Strengthened State Role in Pipeline Safety Sought

Pledging to fill regulatory gaps that may be partly to blame for the deadly rupture of a gas line here last month, a panel of California lawmakers Tuesday called for federal legislation strengthening the state’s role in monitoring pipeline safety.

During a hearing marked by cries of “Amen” from an audience of about 75 residents, members of a joint Senate-Assembly committee said existing pipeline safety laws must be toughened to prevent a repeat of the May 25 explosion that sparked a fuel fire that killed two people.

Meanwhile, San Bernardino County health officials said tests of soil near homes in the disaster area revealed trace amounts of cyanide. The deadly substance may have been present in a load of sodium bicarbonate dumped in the neighborhood by a runaway train that jumped the tracks May 12.

Residents’ Complaints

Residents have complained of persistent health problems since the derailment, but authorities said the cyanide level is far below that considered hazardous to humans.

“If I had any doubt about (the health risk), I’d evacuate the neighborhood,” said Peter Brierty, hazardous materials manager for the county. He said a person would have to consume six pounds of the tainted soil to reach the daily consumption limit for cyanide set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The rupture occurred two weeks after a Southern Pacific freight derailed and landed atop the buried pipeline, which carries gasoline to Las Vegas. It is unclear whether the two accidents are related, but federal investigators say the train may have damaged the 14-inch pipe, making it vulnerable to the high pressure used to pump fuel through Cajon Pass.

Together, the derailment and fire killed six people, injured dozens and destroyed 22 houses. Many residents have been reluctant to return, fearful of another disaster.

“We are in a situation where we feel we are sitting on a time bomb,” Paul Evans, a 19-year area resident, told the committee Tuesday. “We are beyond the crying. . . . What we seek from you is action.”

The legislators appeared eager to deliver. “I do not believe anyone can claim that the pipeline safety system works well,” said Sen. Art Torres (D-Los Angeles), chairman of the Senate Committee on Toxics and Public Safety Management. “The question is, how bad is the system and what steps can we take to fix it?”

Torres and other members were particularly critical of the state fire marshal’s office, saying officials should have required that the pipeline’s operator, Calnev Pipe Line Co., conduct a more thorough inspection of the conduit after the derailment. Spot checks of the pipe’s exterior were made at 50-foot intervals along the derailment site, but there were no internal inspections or high-pressure water tests before pumping resumed.

“I don’t have any faith in visual inspections,” said Assemblyman Dave Elder (D-San Pedro), who authored the California Pipeline Safety Act of 1981 and other bills that regulate the state’s pipelines. “They don’t tell you what a pipe will do under high pressure.”

But Elder noted that because the Calnev pipeline is an interstate line, regulatory control rests largely with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s office of pipeline safety. Although the fire marshal could have--and should have, legislators said--asked their federal counterparts to require more extensive testing before Calnev resumed pumping, state officials had no authority to block the line’s reopening.

“That’s where the gap is,” Elder said. “The state has plenty of authority once a pipeline fails. But we need a federal law to give states authority before a pipeline fails, when there’s a derailment or some other event that may have damaged the line.”

Some lawmakers, however, said they are leery of handing increased responsibility to the fire marshal’s office, given its handling of this episode.

“I thought they did a terrible job, an absolutely terrible job,” said Sen. Herschel Rosenthal (D-Los Angeles), who has a bill pending that would increase the frequency of inspections for high-risk pipelines.

Joan Jennings, deputy director in charge of pipeline safety for the fire marshal’s office, said, “In hindsight, we wish we had done more testing.” But, she added, when no leaks were detected, officials saw it as “a clear indication that no damage had been done to the pipeline.”