SAN BRUNO, Calif. — The section of gas pipeline that ruptured and exploded in a suburban San Francisco neighborhood, killing four and injuring nearly 60 others, was ranked as high-risk because it ran through a highly populated area, state and federal authorities said Saturday.
One of the victims killed in the inferno Thursday worked for the commission reviewing Pacific Gas & Electric’s investment plans to upgrade its natural-gas lines, including another risky section of the same pipeline within miles of her home, a colleague confirmed.
Longtime California Public Utilities Commission analyst Jacqueline Greig and her 13-year-old daughter Janessa died in the massive blast, which left a crater near their house and laid waste to dozens of 1960s-era homes in the hills overlooking San Francisco Bay.
Jessica Morales, 20, was also killed in the explosion and fire.
One other victim found earlier hasn’t been identified, and authorities were trying to identify remains found Saturday morning. Five people were still missing from the blast.
Greig spent part of the summer evaluating PG&E’s expansion plans to replace out-of- date pipes, as part of the utility’s bid to raise consumers’ rates, said co-worker Pearlie Sabino.
Sabino and Greig were members of a small commission team that advocates for consumer and environmental protections pertaining to natural gas.
“It’s just so shocking because she was one of the ones who was most closely involved with this kind of work,” said Mike Florio, a lawyer with the San Francisco advocacy group The Utility Reform Network who worked with Greig.
Among the paperwork PG&E submitted for hearings with regulators was a document ranking a section of the same gas line about 2 1/2 miles from the blast as within “the top 100 highest risk line sections” in the utility’s entire service territory, documents show.
The federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration classified the 30-inch diameter transmission line, which ran for about a mile and a half near Greig’s home, as a “high-consequence area” requiring more stringent inspections called integrity assessments, said agency spokeswoman Julia Valentine.
Nationwide, only about 7 percent of gas lines have that classification, she said.
Michelle Salinda’s home was destroyed in the fire, but her husband and 15-year-old son were able to escape. She said she wants to return to what’s left of her home to find closure.
“I can’t wait to see it, even though it’s all destroyed, because I know that’s where I am going to start again,” she said.
