SAN FRANCISCO, March 18 (UPI) -- California's U.S. senators say a "loophole" allowing pipeline operators to avoid alerting the government when they spike gas pressures should be closed.
Democratic Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer wrote a letter Wednesday to the head of the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
"We urge you to issue this order immediately under your existing emergency authority to protect public safety," Feinstein and Boxer wrote.
Existing federal rules do not require pipeline operators to alert regulators when gas levels exceed safety levels unless the pressure remains high for more than five days.
Pacific Gas and Electric Co. spiked pressures above legal limits twice in San Bruno, Calif., before last year's deadly explosion and fire that killed eight people.
Federal investigators are examining whether the surges could have weakened the line and made it more vulnerable to failure, a spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board said.
Feinstein and Boxer said the lack of a reporting requirement on such spikes was "a regulatory loophole" that allows pipeline companies to escape "suffering any repercussion for this unsafe action."
