San Bruno, California explosion Pacific Gas and Electric Company

view of san bruno fire on sep. 9, 2010 @ 11:31 pm pdt

on evening of september 9, 2010, suburb of san francisco, san bruno, california, damaged when 1 of pg&e s natural-gas pipelines @ least 54 years old, 30 inches (76.2 centimeters) in diameter , located under street intersection in residential area... exploded sending 28-foot section of pipe weighing 3,000 pounds flying through air, fueled blowing natural gas. blast created crater @ epicenter , killed 8 people , injured 5 dozen more while destroying 100 homes. usgs reported shock wave similar 1.1 magnitude earthquake. following event, company heavily criticized ignoring warnings of state inspector in 2009 , failing provide adequate safety procedures. incident came under investigation national transportation safety board (ntsb). on august 30, 2011, ntsb released findings, placed fault blast on pg&e. report stated pipeline installed in 1956 later burst did not meet standards of time. pg&e charged twelve criminal felony counts alleging violations of natural gas pipeline safety act. pg&e pleaded not guilty criminal counts in both initial , superseding indictments, opting put prosecutors proof. on april 1, 2014 united states grand jury in san francisco charged pg&e knowingly , willfully violating natural gas pipeline safety act.

in august 2015 california public utilities commission levied $300 million fine against pg&e paid. pg&e refunded $400 million gas customers , agreed pay $850 million gas-system safety improvements. settled more $500 million in claims involving victims of disaster , relatives.