Prosecutor smells crime, charges utility for huge gas leak

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.

Los Angeles County prosecutors have charged the company with three misdemeanor counts of failing to report the leak from October 23 to October 26, as well as one misdemeanor count over the leak itself. SoCalGas representatives are scheduled to appear in court on February 17 for an arraignment hearing.

The Southern California Gas Co. came under increased legal fire on Tuesday as the state’s attorney general sued the utility over its still-spewing natural gas leak, L.A. County’s district attorney alleged it was too slow to notify authorities about it, and a local family claimed a 79-year-old woman’s death was hastened because of it. “It appears that the entire Los Angeles basin is now feeling the effects of the Aliso Canyon Gas Leak”.

The state Air Resources Board is considering rules establishing new monitoring requirements for natural gas storage sites, quarterly inspections for leaks and needed repairs and a prohibition on venting and flaring.

A spokeswoman said the company doesn’t comment on pending litigation and was focused on stopping the leak, which it expects to plug by the end of the month.

In the meantime, it continues to leak.

Last week, the South Coast Air Quality Management District filed a separate lawsuit against SoCal Gas seeking civil penalties of up to $250,000 a day for each of six pollution-related health and safety code violations.

The lawsuit amends a civil complaint brought in December by the Los Angeles city attorney and later joined by Los Angeles County.

The PHMSA has regulatory authority over more than half of those storage units, part of the country’s interstate gas pipeline network.

The SoCalGas leak is under investigation, but the agency says it probably occurred in a well casing.

“This is a public health and public safety issue that’s critical for people not only in my state, but across the nation”, Boxer said. Along with massive amounts of methane, the leak is releasing trace amounts of chemicals like the carcinogen benzene, as well as odorants that cause nausea, headaches and nosebleeds, reports Camila Domonoske for NPR. Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, both of California, sought an amendment to an energy bill that would direct the energy secretary to lead “a broad federal review of the cause and the response” to the leak.

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Ca.) spoke on the Senate floor Tuesday on an amendment she is adding to pending legislation with Sen.

Associated Press writer Ellen Knickmeyer contributed to this story from San Francisco.