PG&E files claim against Fresno County in pipeline blast

Faulting Fresno County for causing the April 17 gas pipeline explosion at the Fresno Sheriff’s Foundation shooting range, Pacific Gas & Electric has filed a claim seeking more than $3 million.

The claim, filed Monday with Fresno County, notes that the county’s negligence was cited in a report by Exponent, which was hired by the California Public Utilities Commission. Exponent said the pipeline rupture and explosion occurred when a county worker struck the pipeline with a front loader he was riding on a road above the shooting range while county jail inmates worked nearby.

Thirteen people were injured, of whom one later died. Several lawsuits are already filed against the county and PG&E on behalf of the inmates.

The utility said the costs to shut down and then repair the line will be significant. “Current estimates indicate the PG&E has suffered damages of at least $3 million caused by the explosion,” the claim said.

County officials weren’t surprised by the legal filing. “We were expecting a claim from PG&E at some point,” Fresno County Counsel Dan Cederborg said Wednesday.

If the county rejects the claim over the next 45 days, PG&E can then file a lawsuit.

In its claim, PG&E said it continues to incur costs related to the pipeline rupture and explosion and will amend its claim to include those costs.

The company also said it will file a counterclaim in Fresno County Superior Court seeking reimbursement from the county for all costs incurred by PG&E related to any litigation that has been filed or will be filed by inmates and employees related to the incident.

PG&E spokesman Denny Boyles said the utility recently made a formal request of Fresno County to pay for the costs related to the pipeline rupture and explosion.

The claim said the cause was the county’s “improper excavation at or near a natural gas pipeline in violation of California Government Code…without prior contact to Pacific Gas & Electric.”

“Prior to using the front loader to excavate in and around the area of the explosion, neither the county nor its employees called 811 as required by Government Code,” the claim said. The 811 telephone number should be called to ensure the safety of digging site at least two days prior to excavation, and the failure to call about the presence of gas lines also violated Cal/OSHA regulations, the claim said.

County worker Ismael Arreazola was acting on behalf of the county when he used the front loader to excavate at the shooting range. PG&E said that Arreazola undertook certain excavation activities, which amounted to an “ultra-hazardous activity,” pointing to an Exponent report finding that “the bucket of the front loader struck (the) natural gas transmission line.”

“The county’s unlawful excavation was the sole cause of the explosion,” the claim said.

Attorneys who filed lawsuits against PG&E claim there was not enough dirt covering the area where the line was struck as the front loader moved north along the dirt road toward the pipeline.

The county filed a lawsuit against PG&E last month, saying that the utility created a harmful condition at the site. The county suit says a county employee was “re-establishing a path on top of the berm (above the shooting range) when, without warning, the pipeline suddenly ruptured in a mechanical explosion, which created a large dirt cloud and sent debris far and wide. Shortly thereafter, a second explosion occurred, in which a giant fireball erupted.”

The county claims that PG&E “failed to exercise sufficient care” in inspecting and repairing the pipeline and did not ensure adequate soil depth covering the pipeline.

But PG&E said that the “lack of cover was the result of the unlawful excavation. Fresh dirt was present near the strike location, indicating recent activity that resulted in the movement of soil.”

A second report by Golder Associates, a Washington State geotechnical engineering firm, said the gas pipeline was buried 4.7 feet in the ground as recently as the day before the loader struck it. The report was released by PG&E earlier this month to support its contention that the gas pipeline was buried and counters the contention by the county that dirt was being smoothed over on the dirt path above the shooting range.

Golder Associates contends in its conclusion that damage to the pipeline occurred when the road was being extended by excavating at the same level as the pipeline.

The claim said that an aerial photo taken the day before the incident as part of PG&E’s regular maintenance and patrolling showed no sign of earth movement activities near the gas line.

The pipe, PG&E said, met all required specifications. A seam weld fracture in the pipe was a consequence, not a cause of the rupture, PG&E said, citing the Exponent report.

This story was originally published July 22, 2015 at 6:44 PM with the headline "PG&E files claim against Fresno County in pipeline blast."