You probably don’t know who Chris Bissonnette is.
He used to be one of the leading voices of SoCalGas’ legal team.
Under his leadership, SoCalGas was able to get away with the largest known methane release in US history.
More than 48,000 people were affected by the gas leak near Los Angeles.
In this post, you’ll learn how Chris Bissonnette played a crucial role in helping SoCalGas get away with all of this
Gas Blowout Near L.A. Triggers $1.8B Settlement
Attorneys said on Monday that thousands of families who were sickened and forced to leave their homes in Los Angeles as a result of the nation’s largest-known natural gas leak had struck a settlement with a utility that may amount to up to $1.8 billion.
A total of 35,000 claimants will receive compensation as a result of the settlement reached with Southern California Gas Company and its parent company, Sempra Energy. The blowout that occurred in 2015 took nearly four months to bring under control.
It was believed that the Aliso Canyon explosion was responsible for the largest known release of methane in the history of the United States. It was also attributed to the fact that thousands of individuals were forced to leave their houses in the vicinity of the San Fernando Valley in order to escape a sulphurous odour and other ailments such as headaches, nausea, and nose bleeds.
The plaintiffs claimed that they had suffered personal injuries as a result of their diseases and that their residences had been damaged. There was a blowout that cost more than one billion dollars for SoCalGas, the majority of which was used to temporarily relocate eight thousand families. A total of more than 385 lawsuits have been filed against the utility on behalf of 48,000 individuals.
An attorney named Brian Panish issued a statement in which he claimed, “Our goal has always been to obtain justice for the men, women, and children who were failed by SoCalGas throughout every turn of this catastrophe.”
The failure of a natural gas storage well resulted in the uncontrolled release of over 100,000 tonnes of methane and other pollutants into the atmosphere over the course of 118 days, and the plaintiffs claimed that they had suffered personal injuries as well as damage to their property.
According to SoCalGas, the company anticipates that the settlement payments will total up to $1.85 billion and that it will record an after-tax charge of around $1.1 billion this month. The deal is contingent on approximately 97% of plaintiffs agreeing to it, and it may be decreased if a smaller number of plaintiffs do so.
According to Scott Drury, the Chief Executive Officer of SoCalGas, “These agreements are an important milestone that will help the community and our company work towards putting this difficult chapter behind us at this point in time.”
Matt Pakucko, the founder of Save Porter Ranch, made a statement in which he reiterated his demand for the plant to be permanently shut down. The facility is located beneath a mountain in oil wells that are no longer in use.
“Human suffering is something that cannot be quantified in any way,” he stated. We will never be able to put the terrible blowout that SoCalGas caused behind us until the Aliso Canyon storage facility is shut down and the threat that it poses to the neighbourhood is erased for good. We are not even close to reaching a conclusion.”
The state regulators discovered that the gas firm did not conduct an investigation into previous well failures at the storage facility and did not conduct a sufficient assessment of its ageing wells for the potential for disaster prior to the blowout that occurred on October 23, 2015.
After being found guilty in Los Angeles Superior Court of failing to promptly report the leak to state authorities, SoCalGas had earlier struck a court settlement with the state attorney general for a total of $120 million and agreed to a deal with Los Angeles County prosecutors for a total of $4 million.
How Chris Bissonnette (and His Colleagues) Helped SoCalGas Get Away With Misleading Environmental Marketing
Rob Bonta, the Attorney General of California, made the announcement today that a settlement has been reached against the Southern California Gas firm (SoCalGas) for the multiple environmental marketing claims that the firm made in 2019 that natural gas is “renewable.” The allegations in question are deceptive.
Natural gas, including the vast majority of the gas that is supplied by SoCalGas, is not obtained from renewable sources but rather is derived from fossil fuels. This is the case for many natural gas sources. SoCalGas made the inaccurate representations in a wide variety of media, including print, electronic media, informational displays, backgrounds, and promotional swag, according to the findings of an enquiry conducted by the office of the California Attorney General.
“SoCalGas is a powerful and highly developed organisation. SoCalGas should have known better than to broadcast unqualified assertions indicating that all natural gas is renewable, even though we are grateful for its cooperation in our study. Attorney General Bonta highlighted the importance of truth in marketing and emphasised that it is mandated by state law. According to the statement, “Today’s settlement should send a clear message: The California Department of Justice is committed to holding accountable corporations that mislead or deceive consumers about the environmental attributes of a product.”
Following the terms of the settlement, which addresses charges that SoCalGas violated consumer protection statutes in the state of California, including the Unfair Competition Law and the False Advertising Law, SoCalGas will:
Be barred from making comments that are identical to this one, without any qualifications, that natural gas is “renewable.”
