I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
PNM foreman Frank Sanchez discovered a hazardous “Grade 1″ natural gas pipeline leak May 19, 2008 at the busy intersection of Albuquerque’s Montgomery Blvd and Carlisle Blvd., within a city block of two gas stations.
But two months later, the leak had still not been repaired.
Nor had PNM alerted state authorities of the hazard, as required by law.
During that time, in violation of PNM’s own rules, PNM employees simply left the site unattended, according to records at the Public Regulation Commission’s (PRC) Pipeline Safety Bureau.
“PNM personnel did not post warning signs at the intersection of Montgomery and Carlisle where the presence of gas constituted a hazard of fire or explosion,” states a Pipeline Safety Bureau report dated October 2008.
Under the Pipeline Safety Act and PRC regulations, the company could face up to $500,000 in fines for the violations.
But on Monday, nearly two years after the leak, the full PRC Commission is scheduled to review PNM’s proposal to pay just $66,000.
It is unclear whether the gas was “odorized,” as required under federal law to ease the detection of leaks. PRC records show that in 2006 and 2007, PNM had “inadequately” odorized natural gas on numerous occasions.
Employees told to vent leak, falsify paperwork ahead of inspection
When PNM Gas Supervisor Dave DeLorenzo, now an employee of New Mexico Gas Company, learned that Pipeline Safety Bureau Chief Joe Johnson was going to visit the site on July 16, 2008, he told a foreman to vent the vault containing the leaking pipeline, PRC records state.
Venting the vault would allow the gas to escape, reducing the amount of gas present when Johnson visited.
DeLorenzo acknowledged telling an employee to vent the vault, but stated that “his intent was not to hide anything from the PSB investigator,” according to PRC records.
DeLorenzo also told an employee to falsify PNM records, PRC documents state.
Although the proper documentation, called a “leak ticket” report, was not filled out when the leak was first discovered, DeLorenzo and two other PNM employees were involved in falsifying records to create a back-dated leak ticket with a forged signature, investigators reported in a September 23, 2009 PRC Notice of Probable Violation sent to PNM.
According to investigators’ reports, PNM employee Kelly Bouska acknowledged asking DeLorenzo to have a third employee, Chris Sedillo, backdate a leak ticket for May 19, 2008, the date of the leak’s original discovery, and to place another employee’s name on the paperwork “to be accurate.”
That employee’s signature was falsified on the leak ticket, according to PRC records.
The pipeline is now owned by New Mexico Gas Company.
Employees ‘afraid of retaliation’
PNM employees wanted to alert PSB of the safety issue, but “were afraid that they would be retaliated against,” presumably by their supervisors, according to a report to the PRC made in Feb. 10, 2009 by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 611 in Albuquerque.
PNM officials told Pipeline Safety Bureau investigators that the company had performed an internal investigation, but “it wasn’t handled well and got off track.”
PNM has taken undisclosed disciplinary action against employees involved in the cover-up, according to PRC records.
“We take the issues raised in the case very seriously,” PNM Spokeswoman Susan Sponar told The Independent Friday afternoon. “Public safety must always be a priority. PNM has cooperated fully with the Pipeline Safety Bureau and we’ve acknowledged that our policies and procedures were not followed in every instance in this matter. The result is a proposed settlement that was reached with the Pipeline Safety Bureau after discussion and consideration of the facts.”
PNM has agreed to pay $66,000 in payment of civil penalties in addition to corrective actions already undertaken by PNM and New Mexico Gas Company, Sponer said. Those actions include new policy documents and employee education, PRC records indicate.
PRC commissioners will consider Monday whether or not to approve the agreement.
According to the PRC’s September 2009 Notification letter, senior PNM attorney Leonard Sanchez told the PRC that employees did not have any “reasonable basis for suspecting that retaliation would occur” if they alerted the Pipeline Safety Bureau of the incident, because PNM has policies prohibiting retaliation against an employee “who reports a suspected violation in good faith.”
