Prosecutor smells crime, charges utility for huge gas leak
Wednesday February 3, 2016
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Top prosecutors in Los Angeles County and the state of California are the latest to make moves against a utility for a massive and still-flowing gas leak, joining a growing group that now includes several levels of government along with parts of the private sector.
LA County's District Attorney Jackie Lacey filed misdemeanor criminal charges Tuesday against Southern California Gas Co. for failing to immediately report the natural gas leak that has been gushing nonstop nearly 15 weeks.
Lacey said the charges aren't a solution to the problem, but the gas company needs to be held responsible for the leak that has uprooted more than 4,400 families.
The charges came the same day the state Attorney General Kamala Harris joined a long line of others in suing the gas company for the blowout that has spewed more than 2 million tons of climate-changing methane since October.
U.S. senators want the secretary of energy to investigate the leak, and federal regulators are crafting new safety standards for underground natural gas storage facilities. Many nearby residents want the facility — the largest in the West — shut down, and the California Public Utilities Commission is studying what impact that would have on energy supplies.
The criminal complaint charges the company with three counts of failing to report the release of a hazardous material and one count of discharge of air contaminants.
The company said in a statement that it will vigorously defend itself in court. Arraignment is scheduled Feb. 17.
If convicted, the company could be fined up to $1,000 per day for air pollution violations and up to $25,000 for each of the three days it didn't notify the state Office of Emergency Services of the leak.
The company said it discovered the leak Oct. 23 and notified state regulators.
But it failed to let state emergency officials know until Oct. 26, Harris said in the latest of more than two dozen lawsuits filed against SoCalGas.
The public was also left in the dark. Those who complained to the company about the nauseating smell were initially told it was part of routine maintenance. Company officials have since apologized for not notifying them sooner.
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