PG&E Pipeline Segment Tests Successfully

PG&E recently finished testing a segment of Line 132 from Crestwood Drive to South San Francisco as part of its efforts to evaluate 152 miles of its natural gas pipelines in high-density areas, and the pipe tested successfully, a utility spokeswoman said.

The utility has begun pressure testing its pipelines after National Transportation Safety Board investigators chided PG&E for on vintage lines that had similar characteristics to Line 132—the pipeline that ruptured in the Crestmoor neighborhood and left eight people dead.

Since May, PG&E has been conducting water pressure, or "hydrostatic," testing to determine the reliability of numerous pipeline segments throughout its service area. in Mountain View, Antioch and Newark. None of those tests showed any weaknesses in the pipes.

The same was true for the 3-mile segment of pipe recently tested in San Bruno, from PG&E's Healy Station to Hillside Boulevard in South San Francisco, said PG&E spokeswoman Brittany Chord.

Chord said two water pressure tests were run on the pipe segment, installed in 1948, and both were successful and didn't need repairs.

This week, PG&E will prepare to pressure test other lines in the Bay Area, including in San Leandro and Oakland.