PG&E Missing Key Records

Community Topic(s):

By ,

January 28, 2011 - 11:04 AM

In the San Francisco Chronicle (www.sfgate.com) this morning, PG&E can't find crucial pipeline pressure records "Pacific Gas and Electric Co.'s president told a Bay Area congresswoman that the utility cannot find records that support pressure levels on nearly a third of its natural-gas transmission system..." and, "Richard Clark, head of the Public Utilities Commission's Consumer Protection and Safety Division, said this month that pipeline records are "scattered about their (PG&E's) various district and division offices and yards."" If you are not familiar with the story, a PG&E gas pipeline exploded last September in a Bay Area neighborhood killing people, leveling homes, and causing widespread ongoing problems for PG&E. The cause of the explosion is being attributed to a faulty weld in the pipe that exploded. Without these records, PG&E pipelines may have to undergo expensive testing, not to mention the ongoing legal exposure due to poor record keeping. Whether PG&E has an RM system or not, this is a prime example of the need for better document and records management oversight. Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/01/27/MN6M1HFE6G.DTL#ixzz1CLaVElvp
Report

Add a Response

You need to log in to post messages. Click here to login.

Responses

Submitted by

I live in the SF Bay Area and found the lack of accurate record keeping by PG&E absolutely disgraceful. There is simply no excuse. PG&E rented the Cow Palace, a massive arena known for hosting music concerts and indoor rodeos, to store and sift through paper records after the San Bruno pipeline explosion and subsequent investigation.

However, maybe there is some hope:

http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_20967323/karen-austin-pushes-pg-e-further-into-digital?source=rss

"Subsequent state and federal investigations revealed that many of PG&E's records of its gas pipeline system were inaccurate or missing. Records showed, for example, that the pipeline that exploded in San Bruno was a solid piece of seamless pipe when in fact it was welded.

Austin is now spearheading a major effort to digitize PG&E's gas records using GIS, or geospacial information systems. GIS makes it possible to capture, manage and analyze all kinds of geographically based information, which is key when you're trying to keep accurate, up-to-date records on miles of pipeline."

Report
Was this helpful? Yes No
Reply
Blog email facebook linkedin Rss Twitter Youtube

Copyright © AIIM 2013 Privacy Policy