Feds urge PG&E to make sure its records are right

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Source: San Francisco Chronicle

(01-03) 16:26 PST WASHINGTON -- Federal investigators probing the deadly San Bruno explosion issued an urgent call Monday for Pacific Gas and Electric Co. to dig through its records to make sure it knows the condition of its gas pipelines, and for California regulators to ensure the utility is following safety rules.

The National Transportation Safety Board cited the California utility's "record-keeping problems" in issuing the extraordinary recommendation, which it made before determining the cause of the Sept. 9 explosion that killed eight people and destroyed 38 homes.

PG&E had told safety board investigators that the section of 1956 pipeline that ruptured had no seams, but that turned out to be wrong. The federal probe is looking at the quality of welding on those seams.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/01/03/BABM1H3G9Q.DTL