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PG&E Begins Digging Up Old San Bruno Gas Pipe

SAN BRUNO (CBS / AP) -- Pacific Gas & Electric Co. has started digging up an abandoned segment of pipe that was once part of the gas line that exploded in San Bruno last year.

The stretch was laid in 1948 in the neighborhood devastated in the September explosion that killed eight people and injured dozens. That section has been inactive since 1956, when the transmission line was relocated.

The California Public Utilities Commission has ordered PG&E to unearth the decommissioned pipe as a part of its probe of the blast.

PG&E spokeswoman Brittany Chord said the stretch of line will be given to commission investigators after the excavation is completed this week.

San Bruno city officials are anticipating the nearby hole left by the explosion will be filled in next month.

(Copyright 2011 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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