PACIFIC GAS & ELECTRIC CO — Gas transmission and gathering — incident on 2016-07-16

Gas transmission and gathering incident in DIXON, SOLANO County, CA. Reported cause: EXCAVATION DAMAGE. Reported consequences: 0 fatalities, 0 injuries, 12398 NATURAL GAS released, $188,587 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: 20160065.

Operator ID: 15007.

Reported incident date: 7/16/2016 6:59.

Location detail: MP 5.15

Cause detail: EXCAVATION DAMAGE BY THIRD PARTY

Cause detail: EXCAVATION ISSUE

Cause detail: MARKS FADED OR NOT MAINTAINED

Cause detail: ON JULY 16, 2016 AT 0659 HOURS, PG&E WAS NOTIFIED OF A THIRD PARTY DIG IN AT 5555 ROBBEN ROAD IN DIXON. A THIRD PARTY EXCAVATOR, ATKINSON HAY COMPANY, STRUCK A 10' STEEL TRANSMISSION LINE (LINE 220 MILE POINT 5.15) WITH FARMING EQUIPMENT. THE EQUIPMENT OPERATOR WENT TO THE HOSPITAL AND WAS RELEASED WITH NO INJURIES. THERE WAS A VALID USA TICKET (#W616600507) AND PG&E FACILITIES WERE PROPERLY LOCATED AND MARKED. IT WAS DETERMINED THAT THE USA TICKET BELONGED TO THE LAND OWNER, NOT FOR ATKINSON HAY COMPANY. IN ADDITION, THE EXCAVATOR FAILED TO MAINTAIN THE MARKS. PG&E'S GAS SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE (GSR) ARRIVED ON SITE AT 0731 HOURS. PG&E REPAIR CREWS ARRIVED ON-SITE AND STOPPED THE FLOW OF GAS AT 0822 HOURS BY CLOSING VALVES. THE SACRAMENTO OEC WAS ACTIVATED. REPAIRS TO THE PIPELINE WERE COMPLETED AND THE LINE WAS RESTORED ON 7/18/16 AT 2130 HOURS. FIRE DEPARTMENT AND POLICE DEPARTMENT WERE REPORTED ON SITE. THERE WAS NO CUSTOMER IMPACT. THERE WERE NO INJURIES, NO FATALITIES, AND NO IGNITION ASSOCIATED WITH THIS INCIDENT. THE VOLUME OF GAS UNINTENTIONALLY RELEASE WAS ESTIMATED TO BE GREATER THAN 3 MMCF. ESTIMATED DAMAGES TO THE PIPELINE WERE GREATER THAN $50,000. THIS INCIDENT WAS REPORTED TO THE DOT AND CPUC DUE TO THE UNINTENTIONAL RELEASE OF GAS, VOLUME OF GAS RELEASE ESTIMATED TO BE GREATER THAN 3 MMCF, AND DAMAGES TO THE PIPE GREATER THAN $50,000.

PHMSA trend classification: significant incident, not serious.

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

PHMSA indexed costs: $221,587 reported total cost, $128,965.087 in 1984 dollars, $274,215.353 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.