(Lafayette Reservoir, above)
September 7, 2023
It's been a while since we last updated our supporters, so we wanted to catch you up on important updates in our unwavering quest to improve pipeline safety while preserving heritage trees in Lafayette. We also mark the 13th anniversary of the San Bruno PG&E gas pipeline explosion that killed 8 people on September 10, 2010.
BACKGROUND: For the last six years Save Lafayette Trees (SLT) and residents have advocated for improved pipeline safety measures over PG&E's unnecessary removal of 272 trees that line our trails and neighborhoods. Nearly 3,000 people signed our online petition to stop tree cutting. We filed a CEQA lawsuit against PG&E and the City of Lafayette to stop the imminent cutting. Our efforts have been successful, and we won our last judgement in the Courts of Appeal.
PG&E and Lafayette end Tree Removal Agreement
Meanwhile, PG&E and the City sued each other in 2020 regarding the enforcement of the Tree Ordinance, as PG&E had attempted to cut some trees without permits. Those lawsuits are now settled. As part of the resolution, the 2017 Tree Removal Agreement was dissolved. That means there is no agreement to cut trees in Lafayette. This has major implications, and will bring back the issue to a City Council meeting:
We understand that PG&E and the City continue their two-year old Tree Assessment Proposal efforts which will result in written reports from both PG&E consultants and City of Lafayette consultants. There will be a public City Council meeting to discuss. The Council will then vote on whether or not to allow tree removal on a tree-by-tree basis.
The City retains the $530,000 of in-lieu tree removal payment from PG&E, but PG&E has not removed any trees per the now-discontinued CPSI program.
PG&E filed a motion to dismiss the SLT lawsuit since the CPSI Tree Agreement with the City is now dissolved. A court hearing is set for Sept 14th.
Without the agreement, we remain concerned trees are needlessly at risk and that neither party conducted a CEQA analysis while discussing discretionary tree removals. After six years, PG&E should admit tree removal is not an urgent safety concern and should focus on important safety improvements that remain unresolved in our community. Tree safety measures, like those that the Gas Safety Task Force championed below, will reduce any call for tree removal even further (as a PG&E executive told us).
We will update the community when the PG&E and City reports become public. In the meantime, we encourage residents to email City Council at cityhall@lovelafayette.org to express support of prioritizing gas safety over tree removal.
Exposing Safety Weaknesses
SLT questioned PG&E's claims against trees since no tree ever caused an underground pipeline incident -- so we dove into data PG&E provided the City and researched pipeline safety. We had more questions. In 2018, with support of the City, we formed an ad hoc Gas Safety Task Force (GSTF) with other residents. The GSTF represents residents in a safety stakeholder group that met with the City, PG&E, and the CPUC. The GSTF work has called out serious safety concerns that PG&E has mis-prioritized and must address to follow the law and protect Lafayette.
2.3 Miles of untested 70 year old gas transmission pipeline under Lafayette
Sifting through PG&E's own data, the task force found that 2.3 miles of transmission pipeline have not been tested since the segments were constructed in the 1940s and 50s! After the 2010 San Bruno explosion, the state mandated all transmission pipeline to be strength tested so weaknesses in pipeline could be found and fixed before failure.
Win: With GSTF highlighted untested vintage pipelines, PG&E has committed to testing these segments by 2026.
Action: Continue to ask PG&E to expedite testing. Ask CPUC and federal regulators to verify allowance for such overdue test schedules. Since lack of testing should have been identified to City Council before PG&E proposed a discretionary tree removal program as a safety priority, ask Council to delay consideration of pipeline-related tree removal until all transmission pipeline in the city has verifiable record of strength testing.
Failure to identify High Consequence Areas (HCA) along transmission pipeline routes.
HCA is the single most important determination for transmission pipeline as it requires PG&E to take more precautionary safety measures to protect people and property from pipeline hazards. The task force pointed out that Girl Scout Camp (at end of Springhill Rd, in a very high wildfire risk zone) and Growing Light preschool in Burton Valley were not identified as HCA sites for decades. Timely HCA identification would have expedited strength testing schedules and any necessary upgrade work years earlier.
Win: The CPUC cited PG&E for violation of federal safety laws for not identifying HCA in Lafayette. PG&E has since been working to verify pipeline integrity on formerly untested, vintage pipeline segments in the Girl Scout Camp and Happy Valley areas.
Action: Since we are not confident PG&E has fully identified HCA on transmission pipeline downtown, ask PG&E to review and CPUC to verify, HCA designation, especially in residential and high traffic/commute areas on pipeline routes.
Failure to identify and reduce risk of tree/limb fall on exposed gas pipelines
The GSTF elevated residents' decades-long concerns regarding large trees and heavy limbs hazardously overhanging long expanses of exposed, suspended pipeline to expedite PG&E's removal of this danger in multiple sites (Happy Valley, Springhill and nearby Briones Park trail -- all very high fire severity hazard areas).
Win: With GSTF urging, PG&E removed overhanging trees posing risk to the pipeline and tested pipeline coating integrity on an exposed pipeline in a high fire risk area.
Action: Since PG&E committed to added overhanging trees as a risk factor to exposed pipeline in their service-wide safety program, verify they are doing so with the CPUC so other communities are protected.
The GSTF advocates for the additional community safety protections:
Replacing manual shut-off valves with automated valves in high fire risk zones, especially in less accessible sites like the top of Sunrise Trail in Briones, above Happy Valley.
Prioritizing any existing gas leak repair in high fire risk zones.
Verifying pipeline corrosion prevention by ensuring all pipelines are protected by cathodic protection stations and that existing cathodic protection stations in Lafayette are in working order.
Our mission is clear, as no tree has ever caused an underground transmission pipeline incident, but faulty equipment and operation has destroyed many lives. Most of the trees targeted for removal per PG&E's discretionary program are identified near untested segments. PG&E's own measure of risk for trees near pipelines pales compared to the significant measure of risk inherent in untested vintage equipment: corrosion, sub-par welds, etc. It is clear PG&E did not originally inform City Council of the prioritization of tree removal relative to the need to complete lawful safety protections.
PG&E's stops "ineffective" tree removal program near electrical power lines
PG&E's recent halting of their "enhanced vegetation management" program around electrical lines is a precedent for stopping unproven tree removal around gas pipelines. Calling the $2.5 Billion, 5 year, 1+ million tree removal program now "ineffective' with better information, PG&E has shown targeting trees is not a wise investment when money is better applied to upgrading and maintaining the existing infrastructure. Safety advocates across California have been saying this for years. The similarities to gas pipeline operations are obvious, especially as no tree has ever caused an underground gas transmission pipeline accident.
Want to help?
Make your voice heard! Send letters and comments to our City Council (cityhall@lovelafayette.org) and to the Lamorinda Weekly (letters@lamorindaweekly.com). Let the City know CPSI tree removal is not necessary for safe pipeline operations. Instead we need PG&E to focus on safety.
Forward this newsletter to friends and neighbors.
Donate - New donation page! Help support our activities with your support.
If PG&E approaches you regarding privately-owned tree removal near a gas pipeline, contact SLT with help addressing any concerns.
Save Lafayette Trees news archive...
Thank you for your support of the environment and pipeline safety!
Save Lafayette Trees
Image below: PG&E replacing pipeline bends in the middle of Briones Park earlier this year.
