The California Public Utilities Commission yesterday recommended a record $2.25 billion fine be levied against Pacific Gas & Electric for the utility’s role in the massive explosion that killed eight people and destroyed an entire neighborhood in San Bruno, California, two years ago. Ed. Note – If you enjoy the coverage and content you receive
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A shallow natural gas pipeline in Bakersfield, California, exploded and caught fire on Monday, April 22, after a pavement grinder operated by a crew working to repave struck the line, according to recent media reports. Now, regular readers of This Week In Natural Gas Leaks and Explosions know that, as a matter of course, natural
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It seems a bit tone-deaf, at best, to write about natural gas explosions after what happened in Boston, Massachusetts, yesterday, Patriots’ Day, and our thoughts and prayers are with those who were hurt or killed in yesterday’s Boston Marathon bombing, as well as their families and friends, but our motto here is: Mourn the dead,
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If you’re a regular reader of NaturalGasWatch.org — and there are thousands of you — you know that NaturalGasWatch.org is one of the few organizations that refuses to take at face value the PR spin the natural gas industry tries to pass off as fact. And for that, we take a lot of heat …
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Spectra Energy, the company that is currently constructing a large, high-pressure natural gas transmission pipeline between New Jersey and lower Manhattan, allegedly put off critical repairs and maintenance to its natural gas transmission system in Pennsylvania for more than four years, from July 2008 to August 2012, even though the company’s own testing indicated a
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An enormous natural gas explosion has erupted in West Virginia in the town of Sissonville, about 20 miles north of Charleston. According to media reports describing the blast, at least five structures are on fire and flames are shooting approximately 75 feet into the sky. The heat from the fire is reportedly too intense for
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If you’ve ever tried to track data about pipeline safety, you’ve probably come to the conclusion that meaningful information is often elusive, buried deep within a federal website that’s difficult to use and seemingly constructed for insiders. ProPublica, the independent, non-profit news agency that has earned a reputation as one of the nation’s primary sources
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Shortly after 11 p.m. EST, a massive explosion destroyed five homes and severely damaged as many as 80 others in Indianapolis, Indiana, according to recent media reports. Two people are presumed dead and seven more were injured in the incident, which occurred in the city’s southside Richmond Hill neighborhood. Several federal agencies, including the Department
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This Week In Natural Gas Leaks and Explosions is exactly what it sounds like: an aggregation of natural gas leaks and explosions compiled from various media reports from around the country. It is not meant to be comprehensive; a report of that nature would run exceedingly long and try the patience of you, the faithful
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Yesterday marked the second anniversary of the massive natural gas explosion that devastated a neighborhood in the San Francisco Bay Area town of San Bruno, California. The blast killed 8 people, injured 50 others and destroyed 38 homes. Unfortunately, not much has changed in those two years. PG&E, the utility that owns and operates the
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