News sources stated that the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) found that PG&E Corp. exploited the lax regulatory oversight and implemented flawed materials in one of their natural-gas pipelines, resulting in the 2010 San Bruno explosion that killed eight people and destroyed 38 homes.
Chairman of the NTSB Deborah Hersman said that inadequate recordkeeping and emergency response by the company, in conjunction with substandard state and federal regulation are to blame for the explosion in San Bruno last year. Hersman opened the NTSB meeting concerning the explosion by saying, “Today, you will hear troubling revelations, about a company that exploited weaknesses in a lax system of oversight. We know that this tragedy began years ago with PG&E’s 1956 installation of a woefully inadequate pipe.”
PG&E has since announced that defective weld was the probably source of the pipeline rupture. They are planning to spend $2.2 billion to replace around 186 miles of pipeline and perform strength tests on 783 miles of pipe.
As a Los Angeles personal injury lawyer, I’m glad that this issued has been resolved and that the company is taking steps to ensure that it won’t happen again. If you’ve been injured in an accident that was the result of a corporation’s negligence, it may be in your best interests to speak with a personal injury lawyer in your city.