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

- **operation:** document
- **citation:** PHMSA Report 20160078
- **title:** PACIFIC GAS & ELECTRIC CO — Gas transmission and gathering — incident on 2016-08-27
- **source type:** incident
- **agency:** Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration
- **status:** historical
- **official:** true
- **published on:** 2016-09-26
- **effective on:** 2016-08-27
- **summary:** 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.
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**body:**

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.
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