Unlike the civil charges recently filed by California Attorney General Kamala Harris, however, Lacey is pursuing criminal charges.
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Hours after the attorney general’s suit was filed, Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey said she filed criminal charges against SoCal Gas for failing to immediately report the leak to the proper state authorities, alleging the company waited three days after it was detected.
Southern California Gas Company’s Aliso Canyon facility began leaking methane at an estimated 60,000kg/hr in October and continues to leak at 20,700 kg/hour.
Since its detection, the leaking well has pumped more than 80,000 metric tons of methane, a greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere. Noxious fumes have driven residents out of more than 5,000 homes in nearby Porter Ranch and surrounding communities, the utility has said.
Reports say the 4,500 families were forced to relocate because of the leak, which is the biggest in the state’s history.
There has been efforts to stop the leak, as the Southern California Gas Co. initially planned to light the leak and burn off the methane, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The company said in a statement that it will vigorously defend itself in court.
“We want to make it clear – there is no connection between the Aliso Canyon gas leak and the increase in customers’ bills, even though there are claims to the contrary”, wrote SoCalGas spokeswoman Stephanie Donovan in an email Wednesday.
An aerial view of the damage at the site of the leak at the Aliso Canyon storage site. Harris says the leak created a public health and statewide environmental emergency.
Brian Seligman holds a sign to protest a gas leak in the Porter Ranch area of Los Angeles before a meeting of the California Air Quality Management District in Granada Hills, California January 9, 2016. In addressing the emissions, however, the gas company does not compare findings from other sources of pollution over a similar three-month period. Residents have complained of nausea, dizziness, headaches, nose bleeds and fatigue.
Sherman noted that the Department of Transportation Materials Safety Administration has established federal safety regulations for natural gas transportation. Sherman said he has spoken to President Barack Obama and received assurances that White House staff would work with Sherman to adopt natural gas storage regulations as authorized under existing law.
The revised joint complaint accuses the gas company of violating health and safety codes, public nuisance laws and hazardous materials reporting requirements, as well as engaging in unfair business practices. She told fellow senators in a speech on the Senate floor that the leak was a “nightmare”.
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Boxer stood by a dramatic infrared photo that showed the otherwise invisible plume of methane-laced natural gas from the blowout.
