PG&E charged over San Bruno pipeline disaster

Pacific Gas & Electric was charged yesterday with lying to regulators in connection with a fatal pipeline explosion that killed eight people and levelled a suburban Northern California neighbourhood in 2010.

The US attorney in San Francisco announced the obstruction of justice charge and 27 related counts, which are in a new indictment charging the utility with felonies. It replaces a previous indictment that contained 12 counts related to PG&E's safety practices, but not obstruction.

Prosecutors say PG&E hampered the investigation by lying to regulators soon after the blast. In particular, PG&E officials are accused of telling National Transportation Safety Board investigators that the safety procedures being followed were correct and approved.

Details of the charge

PG&E officials are accused of trying to mislead the NTSB about the pipeline testing and maintenance procedures the utility was following at the time of the explosion and for six months after under a company policy that did not meet federal safety standards.

"The consequence of this practice was that PG&E did not prioritise as high-risk, and properly assess, many of its oldest natural gas pipelines, which ran through urban and residential areas," the US attorney's office said in a statement.

Other charges

The other charges accuse the utility of failing to act on threats in its pipeline system even after the problems were identified by its own inspectors.

The indictment charges PG&E with keeping incomplete records, failing to identify safety threats and failing to act when threats were found.

Investigators found that PG&E had inaccurate records on its more than 6000 miles of gas transmission lines, and that as a result hadn't tested for the defective seam weld that ruptured a pipeline and ignited a fireball.

No employees or executives have been charged in the San Bruno disaster.

PG&E responds

The utility announced in June that it was expecting the new indictment. PG&E spokesman Greg Snapper said company officials had not yet seen it.

"However, based on all of the evidence we have seen to date, we do not believe that the charges are warranted and that, even where mistakes were made, employees were acting in good faith to provide customers with safe and reliable energy," he said in a prepared statement.

The new charges expose PG&E to more than US$ 1 billion in fines. It had preciously faced up to a US$ 6 million fine under the old indictment.

In addition, the utility is facing lawsuits and US$ 2.5 billion in civil fines from regulators, including the state Public Utilities Commission. San Bruno city officials on Monday demanded that the head of the PUC resign, alleging the agency had improper contacts with PG&E.

Besides killing eight people, the explosion injured dozens and destroyed 38 homes. Nearly four years later, the neighbourhood about 12 miles south of San Francisco is still recovering.

Safety

PG&E said in May that it has committed US$ 2.7 billion over the next several years for safety-related work following the incident.

Its profits were weighed down in its most recent quarter by US$ 40 million in legal and safety improvement costs tied to its natural gas business.

Edited from various sources by Elizabeth Corner

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