In the first judicial settlement brought under the Pipeline Safety Act, the Justice Department and the US Department of Transportation's (DOT) Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) has fined El Paso Natural Gas Co. (EPNG) $15.5 million and mandated comprehensive rehabilitation of its entire 10,000 mile pipeline system. The action stems from an investigation of the August 2000 explosion on EPNG's pipeline system in Carlsbad, NM, that killed 12 people.