City Taking Steps to Have Line 132 Permanently Removed

Shortly after the 2010 pipeline explosion, residents and city officials—enraged that a 30-inch gas transmission line had just devastated the Crestmoor neighborhood—demanded that PG&E vow to never bring the pipe back into operation again.

and promised to decommission Line 132, which exploded near Glenview Drive and Earl Avenue and left eight people dead and 38 homes destroyed.

But many have always wondered what would happen to the long section of Line 132 that still runs through the neighborhood: Will PG&E remove it or will it just stay there?

The City Council will be discussing whether to have sections of the pipeline torn out of the neighborhood at at 7 p.m.

Three options have been laid out, one of which could mean putting residents in the neighborhood through more construction pains.

The San Mateo County Times talked to some of the fire survivors about the plans to remove the pipe:

Bill Magoolaghan, who has rebuilt his home which was gutted by the fire, said he's already being awakened at 7 a.m. by the sounds of construction. Rebuilding is pushing forward in the neighborhood, where eight people were killed and 38 homes were destroyed. But the rebuilding includes a lot of dust, noise and disruption. The major work to tear out the entire line would be more trouble than it's worth, he said.

"I'm perfectly happy with leaving it. All I really care about is taking it out of service," he said. "But if somebody in my family were killed (in the fire), I might feel different."

Bob Hensel, who just moved back into his rebuilt home, shrugged at the possibility of pulling out the line.

"If they just fill it full of concrete, it's the same as gone," he said.

The council will also be looking at the costs of , the controversial walkway that residents have been debating about because of years of issues with vandalism, loitering and other nuisances. While the small group of residents who live adjacent to Memory Lane wanted it closed for good, the council decided that the best option to deter problems would be to install surveillance cameras.

Installing cameras could cost up to $8,000, a city staff report said.

The council will also be discussing the , which is set to debut this year at The Shops at Tanforan.

Because the market will be held in a portion of the mall's parking lot, the city needs to look at how it coincides with the area's zoning rules.

For more news about San Bruno, follow San Bruno Patch on Twitter and "like" us on Facebook. Got Patch in your inbox? Sign up for our newsletter.