Southern California Gas Co is to be arraigned on criminal charges on Wednesday over a huge methane leak near a Los Angeles neighborhood that forced thousands of residents from their homes, officials said.
SoCalGas, a division of San Diego-based Sempra Energy, faces four misdemeanor charges for failing to report the release of hazardous materials from Oct. 23 to Oct. 26, and discharging air contaminants beginning on Oct. 23.
Attorneys for SoCalGas will attend Wednesday’s arraignment in Los Angeles County Superior Court in Santa Clarita, said county District Attorney’s Office spokeswoman Jane Robison.
If convicted, the company could be fined up to $25,000 a day for each day that it failed to report the gas leak to the California Office of Emergency Services, Robinson said. The company also could be fined up to $1,000 per day for air pollution violations, she said.
The leak stems from an underground pipeline rupture at the company’s 3,600-acre (1,457-hectare) Aliso Canyon natural gas storage field. The largest such leak ever in California, at its height it accounted for a fourth of all methane emissions statewide.
Methane fumes sickened scores of people and prompted the relocation of more than 6,600 households from the Porter Ranch community at the edge of the field.
Southern California Gas Co said last week that it had temporarily controlled the flow of natural gas spewing from a pipeline, but more work needed to be done before the leak would be permanently sealed.
Southern California Gas Co did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Robison said she did not know whether the company intended to plead guilty or not guilty, though it may not enter a plea on Wednesday.
Los Angeles County prosecutor Jackie Lacey filed the charges on Feb. 2, the same day California Attorney General Kamala Harris also sued the company. SoCalGas also faces a slew of private lawsuits filed on behalf of area residents.
(Reporting by Eric M. Johnson in Seattle; Editing by Chris Reese)
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-california-methane-idUSKCN0VQ24Y
Methane. It is one of the primordial gasses that was part of the original atmosphere of the early earth. We knew that in grade school. Only morons in government would have a tizzy fit over that. It leaks out of the ground all over the planet and only in Sacramento it is a problem Those IDIOTIC DORKS!!!