California AG sues utility for natural gas leak

Los Angeles prosecutors filed criminal charges against the Southern California Gas company on Tuesday over a huge methane leak near the city that has forced thousands of residents from their homes since October.

Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey announced Tuesday that SoCalGas will face four misdemeanor criminal charges in connection with the gas leak: three counts of failing to report the release of hazardous materials from October 23-26, 2015, and one count of discharging air contaminants, beginning on October 23, 2015, to the present. The company is being charged with a fourth misdemeanor count for allowing the leak to happen. The release of so much methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, complicates California’s efforts to reduce emissions and contribute to slowing the pace of climate change.

His mother, Zelda Rothman lived in Porter Ranch, less than three miles from the leaking well at the Aliso Canyon facility.

The goal of the new regulations is “being able to detect these emissions in an early phase so we know as soon as possible that they’re happening and if something does happen, there is a responsibility to look at the emission reduction side of it as well”, said Elizabeth Scheehle, branch chief of the Oil and Gas and GHG Mitigation Branch.

“Southern California Gas Co.’s decision to operate its inherently risky gas storage operation next to 30,000 residents of Porter Ranch without taking all reasonable steps necessary to prevent catastrophic gas leaks is unconscionable”, said the family’s attorney Scott Glovsky. California Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency in January and the state Senate is moving forward with a bill calling for an immediate moratorium on any new injections of natural gas and use of aging wells at the facility. In addition to filing suit in her independent capacity as Attorney General, Harris’s lawsuit also includes her client, the California Air Resources Board. Agency staff said that effort included mapping out what potential enforcement actions those agencies can take against the gas company. The goal is to stop the leak by the end of February. “We expect to complete the work related to summer 2016 by April when we will hold a public, joint agency workshop in Los Angeles to describe the reliability risks and present a reliability action plan for mitigating them”.

“The gas replaced precious oxygen in the air that she breathed, causing her to suffer from hard and labored breathing”, according to the complaint. But more fire is coming from other sources as well. “Leave_.Amend_.Signed.pdf?”>amends and brings added muscle to a civil suit already filed against the company by the city and the county of Los Angeles.