Even as drilling crews are getting closer to capping a natural-gas well that has spewed thousands of metric tons of methane since last fall, Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey has filed criminal charges against utility Southern California Gas Co. for failing to immediately notify authorities of the rupture within the largest underground natural-gas storage facility west of the Mississippi River.
“We will do everything we can as prosecutors to help ensure that the Aliso Canyon facility is brought into compliance,” Lacey said in a statement related to the Feb. 2 filing. “I believe we can best serve our community [by] using the sanctions available through a criminal conviction.”