL OPERATING PRESSURE. THIS INCIDENT WAS REPORTED TO THE DOT AND THE CPUC DUE TO DAMAGES EXCEEDING $50,000." } }, "consequences": { "fatalities": 0, "injuries": 0, "commodity": "NATURAL GAS", "release": "3784", "propertyDamage": 450000, "estimatedOperatorCost": 0, "estimatedEmergencyCost": 0, "estimatedEnvironmentalCost": null, "ignition": "NO", "explosion": "NO", "evacuated": 6, "raw": { "FATAL": "0", "INJURE": "0", "UNINTENTIONAL_RELEASE": "3784", "EST_COST_PROP_DAMAGE": "450000", "PRPTY": "467100" } }, "provenance": { "viewId": "27nc-rsge", "viewUrl": "https://data.transportation.gov/api/views/27nc-rsge", "assetId": "2b05c2d8-d14a-4c56-ac1c-7d23a4bc31c8", "archiveFilename": "Gas Transmission & Gathering Incident Data - January 2010 to present.zip", "archiveSha256": "fe0b136ca4b00ac987a8bc2e195098accf910d97512c5fc3b59e62d9da5f674e", "memberPath": "incident_gas_transmission_gathering_jan2010_present.txt", "memberSha256": "b435f2a25718cf54c54e00294e6788c4f9c6860e02fb86355e75d294c243c4dd", "rowNumber": 1357, "rowSha256": "ad4f7c1ac4cc56ca492d0712bc65f84ccf50e1621040db0f26cd9c8267f6acb4" }, "caveat": "Operator-reported incident data submitted to PHMSA, generally within 30 days. Records may be supplemented or corrected and do not represent final agency causal findings.", "operatorReported": true, "finalAgencyFinding": false, "flaggedAnalysis": { "dataAsOf": "2026-07-31", "flags": { "fireFirst": null, "significant": true, "serious": false }, "standardizedCause": { "sevenCategory": "EXCAVATION DAMAGE", "sevenSubcategory": "THIRD PARTY EXCAVATION DAMAGE", "eightCategory": "EXCAVATION DAMAGE", "eightSubcategory": "THIRD PARTY EXCAVATION DAMAGE" }, "costs": { "reported": 467100, "in1984Dollars": 241605.7052381917, "currentYearDollars": 575421.257758955 }, "caveat": "PHMSA trend flags, standardized causes, and indexed costs are analytical fields added to operator-reported incident data. They do not represent final agency causal findings.", "provenance": { "sourceUrl": "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/data_statistics/pipeline/PHMSA_Pipeline_Safety_Flagged_Incidents.zip", "landingPageUrl": "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/data-and-statistics/pipeline/pipeline-incident-flagged-files", "catalogUrl": "https://data.transportation.gov/Pipelines-and-Hazmat/Pipeline-Incident-Flagged-Files/qdme-9bbm", "retrievalMode": "official_live", "archivedAt": null, "archiveSha256": "317e6a3e16d60b9b677efe391dc40258b5dd7ead83fb8bea74cb553cedfbbdec", "workbook": "gtggungs2010toPresent.xlsx", "sheet": "gtggungs2010toPresent", "rowNumber": 640, "rowSha256": "dd47bd2644795abea78a8b3b4028347727496984fb19b57b75f83fbbcdab2111" } }, "jurisdiction": "US", "operatorName": "PACIFIC GAS & ELECTRIC CO" } ```