Would You Buy a Perfect Home Next to a High-Pressure Natural Gas Pipeline?
Two years ago a 30" diameter, high-pressure natural gas pipeline ruptured and exploded in San Bruno, a small town located on the San Francisco peninsula between Silicon Valley and San Francisco. The pipeline was owned and maintained by Pacific Gas and Electric (P.G.& E) our public utility company.
The explosion and resulting fire claimed the lives of eight unsuspecting ordinary citizens. It destroyed 38 single family residences and left a crater 40' feet deep, 167' long and 26' wide. Eye witnesses said the wall of flames from the burning pressurized natural gas rose 1,000 feet in the air.
After that tragic accident disclosure laws in CA were expanded to include showing the location of major, pressurized natural gas pipelines that are close to the subject property.
This week my buyer clients fell in love with a gorgeous home in Hillsborough, an affluent community about 5 miles south of San Bruno where the explosion occurred. The home has some hard-to-find special features they're looking for; a landscaped and fully useable acre lot, and a separate, self-contained in-law's unit for her parents.
But, (always a 'but') there's one problem; the home is located very close to the extension of same natural gas pipeline that exploded. The precise location of the pipeline is difficult to determine from the maps available on the National Pipeline Mapping System, but it looks like it's within 200 feet and perhaps much closer.
The clients, a young couple and two cute young children, are deliberating about this issue at this time. They're repeat clients asking my opinion. I've recommended that they talk to a P.G.& E. representative to determine the exact location, if possible. And to determine if that segment of the pipeline has been tested and/or replaced.
The likelihood of another pipeline accident seems extraordinarily remote. P.G.& E. has been pressure testing, examining and replacing deficient pipelines. But the memory of the tragedy in San Bruno is still haunting.
Picture courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Lloyd Binen
Realtor/Broker/DRE 572654
Certified Realty Services
19200 Shubert Drive
Saratoga, CA 95070
Certified Residential Specialist (CRS); Graduate Realtors Institute (GRI)
408-373-4411; e-mail
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