Stick This In Your Pipeline And Smoke It

It's not a question of if another San Bruno gas pipeline disaster will happen in America, but where and how soon.

The tragic explosion of a gas pipeline in a San Francisco suburb has shed light on a problem usually kept underground: Communities have expanded over pipes built decades earlier when no one lived there.

Utilities have been under pressure for years to better inspect and replace aging gas pipes — many of them laid years before sprawling communities were erected around them — that now are at risk of leaking or erupting.

But the effort has fallen short. Critics say the regulatory system is ripe for problems because the government largely leaves it up to the companies to do inspections, and utilities are reluctant to spend the money necessary to properly fix and replace decrepit pipelines.

"If this was the FAA and air travel we were talking about, I wouldn't get on a plane," said Rick Kessler, a former congressional staffer specializing in pipeline safety issues who now works for the Pipeline Safety Trust, an advocacy group based in Bellingham, Wash.

Investigators are still trying to figure out how the pipeline in San Bruno ruptured and ignited a gigantic fireball that torched one home after another in the neighborhood, killing at least four people. Pacific Gas & Electric Co., the pipeline's owner, said Monday it has set aside up to $100 million to help residents recover.

One has to wonder if PG&E would have rather spent that $100 million on inspecting the gas lines before rather than cleaning up the mess later.  The fact is inspection and replacement of buried gas mains like that is expensive and messy.  50 year old pipes in the middle of older neighborhoods where homes and businesses are built up can be a real pain to get to, especially in densely populated urban centers.

But the simple fact of the matter is utility companies are profit based, not safety based.  Skipping on inspections means the company saves money, not to mention laying off safety personnel (you don't need as many.)   It's a short-term gamble most companies are increasingly willing to take, and these companies want the government to back off and mandate fewer inspections.

At some point, government infrastructure investment becomes mandatory.  San Bruno was the result of why.  Infrastructure requires someone to pay for it and to direct it.  If companies aren't going to do it, who will?