Southwest Gas agrees to $195,000 fine over pipeline accident

By Cy Ryan

Monday, Nov. 2, 2015 | 3:07 p.m.

CARSON CITY — Southwest Gas has agreed to pay a civil penalty of $195,000 for a violation in which a natural gas pipeline was ruptured near Laughlin in November 2014.

The utility has signed a stipulation with staff of the Public Utilities Commission that there was a violation of federal pipeline safety regulations and the state has the authority to impose a penalty.

Southwest also agreed to change procedures in case a similar accident occurs in the future.

While performing maintenance on a pipeline, a worker of Northern Pipeline Co., under the supervision of two Southwest Gas employees, drove a front-end loader into the line, releasing more than 3 million cubic feet of natural gas. Nobody was injured.

But the stipulation states Southwest violated a regulation to “have proper procedures for operation, maintenance and emergencies in place” or did not follow them.

The stipulation says Southwest failed to perform post-accident drug and alcohol testing of its two utility employees and allowed an agent to perform recovery operations without valid qualifications.

The utility and the PUC staff agreed to the “appropriateness of the penalty.” The $195,000 will go into the state’s general fund.

The three-member PUC must still approve the stipulation, which was signed Thursday.