Bay Area company ordered to pay for ruptured gas lines

A Livermore company has been ordered to pay $100,000 in civil penalties for rupturing at least 15 gas lines during construction projects throughout the Bay Area, prosecutors announced.

The Santa Clara District Attorney announced the penalty Wednesday against backhoe operator MCH Electric. The company once ruptured a natural gas pipeline on a sidewalk of the Montague Expressway in San Jose during rush hour, causing gas to be released for an hour, and a major shutdown and traffic nightmare.

The Santa Clara County District Attorney began investigation the backhoe operator after a string of ruptures in 2017, reported by Milpitas police. Alameda County District Attorney joined in on the investigation after other violations in Dublin and Pleasanton were also discovered.

Allegations in the civil lawsuit included the failure to report the gas line breaks and gas releases immediately to 911 and the use of a backhoe much closer than the law allows to gas and electrical lines. PG&E, whose gas lines were damaged by the excavators, helped the district attorneys’ offices in the investigation by providing information about the incidents.

“Trenching near underground utility lines is dangerous,” said supervising Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Bud Porter. “We believe that the majority of these incidents are preventable.”

This case was one of the first prosecutions in the state under the Dig Safe Act, established in 2016. The act allows for stricter legal requirements for excavation safety.