Pipeline safety hearing begins at noon in W.Va. - Beckley, Bluefield & Lewisburg News, Weather, Sports

Pipeline safety hearing begins at noon in W.Va.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) -

The chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board and an official with the Government Accountability office are among the witnesses set to appear at a West Virginia hearing on pipeline safety.

U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller is holding a Senate Commerce Committee hearing at noon Monday in the federal courthouse in Charleston.

He called it after the December explosion of a Columbia Gas Transmission Line rocked the Sissonville area, destroying homes and damaging Interstate 77.

Six witnesses are on deck.

They include Sissonville resident Sue Bonham, who lost her home; NTSB chairman Deborah Hersman; Cynthia Quarterman of Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration; and Susan Fleming of the GAO.

Also set to appear are Columbia executive Jimmy Staton and President Rick Kessler of The Pipeline Safety Trust.

 

Online: http://commerce.senate.gov/public/

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