Pipeline shut by LA quake, refineries, nukes unhurt

LOS ANGELES-Kinder Morgan shut a Los Angeles refined products pipeline as a precaution following a moderate earthquake Tuesday, but energy companies said oil refineries and nuclear plants had not been damaged.Some local power outages were reported in Los Angeles but operations on the state's power grid were unaffected.Kinder Morgan said there was no indication of damage on its L.A.-area pipeline but it shut the line to perform precautionary pressure testing.Valero Energy Corp, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil, Tesoro and BP all said their refineries had not been damaged by the quake.Both the San Onofre nuclear generating station, between Los Angeles and San Diego, and the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant, northeast of Los Angeles, sustained no damage and were operating normally, utility officials said.The earthquake, which was measured at magnitude 5.8, was centered about 30 miles east of Los Angeles, near the community of Chino Hills, where it was felt strongly.A spokesman for Pacific Gas and Electric Co's California Gas Transmission system said personnel at the company's Hinkley compressor station in Southern California felt the quake but there was no damage or effect on operations. The spokesman said the Hinkley facility was likely the company's closest facility to the epicenter of the quake.

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN2935934120080729

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