PG&E to conduct pipeline inspection

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. will be seeking access to private property to conduct its annual inspection and monitoring program for natural gas transmission pipelines. PG&E operates natural gas pipelines throughout California, from Modoc to San Bernardino counties.

The company said it will be inspecting for leaks by conducting comprehensive surveys and patrols of all natural gas transmission pipelines so that any issues identified as a threat to public safety can be immediately addressed. As part of this work, Lia White, PG&E Northern Region Energy Solutions and Services executive manager, said utility employees and contractors must enter private property to gain access to the pipeline easement to perform this work.

"Those doing the surveys should have identification and are supposed to provide landowners information about why they are working in a particular location and what they are doing," White said. "If the property owner has an issue that we need to know about or to work around a schedule, we need to know that, too. We want this to be in everyone's best interest."

In the near future, PG&E said, crews will also need access for a second project. That project involves a land survey using GPS technology to enhance and modernize the PG&E mapping system. White added that PG&E is updating to a more modern system so that the company can provide real-time data in the field.

PG&E personnel and contractors carry PG&E identification at all times, White said, and landowners are encouraged to ask for identification.

More information about PG&E pipeline safety programs, including an interactive pipeline map, is available at www.pge.com/gas. The PG&E Gas System Help Line may be reached at 888-743-7431.