# PACIFIC GAS & ELECTRIC CO — Gas transmission and gathering — incident on 2016-08-27

**Citation:** PHMSA Report 20160078  
**Type / status:** incident / historical  
**Agency:** Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration  
**Effective:** 2016-08-27  
**Published:** 2016-09-26

Gas transmission and gathering incident in WATSONVILLE, SANTA CRUZ County, CA. Reported cause: EXCAVATION DAMAGE. Reported consequences: 0 fatalities, 0 injuries, 232 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 WATSONVILLE, SANTA CRUZ County, CA. Reported cause: EXCAVATION DAMAGE. Reported consequences: 0 fatalities, 0 injuries, 232 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: 20160078.

Operator ID: 15007.

Reported incident date: 8/27/2016 7:11.

Location detail: MP 4.45

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 AUGUST 27, 2016, AT 0711 HOURS, PG&E WAS NOTIFIED OF A GAS LEAK NEAR 677 BEUNA VISTA DR, WATSONVILLE. PG&E GAS SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE (GSR) ARRIVED ON-SITE AT 0745 HOURS. UPON ARRIVAL, THE GSR OBSERVED A DIG-IN ON EITHER DFM 1816-01 (MP 4.45) OR A 3/4" SERVICE LINE FROM 1817-01 FROM AGRICULTURE WORK THAT OCCURRED ON 8/26/16. THE OEC WAS ACTIVATED AND THE LINE WAS SHUT-IN BY 1900 HOURS TO DETERMINE THE LOCATION OF THE DIG-IN. ON 8/28/16 AT 0048 HOURS, THE DIG-IN LOCATION WAS CONFIRMED TO BE ON LINE DFM 1816-01. THE CAP OF A 3/4" MUELLER SERVICE TEE WAS STRUCK, CAUSING A CRACK ABOVE THE BRANCH WELD MEASURING APPROXIMATELY 1" IN LENGTH AND 1/4" WIDE AT THE WIDEST POINT ALONG ITS LENGTH. THE EXCAVATOR FARMING COMPANY THAT CAUSED THE DIG-IN WAS INTERRUPCION SOCIAL ENTERPRISE. THE EXCAVATOR DID NOT HAVE A USA TICKET. THERE WERE VISIBLE PG&E MARKERS ON THE PROPERTY. APPROXIMATELY 60 CUSTOMERS WERE IMPACTED AS A RESULT OF THIS INCIDENT. CNG WAS PROVIDED TO THE IMPACTED CUSTOMERS. MAJORITY OF THE CUSTOMERS WERE RESTORED BY 8/28/16 AT 1148 HOURS. THE REMAINING CUSTOMERS WERE RESTORED SHORTLY AFTER. REPAIRS TO THE PIPELINE WERE COMPLETED AND THE PIPELINE WAS RESTORED TO NORMAL OPERATIONS ON 8/31/16 AT 1100 HOURS. FIRE DEPARTMENT WAS REPORTED ON SITE. THERE WERE NO INJURIES, FATALITIES OR IGNITION ASSOCIATED WITH THE INCIDENT. ESTIMATED UNINTENTIONAL VOLUME OF GAS RELEASE IS LESS THAN 3 MMCF. THIS INCIDENT WAS REPORTED TO THE DOT AND CPUC DUE TO THE UNINTENTIONAL RELEASE OF GAS AND ESTIMATED DAMAGES EXCEEDING $50,000.

PHMSA trend classification: significant incident, not serious.

PHMSA standardized cause: EXCAVATION DAMAGE — THIRD PARTY EXCAVATION DAMAGE.

PHMSA indexed costs: $451,000 reported total cost, $224,959.457 in 1984 dollars, $552,691.181 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: <https://data.transportation.gov/api/views/27nc-rsge/files/2b05c2d8-d14a-4c56-ac1c-7d23a4bc31c8?download=true&filename=Gas%20Transmission%20%26%20Gathering%20Incident%20Data%20-%20January%202010%20to%20present.zip>
- Source ID: `phmsa-pipeline-incidents`
- SHA-256: `de6b0a44fc90dc71b66cfcf62e3e8b32edaa1bb2d4b1cc623b1d55ba8043356a`
- Retrieved: 2026-08-20T03:30:32.010Z
- Exported: 2026-08-26T21:41:39.738Z
- Document slug: `phmsa-incident-d6cf05d841e5cba440d257ac`

