SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Pacific Gas & Electric Co. admitted Wednesday that its safety officials never checked for gas leaks in a much broader swath of California than the company previously disclosed following the deadly San Bruno pipeline explosion.
PG&E originally told the California Public Utilities Commission that the utility misplaced 16 maps of its pipelines last year, so as a result never did leak surveys in any of those locations, in violation of state regulations. The commission said last week it would fine PG&E $16.8 million in response.
But on Wednesday, the company admitted it actually hadn't checked for pipeline leaks in a much larger geographic region detailed in 46 additional maps stretching from Fresno to Yolo counties, and including parts of the San Francisco Bay area.
PG&E spokesman Brian Swanson said the company had since surveyed the lines and found five leaks on 9.61 miles of gas distribution lines "associated" with the maps. A leak in the city of Napa was considered to be of the most severe kind, requiring immediate repair, Swanson said.
Two other leaks were located in unincorporated Napa County, another was found in unincorporated area if Solano County and a fifth was in Elk Grove.
Commission spokeswoman Terrie Prosper didn't immediately say what actions the commission planned to take, or whether the fine would increase with the revelation of a wider problem.
PG&E simultaneously announced the company intends to appeal the fine.
"We believe the fine is excessive because we did the right thing — by promptly self-reporting what we'd found to assure we placed public safety first," Nick Stavropoulos, executive vice president of gas operations, said in a statement Wednesday. "We congratulated the employees who identified the missing information and took immediate corrective action."
The Sept. 9, 2010, blast on PG&E's transmission line in San Bruno killed eight people and destroyed 38 homes.
PG&E could face additional, larger penalties in a separate probe by the commission into whether the company should be fined for the San Bruno blast.
Consumer advocates and a state lawmaker urged Commission President Michael Peevey on Wednesday to recuse himself from the probe to remove the appearance of impropriety.
Assemblyman Jerry Hill said Gov. Jerry Brown should remove Peevey from the investigation because federal safety investigators found myriad safety lapses occurred since he has led the commission since 2003.
"Under the president's stewardship over the past decade, the commission failed to ensure that PG&E's gas distribution system was safe," said Hill, a Democrat who represents San Bruno. "That's why I find it offensive that someone so responsible for the culture implicated in the San Bruno disaster has taken it upon himself to lead the direction of this penalty proceeding."
The commission said any settlement with PG&E will require a vote of the five-member panel.
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