SAN BRUNO BLAST: 7 NOW DEAD, PIPELINE WAS 'RISKY'

[another saigon]

FIX OUR INFRASTRUCTURE HERE AT HOME!


SAN BRUNO (CBS 5 / AP / BCN) ―

http://cbs5.com/local/San.Bruno.rebuild.2.1907765.html

Search teams discovered the remains Saturday of three more people killed in a Sun Bruno neighborhood devastated by a thunderous pipeline explosion, authorities told CBS 5, raising the death toll from four to seven.

As many as five people were still missing Saturday, San Bruno police chief Neil Telford said; nearly 60 others were injured in Thursday evening's blast that wiped out numerous homes in the Crestmoor Canyon neighborhood near Skyline Boulevard and San Bruno Avenue.

Just two days after the gas line ruptured and ignited a towering fireball, state and federal authorities said that particular section of pipeline that exploded was ranked as high risk because it ran through a highly populated area.

The blast has also raised questions about the safety of similar lines that crisscross towns across America.

One of the victims killed in the inferno worked for the commission reviewing Pacific Gas & Electric's investment plans to upgrade its natural gas lines, including another risky section of the same pipeline within miles of her home, a colleague confirmed.

[malaise]

1. and Six missing

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/US/09/12/california.fire/?hpt=T2#fbid=YCrKhFEbgMU&wom=false
<snip>
On Saturday, California Sen. Barbara Boxer demanded answers about why the gas transmission line ruptured.

Accompanied by state and federal officials, Boxer toured blocks of the charred neighborhood in that now looks like a war zone.

"Many questions must be answered by all of us whose job it is to protect our people," Boxer said. "What was the cause of this blast of course, first and foremost? Were there reports that there were odors escaping from the pipeline? If there were those reports, what actions took place in response to those complaints?"

Residents packed a town hall meeting Saturday seeking answers from public officials about when they can go home as well as rebuilding and compensation issues.
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This should be the major news story in America. Oil and gas companies appear to get away with murder.

[another saigon]

2. yes they do

murder all over the world. I am rereading John Perkins Confessions of an Economic Hit Man. It amazes me more people are not aware of the OIL wars around the globe, while we at home suffer and die from neglect.

[malaise]

9. I'm also reading that - started Friday night

:D

[another saigon]

11. Thank god for people with a conscience

Perkins has been a great addition to the whistle blowers and truth tellers in the last 30 years.

[EFerrari]

12. That book explains so clearly why the US gov does not favor popular democracies

in this hemisphere.

[malaise]

13. Yep that's the truth

I had already read Davidson Budhoo's letter of resignation to the IMF (on Naomi's Shock Doctrine website) because of the bogus statistics used by the IMF to destroy the Trinidad and Tobago economy.

It's unbelievable what they have got away with but remember Haiti was the model.

[EFerrari]

14. That's right and Haiti is still a work in progress.

I was reading last night how our pal Porter Goss was up to his eyeballs in the whole project.

And got to thinking that maybe the reason why he started in on Maxine Waters and this fake ethics probe. She is a close ally of Aristide and his backers and she sits on the House trade subcommittee. Whatever the hell these vampires are doing to Haiti right now on the sly, they need Maxine either on their side or at least, not in their way. :shrug:

[xchrom]

3. +2

[Starry Messenger]

4. :(

[yella_dawg]

5. I'm curious.

I want to know the state and outcome of the investigation conducted by the state worker whose home was within feet of the rupture.

[ensho]

6. kick

nt

[maryf]

7. Its indicative of the infrastructure

all over this country...yet we keep funding a military budget over 50% of the entire federal budget, and those costs do "trickle down" to the local communities to a very scary degree.

How many other accidents due to a capitalistic callousness for not funding much needed repairs due to the lack of profit from the investment...

The irony of the last line is amazing...

Here's a trade off on military spending vs. the money for firefighters in San Bruno:

http://www.nationalpriorities.org/tradeoffs?location_type=4&state=6&town=0.000196354000000000000000000000&program=707&tradeoff_item_item=369&submit_tradeoffs=Get+Trade+Off


Taxpayers in San Bruno, California will pay $33.5 million for proposed total Iraq and Afghanistan war spending in FY2011. For the same amount of money, the following could have been provided:
440 Firefighters for One Year

There is no infrastructure trade off at the national priorities project, but would seem if things don't get fixed they may need to hire more firefighters...

[Edweird]

8. It actually appears that our vital infrastructure is being auctioned off to private investors.

So, it's from the frying pan to the fire we go.

[maryf]

10. they are working on privatizing air, I'm sure...

last thing to go...gotta change the course of capitalism before it destroys all...