### Source metadata

```json
{
  "recordKind": "pipeline_incident",
  "datasetType": "gas_transmission_gathering",
  "datasetLabel": "Gas transmission and gathering",
  "datasetPeriod": "January 2010 to present",
  "report": {
    "number": "20160078",
    "supplementalNumber": "17193",
    "type": "ORIGINAL FINAL",
    "receivedDate": "2016-09-26",
    "receivedDateRaw": "9/26/2016"
  },
  "operator": {
    "id": "15007",
    "name": "PACIFIC GAS & ELECTRIC CO"
  },
  "incident": {
    "date": "2016-08-27",
    "dateRaw": "8/27/2016 7:11"
  },
  "location": {
    "city": "WATSONVILLE",
    "county": "SANTA CRUZ",
    "state": "CA",
    "postalCode": "95076",
    "latitude": 36.93638,
    "longitude": -121.80209,
    "type": "PIPELINE RIGHT-OF-WAY",
    "details": {
      "DESIGNATED_NAME": "MP 4.45"
    },
    "facilityName": "1816-01"
  },
  "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 AUGUST 27, 2016, AT 0711 HOURS, PG&E WAS NOTIFIED OF A GAS LEAK NEAR 677 BEUNA VISTA DR, WATSONVILLE. PG&E GAS SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE (GSR) ARRIVED ON-SITE AT 0745 HOURS. UPON ARRIVAL, THE GSR OBSERVED A DIG-IN ON EITHER DFM 1816-01 (MP 4.45) OR A 3/4\" SERVICE LINE FROM 1817-01 FROM AGRICULTURE WORK THAT OCCURRED ON 8/26/16. THE OEC WAS ACTIVATED AND THE LINE WAS SHUT-IN BY 1900 HOURS TO DETERMINE THE LOCATION OF THE DIG-IN. ON 8/28/16 AT 0048 HOURS, THE DIG-IN LOCATION WAS CONFIRMED TO BE ON LINE DFM 1816-01. THE CAP OF A 3/4\" MUELLER SERVICE TEE WAS STRUCK, CAUSING A CRACK ABOVE THE BRANCH WELD MEASURING APPROXIMATELY 1\" IN LENGTH AND 1/4\" WIDE AT THE WIDEST POINT ALONG ITS LENGTH. THE EXCAVATOR FARMING COMPANY THAT CAUSED THE DIG-IN WAS INTERRUPCION SOCIAL ENTERPRISE. THE EXCAVATOR DID NOT HAVE A USA TICKET. THERE WERE VISIBLE PG&E MARKERS ON THE PROPERTY. APPROXIMATELY 60 CUSTOMERS WERE IMPACTED AS A RESULT OF THIS INCIDENT. CNG WAS PROVIDED TO THE IMPACTED CUSTOMERS. MAJORITY OF THE CUSTOMERS WERE RESTORED BY 8/28/16 AT 1148 HOURS. THE REMAINING CUSTOMERS WERE RESTORED SHORTLY AFTER. REPAIRS TO THE PIPELINE WERE COMPLETED AND THE PIPELINE WAS RESTORED TO NORMAL OPERATIONS ON 8/31/16 AT 1100 HOURS. FIRE DEPARTMENT WAS REPORTED ON SITE. THERE WERE NO INJURIES, FATALITIES OR IGNITION ASSOCIATED WITH THE INCIDENT. ESTIMATED UNINTENTIONAL VOLUME OF GAS RELEASE IS LESS THAN 3 MMCF. THIS INCIDENT WAS REPORTED TO THE DOT AND CPUC DUE TO THE UNINTENTIONAL RELEASE OF GAS AND ESTIMATED DAMAGES EXCEEDING $50,000."
    }
  },
  "consequences": {
    "fatalities": 0,
    "injuries": 0,
    "commodity": "NATURAL GAS",
    "release": "232",
    "propertyDamage": 450000,
    "estimatedOperatorCost": 0,
    "estimatedEmergencyCost": 0,
    "estimatedEnvironmentalCost": null,
    "ignition": "NO",
    "explosion": "NO",
    "evacuated": 0,
    "raw": {
      "FATAL": "0",
      "INJURE": "0",
      "UNINTENTIONAL_RELEASE": "232",
      "EST_COST_PROP_DAMAGE": "450000",
      "PRPTY": "451000"
    }
  },
  "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": 1167,
    "rowSha256": "b39966fdbcf2f19a5a875a94d29ae51abe434237d10e20a129143538574897e2"
  },
  "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": 451000,
      "in1984Dollars": 224959.45669991864,
      "currentYearDollars": 552691.1808965
    },
    "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": 829,
      "rowSha256": "a7c08df699b07be3e84083d64383969d3f43bc250e79dcba08686453adffd82f"
    }
  },
  "jurisdiction": "US",
  "operatorName": "PACIFIC GAS & ELECTRIC CO"
}
```