In 2015 the Alamo Improvement Association received a grant from the Federal Department of Transportation to conduct public engagement around pipeline safety issues. As part of that grant they contracted with the Pipeline Safety Trust to write a report on pipeline safety in Contra Costa County. That report, Pipeline Safety in Alamo, and surrounding areas within Contra Costa County, California (see attached), contained nine recommendations to the County concerning pipeline safety issues.
On January 28, the Hazardous Materials Commission unanimously agreed that the following recommendations contained in the report merit further consideration by the Board of Supervisors. The Commission encourages the Board to discuss these recommendations with the appropriate departmental staff and other stakeholders to determine what measures may be necessary to implement these recommendations, to identify the appropriate lead staff that would be necessary to implement these measures, and to identify potential sources of any additional funding which may be needed to implement these recommendations.
The page number where each recommendation can be found in the Pipeline Safety Trust report is listed after each recommendation:
1. Review all development applications for opportunities to improve existing ingress/egress where currently limited, and where possible, include conditions on approvals to improve connectivity and avoid exacerbation of access problems. (p.27)
2. Plan emergency evacuation ingress/egress for areas in Alamo west of Danville Boulevard and the Iron Horse Corridor where a single pipeline crossing road is the only access for numerous homes and facilities with the goal of creating public accessibility across these “dead-end” neighborhoods that necessitate crossing the pipeline to access any services. (p.27)
3. Ensure the county has complete and accurate records of corridor and right of way locations. Continue to coordinate with Kinder Morgan and other utilities on resolution of encroachments into pipeline Rights of Way. (p. 23)
4. Ensure the single staff point-of-contact for citizens with concerns about multiple utility issues and right of way questions has technical training on safety concerns, adequate resources to conduct regular and broad community outreach (especially along the Iron Horse Trail Corridor), and resources to work in close coordination with other related departments and advisory groups. (p. 23)
5. Request appropriate staff conduct an analysis of all congregate facilities located in close proximity to transmission pipelines; Work with other emergency response agencies to develop a list of resources for emergency and evacuation planning expertise for congregate facilities near pipelines that can include potential hazards from a pipeline incident, and mitigation strategies for those hazards based on site-specific considerations.(p. 27)
6. Adopt clear policies and deterrents regarding preventing encroachment including the review of setback variances by municipal advisory councils or committees and department staff, so that properties and vegetation along utility corridors do not encroach on pipelines. (p. 23)
On February 17, 2016 the Planning and Policy committee of the Hazardous Materials Commission voted to endorse language changes the Department of Conservation and Development is proposing to make to Section 82 of the County Zoning Code in response to the following recommendation in the Pipeline Safety Report.
7. Consider adding goals and policies regarding pipelines to the General Plan, and amending Contra Costa County Zoning Code 82.2.010 so that all gas and hazardous liquid transmission pipelines would be subject to land use regulations. Consider additional ordinances (s) pertaining to zoning and land use that are proposed for construction, replacement, modification, or abandonment.
The following two recommendations from the report did not garner any support from the Commission:
8. Work in coordination with pipeline operators to develop a technical advisory body that can review the integrity management plans (similar to the Santa Barbara County System Safety Reliability Review Committee) and other technical assessments of the pipelines in order to cultivate informed technical expertise in the county and increase public trust and awareness.
9. Expand the scope of the Hazardous Materials Ombudsman and the Hazardous Materials Commission regarding pipelines to provide an ongoing review of pipeline operators’ emergency plans and an active role in possible county efforts regarding additional coordinated technical review of pipeline integrity management planning.
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