SAN BRUNO, Calif., Sept. 13 (UPI) -- Nearly half of the major gas pipeline accidents in the past 10 years in California involved pipelines linked to Pacific Gas and Electric Co., records indicate.
A gas explosion on a PG&E pipeline last week in San Bruno, Calif., killed at least four people and destroyed more than 35 homes. PG&E along with the U.S. National Transportation Board and the California Public Utilities Commission are examining the cause of the massive blast.
Records kept by the U.S. Department of Transportation indicate that 43 of the 87 major accidents involving California natural gas pipelines happened on pipelines operated by PG&E, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Eleven of those accidents, however, were blamed on people striking pipelines they didn't know where there.
Punctures are among the more common cause of pipeline accidents, though corrosion can also lead to leaks.
The NTSB blamed poorly trained workers with PG&E, however, for a 2008 gas explosion in California that left one person dead and five others injured.
State Assemblyman Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo and who represents San Bruno, said training may have been a factor in last week's explosion.
"State and federal investigators need to determine if PG&E personnel had the proper training and equipment and whether or not this disaster could have been prevented," he was quoted by the Chronicle as saying.
PG&E owns about 40 percent of the natural gas pipelines running through California.
