SoCalGas and parent company Sempra to pay up to $ 1.8 billion for Aliso Canyon gas leak

LOS ANGELES (CNS) – After nearly six years of litigation, Southern California Gas Co. and its parent company, Sempra Energy, to pay up to $ 1.8 billion to settle claims for more than 35,000 storage victims Natural gas from Aliso Canyon’s 2015 eruption from a facility near Porter Ranch, plaintiffs’ attorneys said Monday.

The plaintiffs in the Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit alleged that they suffered personal injury and property damage after the failure of one of SoCalGas’ natural gas storage wells and the uncontrollable release of nearly 100,000 tonnes of methane and other substances in the atmosphere in 118 days. The Aliso Canyon eruption remains the largest natural gas leak in US history.

Sempra and SoCalGas have denied wrongdoing. Under certain conditions, the settlement money will be distributed among the plaintiffs according to a protocol developed by neutral and independent dispatchers, the lawyers said.

Plaintiffs’ attorneys at several law firms have released a statement regarding the settlement.

“Our goal has always been to achieve justice for the men, women and children who have been abandoned by SoCalGas at every turn of this disaster,” the statement said. SoCalGas is responsible for the Aliso Canyon eruption and their repeated misconduct throughout this litigation. ”

MORE | Video shows poisonous gas plume at Porter Ranch, experts say

SoCalGas also released a statement, saying the company will record an after-tax charge of around $ 1.1 billion this month and that the settlement fee covering a total of three agreements will not be borne by consumers.

“These agreements are an important step that will help the community and our business put this difficult chapter behind us,” said Scott Drury, CEO of SoCalGas. In the years since the leak, SoCalGas has worked alongside regulators, technical experts and our neighbors. to improve the safety of all our underground storage facilities and our engagement with the community. Therefore, our storage facilities operate according to what regulators and experts have called some of the most stringent safety standards in the country. ”

During the litigation, SoCalGas, Sempra Energy and their attorneys at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP were fined more than $ 5.7 million, one of the largest discovery sanctions in California history, according to lawyers for the plaintiffs.

The utility giants and their lawyers wrongly withheld more than 150,000 documents in connection with discovery misconduct that a judge called “willful, intentional and in bad faith,” according to plaintiffs’ lawyers.

In September 2016 the air contaminants and two other counts of failure to report the release of hazardous materials – were dismissed as part of the deal.

Under its $ 4 million settlement agreement with prosecutors, SoCalGas was required to install and maintain an infrared methane monitoring system at the Aliso Canyon site – estimated to cost between 1.2 million and $ 1.5 million – and retain the services of an outside company to test and certify that the monitoring system and real-time pressure monitors that will be placed at each gas well are functioning properly.

The deal also included hiring half a dozen full-time employees to operate and maintain the new 24-hour leak detection systems, at a cost of approximately $ 2.25 million over three. years.

The agreement also called on the company to review and adopt new reporting policies for actual and threatened releases of hazardous materials to the appropriate agencies, and mandated training courses on the appropriate notification procedures for all Utility employees who work in natural gas storage facilities within Los County Angeles.

Health concerns related to the gas leak prompted thousands of residents to leave the area to settle temporarily at Gas Co.’s expense. Residents complained of health problems due to exposure to benzene, l uranium, crude oil and other carcinogenic chemicals. .