{"id":5721,"date":"2014-04-02T11:50:13","date_gmt":"2014-04-02T03:50:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=5721"},"modified":"2014-08-29T00:03:17","modified_gmt":"2014-08-28T16:03:17","slug":"pacific-gas-and-electric-charged-with-12-criminal-counts-in-fatal-california-pipeline-inferno","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2014\/04\/02\/pacific-gas-and-electric-charged-with-12-criminal-counts-in-fatal-california-pipeline-inferno\/","title":{"rendered":"Pacific Gas and Electric charged with 12 criminal counts in fatal California pipeline inferno"},"content":{"rendered":"

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SAN FRANCISCO – Pacific Gas and Electric Co. was charged Tuesday with U.S. felony counts involving safety violations linked to a deadly 2010 natural gas pipeline explosion in the San Francisco Bay Area.<\/p>\n

The indictment charges the utility with 12 felony violations of federal pipeline safety laws, which could carry a total possible fine of $6 million, or more if the court decides it somehow benefited financially from the disaster.<\/p>\n

U.S. prosecutors allege that PG&E knowingly relied on erroneous and incomplete information when assessing the safety of the pipeline that eventually ruptured, sparked a fireball and levelled 38 homes in San Bruno.<\/p>\n

Nearly four years later, the neighbourhood where eight were killed and dozens injured is still recovering.<\/p>\n

“The citizens of Northern California deserve to have their utility providers put the safety of the community first,” U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag said in a news release.<\/p>\n

The indictment accuses the company of failing to act on threats in its pipeline system even after the problems were identified by its own inspectors.<\/p>\n

About a year after the explosion, investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board found that these lapses by PG&E led to the blast.<\/p>\n

The board also characterized the explosion as an “organizational incident,” not a simple mechanical failure.<\/p>\n

The indictment was met with applause by San Bruno officials.<\/p>\n

“The indictment validates the city’s position that there was gross mismanagement and negligence,” said Connie Jackson, the city manager.<\/p>\n

“What San Bruno hopes is that the criminal indictment brings a measure of justice and closure for the citizens and victims.”<\/p>\n

PG&E Chairman and CEO Tony Earley said Tuesday the company is holding itself accountable and is deeply sorry.<\/p>\n

“We have worked hard to do the right thing for victims, their families and the community, and we will continue to do so,” Earley said in a statement. “We want all of our customers and their families to know that nothing will distract us from our mission of transforming this 100-plus-year-old system into the safest and most reliable natural gas system in the country.”<\/p>\n

It is rare but not unprecedented for a pipeline company to be charged with criminal safety laws.<\/p>\n

U.S. prosecutors previously investigated Olympic Pipe Line Co. in Washington state after an explosion in 1999 killed three people. That blast was caused by a ruptured line that spilled more than 225,000 gallons (851,700 litres) of gasoline into creeks running through a public park in Bellingham, Washington.<\/p>\n

That U.S. investigation ultimately resulted in prison or probation terms for three company officials and a settlement requiring $112 million in penalties and safety improvements.<\/p>\n

While no individual PG&E officials or employees have been charged criminally, prosecutors could file so-called “superseding indictments” naming individuals if the investigation warrants.<\/p>\n

Under the charges in this indictment, PG&E could be fined $500,000 for each count or a larger amount if it’s determined the company financially gained as a result of the violations or loss caused to the victims.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SAN FRANCISCO – Pacific Gas and Electric Co. was charged Tuesday with U.S. felony counts involving safety violations linked to …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":2388,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1145,17],"tags":[281,1569,352],"class_list":["post-5721","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headline","category-news-w","tag-explosion","tag-pipeline","tag-us","mauthors-jason-dearen","mauthors-the-associated-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5721","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5721"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5721\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2388"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5721"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5721"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5721"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}