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City Council Special Meeting Minutes May 6, 2014 06-03-14

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    MINUTESSPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING

    CITY OF CARMEL-BY-THE-SEAMay 6 2014

    I. CALL TO ORDER:The Special meeting of the City Council of the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea Californiawas held in the above date at the stated hour of 3:36 PM Mayor Burnett called themeeting to order.

    II ROLL CALL:PRESENT: Council Members Dallas Theis Beach Vice Mayor Talmage andMayor BurnettSTAFF PRESENT: Jason Stilwell City AdministratorDon Freemen City AttorneyAnita DeAmaral Deputy City ClerkMike Calhoun Public Safety DirectorRob Mullane Community Planning Building Services Director

    III PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCECouncilmember Dallas led the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance.

    IV . ORDERS OF COUNCILA Receive report from Exponent regarding the Cannel gas incident and provide direction.

    Mayor Burnett introduced Joel Sipe Senior Engineer and Project Leader for Exponent anengineering and scientific consulting firm that developed a report and findings regarding theexplosion.Mr. Sipe provided a presentation outlined as follows: What caused the gas leak? Why did the gas leak happen (the root cause)? How did th e gas get into the residence? What caused the gas to ignite? What actions have we recommended to help prevent a similar event? Additional questions?WHAT CAUSED THE GAS LE K?Incident OverviewIn the late morning on 3/3114 a PG E welding crew was in the process ofperforming a

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    hot tie-in . The tie-in was part of a job to connect a new plastic line to an existing steelpipe. Work was being conducted in an excavation near the intersection of 3rd Avenue andGuadalupe Street in Carmel-by-the-Sea (Carmel), California.After tapping a line stopper fitting , the crew removed the tapping tool and ound a portionofplastic pipe inside it At this point, the workers realized that the steel pipe was insertedwith plastic pipe and that gas was leaking.Work Conducted on Day of ncidentNew plastic gas line was being tied-in to existing gas line on 3rdAve.Construction documents indicated existing gas main on 3rd Ave was 2-inch steel pipeinstalled on Job 4002-B in 1941.2-inch steelpipe was laterfound to be inserted with 1 t-inch plastic pipe.Plastic pipe has a date code indicating 1997.

    Installation job for 1 t-inch inserted plastic pipe is currently unidentified.WHY DID IT HAPPEN?Root CausePG&E s verification of the system configuration was inadequate for performing work on a

    pressurized natural gas line.Drawings showed a 2-inch steel line on 3rdAve (plastic line was not mapped)Excavation revealed a 2-inch steel line (plastic pipe was not visible)Status of he line (inserted pipe) was notfield verifiedHOW DID THE GAS ENTER THE RESIDENCE?

    Gas Migration PathSewer mainWHAT WAS THE IGNITION SOURCE?Unlikely Ignition SourcesBasement heater - appliance shut-offvalve found in the closed position.Hot water heater - pilot settingfound in the off'' position.Kitchen refrigerator - found unplugged.Bedroom ceilingfan - have not verified whether fan motor was energized.Event Timeline

    : 0 0 am Welding crew arrived at job site10:00-10:15 am - Welding crew installed and tapped save-a-valve1 0 : 1 5 1 0 : 3 5 am - Welding crew installed and tapped M/2 line stopper10:38 am - Field In spector called Gas Div. Supervisor to tell him about gas leak]- 11:15am - Explosion occurs (based on multiple 911 calls)11:16 am - Field Inspector called Gas Div. Supervisor to inform him ofexplosion]

    11:17 am - Field In spector called 911111:18 am - Explosion reported to FD211:23 am - FD arrived on scene211:25 am - Event reported to PG&311:38 am PG&E response personnel arrived311:45 am - Gas flow stopped by squeezing main on either side of eak area31 Reported to Exponent by PG&Eper cell phone call history2 Per FD incident report3 Per PG&E A Form

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    RECOMMENDED CORRECTIVE ACTIONDevelop or revise existingprocedures to require posit ive verification of he expected systemstatus and configuration when working on a pipeline. These procedures shouldemphasize that plat maps should not be considered as-builts and are not to be usedin lieu o fother means o positive verification. Develop or revise existing procedures to require, as part of the design process, furtherinvestigation (e.g., field verification) of the system configuration when estimating a jobfor which as-builts are not available.

    With this event in mind, review the current process for receiving, approving and storingjob folders, including as-builts, to assure that all job folders will be adequately filedand the necessary mapping changes made in a t imely manner. Develop and implement a process for a more detailed pre-job briefing, including adiscussion of what can go wrong and who is responsible for taking what action i it doesgo wrong, and ensuring that the appropriate equipment is available to handle potentialemergencies.