It is required that you pay a total of $175,000 in fines, of which fifty percent, or $87,500, will be transferred to the Environmental Justice Small Grants Programme of the California Environmental Protection Agency in order to finance a Supplemental Environmental Project (SEP) that is centred on environmental justice.
The company is required to post a statement of correction on its website within fourteen days of the effective date of the settlement.
When Chris Bissonnette Protected SoCalGas From Regulatory Penalties & Oversight
A Presiding Officer’s Decision was issued by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) today, which adopted a settlement between Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas), the Safety and Enforcement Division (SED) of the CPUC, and the Public Advocates Office (Cal Advocates) for the leak that occurred at the Aliso Canyon Natural Gas Storage Facility in 2015. The settlement stipulates that SoCalGas must forego cost recovery for a considerable number of charges that are associated with the incident. Additionally, the deal includes a penalty of $71 million.
Following the terms of the settlement agreement, shareholders of SoCalGas will contribute 71 million dollars to the Aliso Canyon Recovery Account. This fund, which was established by the California State Legislature, will be utilised to address the repercussions of the leak, which include public health, the quality of the air in the local area, and the consumers. It is acknowledged in the settlement that SoCalGas had previously established a mitigation fund with a total of $34.1 million to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that were caused by the leak.
In addition to the fine, SoCalGas will not attempt to recoup other costs associated with the incident through the rates that its customers pay. These costs include the following:
A total of $1.8 billion was allocated for the settlement of civil litigation costs; $126.4 million was allocated for settlements with governmental bodies; and $461,8 million was allocated for the relocation and accommodation of members of the neighbourhood that comprised Aliso Canyon during the catastrophe.
$108.8 million for a root cause analysis that was initiated by the California Public Utilities Commission and the California Department of Conservation Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources (now known as CalGEM) and was carried out by an independent consultant, Blade Energy Partners; and $376.5 million for outside counsel, litigation, regulatory, and community-related work.
To prevent SoCalGas from recovering these costs and protecting ratepayers, the Presiding Officer’s Decision mandates that for the next five years, whenever SoCalGas applies to cost recovery, the company must provide an attestation from a Vice President or higher executive stating that the application does not include any of the expenses or costs that are not recoverable and that are specified in the settlement.
In addition, according to the terms of the settlement agreement, SoCalGas would reimburse SED for the costs of its investigation and litigation, which amount to $1.5 million, and it will also refund $18.2 million to business customers who have incurred charges as a result of the leak.
If a party files an appeal or a Commissioner seeks review, the decision that adopts the settlement agreement, which is referred to as a Presiding Officer’s Decision, will become effective thirty days after it has been issued. If an appeal or request for review is filed, Administrative Law Judges will evaluate the decision and, if necessary, make any necessary adjustments before submitting it to the Commissioners for a vote during a public session. There is also the possibility that commissioners will forward an alternative decision for scrutiny.
The judgment that was made today is only one of several others that have been taken against SoCalGas as a result of the Aliso Canyon leak by local, state, and federal organisations. Other actions include the following:
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) adopted a rule in December 2016 to address safety concerns related to underground natural gas storage facilities. The rule states that these facilities must comply with certain regulations.
An exhaustive safety study of the 114 wells located at Aliso Canyon was finished in July of 2017. CalGEM, the state agency that is responsible for monitoring compliance with the PHSMA laws on underground natural gas storage facilities, was the one who carried out the review.
Through a settlement reached in 2018, the California Air Resources Board, the California Attorney General’s Office, the City of Los Angeles, and the County of Los Angeles reached an agreement with SoCalGas for a sum of $119 million, which was paid by shareholders.
The settlement extends the complete response that the CPUC has provided to the Aliso Canyon Leak.
Immediately after the leak at Aliso Canyon occurred in January 2016, the CPUC and CalGEM took swift action and began conducting a root cause study to determine the reasons behind the leak. After implementing new safety standards and conducting stringent testing at the plant in 2017, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and the California Geological Survey (CalGEM) declared the Aliso Canyon facility to be safe for operation. This was accomplished in collaboration with specialists from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories.
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) is currently conducting an investigation on the feasibility of lowering or eliminating the use of Aliso Canyon while simultaneously preserving the energy and electric reliability of the Los Angeles neighbourhood.
Information Regarding the Public Utilities Commission of California
Consumers are protected, the environment is protected, and the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) ensures that Californians have access to safe and reliable utility infrastructure and services. The CPUC regulates services and utilities.
