Prosecutor smells crime, charges utility

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Top prosecutors in Los Angeles County and the state of California are the latest to make moves against a utility for a massive and still-flowing gas leak, joining a growing group that now includes several levels of government along with parts of the private sector.

LA County’s District Attorney Jackie Lacey recently filed misdemeanor criminal charges against Southern California Gas Co. for failing to immediately report the natural gas leak that has been gushing nonstop nearly 15 weeks.

Lacey said the charges aren’t a solution to the problem, but the gas company needs to be held responsible for the leak that has uprooted more than 4,400 families.

The charges came the same day the state Attorney General Kamala Harris joined a long line of others in suing the gas company for the blowout that has spewed more than 2 million tons of climate-changing methane since October.

The criminal complaint charges the company with three counts of failing to report the release of a hazardous material and one count of discharge of air contaminants.

If convicted, the company could be fined up to $1,000 per day for air pollution violations and up to $25,000 for each of the three days it didn’t notify the state Office of Emergency Services of the leak.