Governor signs bill for automatic pipeline valves

Source: SF Chronicle

(10-07) 12:14 PDT Sacramento --

Gov. Jerry Brown has signed into a law a series of bills that came in the aftermath of the deadly gas pipeline explosion in San Bruno last year, including measures that require automatic shut-off valves on gas lines.

The San Bruno explosion destroyed a neighborhood, killing eight people, destroying 38 homes and damaging 70 others. The inferno burned for 90 minutes and the National Transportation Safety Board report on the incident found that automatic valves on the gas line could have cut that to as few as 15 minutes.

"We learned very important lessons from the tragic explosion in San Bruno. Pipeline operators and the Public Utilities Commission must take every possible step to keep it from happening again," Brown said. "These bills protect California's communities by setting new standards for emergency preparedness, placing automatic shut-off valves in vulnerable areas and ensuring that gas companies pressure test transmission lines."

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/10/07/BABD1LESPU.DTL

I thought the invisible hand of economics would ensure that companies always did the right thing.

Are you telling me that companies will kill people to save a penny? That is just crazy talk.