San Bruno Gas leak Blast

[Terry]

In San Bruno, there was a natural gas leak, which after days of having been reported, finally exploded.
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/video?id=7661807

At 6:24 p.m. Thursday, an explosion and fireball erupted from near the intersection near Glenview Drive and Earl Avenue. People as far as one-half mile away say they felt the boom and heat of the explosion.
PG&E confirms a 30-inch natural gas line was the source of the explosion and fire. There has been no word on what caused the pipe to rupture, although PG&E President Chris Johns said the pipe was 40-50 years old.

 

[Ian Gills]

This is very sad news and I feel sorry for the great loss those people on the West Coast must be experiencing.

Nevertheless, this sort of thing simply does not happen in Europe.

We don't mind paying a few extra dollars to keep our infrastructure tip-top.

Not here, where there is fear of big Government and paying for service. Electric lines hung overhead. Ancient water pipes bursting underground. And now this.

I hope we will see some changes after this terrible event.

Amazing that leaking gas can be reported and they don't cut the supply.

Time to regulate. From Washington D.C. this time.

If you can't take care of yourselves, we'll do it for you.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Ballvalve]

That's just one of many monster gas explosions in the great USA. There are documentaries about several others.

Dont live in cities, my best advice.

 

[Steve_P]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39149123/ns/us_news-life/

some good pics and more info there. it sounds like they were going to replace that section but obviously they did not get to it soon enough. We tend to "regulate by tombstones" but also have a short memory. There will be a call for increased inspections but in a few months it will probably be forgotten- like the hwy bridge that collapsed in MN about a yr ago. I assume PG&E will pay for this big time.

 

[Ballvalve]

No it will not be forgotten: PGE will go to the public utilility commision and get money from ME and my neighbors 200 miles from the nearest pipe, to "upgrade" for safety reasons.

Its cheaper to barbeque 6 or 10 guys in Frisco then to re-line or replace the pipe in due time. They work the numbers carefully and discover that a few fried souls are cheaper than preventative maintenance.

And on the other hand, PGE might be barred from changing the pipe because some neighbor {now toasted} filed a complaint that they might harm her fig tree. No way to win in America.