Live Webcast of NTSB Pipeline Explosion Hearing Available Tuesday

State Assemblyman Jerry Hill released this statement today in an email:

On Tuesday morning August 30 at 6:30 a.m. California time the NTSB will hold a public Board meeting to discuss the final report of its investigation.

Links to the live webcast of the proceedings will be available beginning 30 minutes prior to the NTSB hearing at:

http://www.capitolconnection.net/capcon/ntsb/ntsb.htm

According to Deborah Hersman, chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, the hearing tomorrow will focus on some of the major issues in the report, especially those areas which touch on the cause of the explosion.  These topics will include: the pre-accident events at Milpitas Terminal, Pacific Gas & Electric Company’s (PG&E’s) emergency response, the pipeline failure and the cause of the rupture, PG&E’s pipeline safety plan, in-line inspection technology (“pigging”), the maximum allowable operating pressure for pipelines installed before 1970, and the oversight of PG&E’s plans. 

A synopsis of the hearing will be released within 30 minutes of the end of the hearing, though the final report will not be released for a few weeks.