Line riders marking pipelines near proposed excavations should be certified and monitored by a third-party government agency, Mark Breslin testified at a California State Senate committee June 10. Hazards must be better highlighted on construction drawings, more accurate technology used to locate buried pipelines and pipeline companies must be required to respond more quickly, said the executive director of San Ramon-based Engineering and Utility Contractors Association (EUCA). There needs to be a consequence for not being responsive. The culture of marginal compliance by some owners of equipment has to stop.
The gas pipeline explosion in Walnut Creek last November that killed five construction workers after a backhoe hit a buried pipeline was not an isolated occurrence, Breslin told the Senate committee hearing called by Senator Tom Torlakson to explore ways to avert similar disasters. The symptoms leading up to that incident take place in the construction field routinely, he says.