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Middle School Grounds Gas Pipes

Appeal Brief Appeal Letter

Appeal Brief

DisasterFEMA-1008-DR
ApplicantLos Nietos Unified School District
Appeal TypeSecond
PA ID#037-91193
PW ID#46606
Date Signed1999-10-25T04:00:00
N/A

Appeal Letter

October 25, 1999

Mr. Gilbert Najera
Public Assistance Manager, South
Governor's Office of Emergency Services
Disaster Field Office
74 North Pasadena Avenue, West Annex, 2nd Floor
Pasadena, California, 91103-3844

<B>RE:</B> Second Appeal Reconsideration: <U>Los Nietos Unified School District, Middle School Grounds Gas Pipes, PAID #037-91193, DSR 46606, FEMA-1008-DR-CA.</U>

Dear Mr. Najera:

I am in receipt of a second appeal from the Los Nietos Unified School District involving Damage Survey Report (DSR) # 46606 for the replacement of gas lines in the Middle School grounds. This appeal was forwarded to FEMA under your letter of January 14, 1999. The appeal letter from the subgrantee is marked with the log number 60868, dated November 16, 1998.

This same issue was responded to as a second appeal on August 19, 1998. After reviewing the information, it is clear to me that the issue being appealed now is the exact same issue as the one that I responded to in my August 19, 1998 appeal response letter. As explained below, we have determined that there is no new issue or data that justifies the request to
re-open this case.

The previous appeal was handled as a second appeal because the determination that the gas line replacement was ineligible was within the context of a first appeal. When the subgrantee submitted an appeal of this deobligation, the Federal Coordinating Officer forwarded the appeal to me as a second appeal because there was no point in re-examining the issue at the first level, as the decision being appealed was the result of a Federal Coordinating Officer's action. A re-evaluation at that level would have resulted in the same determination as before.

In this request for reconsideration, the subgrantee relies on the gas usage figures as the only evidence that the earthquake damaged the gas line. This is the same limited evidence that was included with the previous second appeal, evidence that we had already determined was insufficient to ascribe the damage to the earthquake. There is nothing in the appeal package that we could find that provides any specific evidence as to the nature of the damage to the pipe that, on excavation, could support the claim that the earthquake could have been the cause.

On the contrary, the record does contain substantial evidence that the gas line was heavily corroded, and that the extent of corrosion was the reason for the need to replace the lines, rather than specific leaks caused by the disaster. This, for example, is documented by a May 25, 1994 letter from California IBA, Inc., the contractor to the Project Manager. This letter is included in DSR 22958 (the DSR with the funding that was deobligated by DSR 46606). In general, based on the absence of similar claims, branch gas lines distant from any surface faulting have not proved to be vulnerable to earthquake damage. They are imbedded in the ground, and designed to undergo thermal and other stresses in daily service that are considerably greater than the likely stresses from earthquake vibration. In light of this, it is my determination that the evidence ascribing damage to the subject earthquake must be more substantial than that submitted in order for my decision to have been different than that already rendered in my second appeal response of August 19, 1998.

I would be grateful if you could inform the applicant of this determination. As stated before, in accordance with the appeal procedure governing appeal decisions made on or after May 8, 1998, my decision of August 19, 1998 constituted the final decision on this matter. The current appeal procedure was published as a final rule in the Federal Register on April 8, 1998. It amends 44 CFR 206.206.

Sincerely,
/S/
Lacy E. Suiter
Executive Associate Director
Response and Recovery Directorate

cc: David Fukutomi
Deputy Federal Coordinating Officer
Northridge Long-Term Recovery Area Office