    Mr. Sipe provided additional information after the presentation: The speed of the gas was not measured in the report. Sewer traps near the home could have dried out and gas may have entered through the toiletor sink mixing with air and accumulating at ceiling. f the gas encountered ignition source, you would expect a flame to propagate thru themixture and explode. The stove had a continuous pilot flame and could have been the ignition source.Mayor Burnett noted that PG&E is will provide another iteration of the report.Council members provided questions and comments regarding this report: Why were the following items not in the report: 14 individuals indicated they had knowledge but were not interviewed The City of Carmel was not included in the report. Why? Why was the City notified 39 minutes after the incident? The City could have provided an evacuation if they were notified sooner. There are serious items missing in this report regarding response time and communicationprotocol.Dennis Lee, Senior Utilities Engineer of the Public Utilities Commission, provided apresentation regarding their investigation, the timeline, and stated that there will be theopportunity for residents and council members to provide input to the Public UtilitiesCommission. He noted the following: We are looking at issues including response time, when the welders found the leak, and othertimeline items. A complete report will be provided by the end of summer 2014. You will have the opportunity to weigh in. Once the report is finalized it with either goes through a citation process or a formalproceeding.

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    Mayor Burnett opened the meeting to public comment at 4:23 PM Lucas Austin: Once they addressed the pressure in the pipe, what was pressure before thetapping? Regarding the timeline, they called the supervisor at 11: 6 AM and called 9 at

    11:17 am. Why did they not call 9 first?Mayor Burnett closed public comment at 4:25 PMMr. Sipes: PG E stated that the pressure was not checked until the pipe was tapped, so they donot know the pressure prior to this.Mayor Burnett reopened public comment at 4: 8PM Judy Me McCullough, resident: My daughter was home and we were in the house when theincident happened. Why did we not receive evacuation orders? I now have a four inch PG Epipe with no meter on it. Did they perform an investigation before they did my pipes? Jody Hanson, resident: There was a lot of confusion; my friend was at my house when ithappened. It is important to have trained PG E supervisors.Mayor Burnett closed public comment at 4:3 PMMayor Burnett noted this opportunity for Council members to provide additional questions thatmay e answered in the revised report. He also stated that he and the city attorney are checkinginto other incidents like San Bruno and San Carlos.Council Member Questions/Comments: Councilmember Beach:o What was the phone chain process and other protocol items? I am more concerned

    with what happened above ground.o Are there shut off valves in the City? Are they by block, or what? Can they einstalled:o The plat map did not show relationship between sewer line and and the gas line.o Why did the video not give us this information? Councilmember Talmageo PG E needs to understand the community is concerned today when they see aPG E truck on their blocko When will we have as-built maps? We need assurance that you k now what isunderground.

    o We want assurances in writing and agreement codified into document.o We are on hold regarding PG E doing more work in this community. Councilmember Dallaso I would like to see a detailed report for all gas calls and response times in Carmelfrom this date until we meet again.o I would like to know how many squeezers in the County that have ability to shut

    offgas.PG E noted that these are very large devices you cannot carry in a car.Minutes ofCarmel by the Sea Regular Meeting May 6 2014 Page

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    Mayor Burnetto I would like regular monthly reports detailing response times, going forward.o Carmel residents and the Police Department were not interviewed.o We are more interested in following people, not molecules.o I was told y several residents that they smelled gas during that timeline.o The timeline needs to e explained- what went wrong? Why was 9 not calledearlier? n that 37 minutes they could have protected the public, they need to becalled immediately.PG E Issues:o Legal issues - what is the local law, and has that been met? I recommend thatPG E does that analysis.o Business practices - what is wrong with the PG E culture, we've had otherissues. There were steps along the way, other minds who decide not to call 911. Iadvise getting an outside firm to conduct an analysis of this issue.

    V. ORDERS OF COUNCIL

    A. RECEIVE REPORT FROM PG E REGARDING PROPOSED SAFETYMITIGATION AND PROVIDE DIRECTIONMayor Burnett suggested this item to e addressed at a later time.

    V. ORDERS OF COUNCILB. RECEIVE UPDATE ON REPAVING ROADS IMPACTED BY PG E AND

    PROVIDE DIRECTION.Kevin Knapp, PG E Vice President of Gas Operations and Maintenance, expressed hisapologies for not meeting the City' s expectations and stated that PG E has an ongoingcommitment to move the issue forward. He noted that PG E wants a transparent process andacknowledged that there are cultural issues at the company.Mr. Knapp stated the PG E is working with the city to redo the roads to the City's satisfactionand they will pay the bill and the City can perform the remediation of the paving.Mayor Burnett noted that the proposal states that PG E will not do the paving. The City will dothe work procuring the bids and PG E will reimburse the City.Council members agreed with the proposalPublic comment opened at 4:52 PM. Jonathan Sapp expressed his support for the proposal and discussed an unsatisfactory

    experience he had with PG E. Barbara Livingston noted a comment provided that day y a PG E worker stating that hesmelled the gas and it was not a problem.Public Comment closed at 4:55PM

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    All Council members agreed to move forward with the proposal and the bidding process andreceive more information at a future meeting.IV. ORDERS O COUNCIL

    C CONSIDERATION OF APPROVAL ON PG E RESUMING WORK INCARMEL.

    Mayor Burnett noted that this item will be addressed at a future meeting.Members of the public provided no objections to actions required for Items IV.B and IV.DVI. ADJOURNMENT:Seeing no further business before the City Council Mayor Burnett declared the meetingadjourned at 4:56 PM.

    Respectfully submitted ATTEST:

    t f t k t ?Mmtw /Anita DeAm ral ason Burnett MayorDeputy City Clerk

    Minutes ofCarmel by the Sea Regular Meeting May 6 2014 Page


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