http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/14/us/southern-california-gas-reaches-4-million-settlement-over-natural-gas-leak.html 2016-09-14 03:28:32 Southern California Gas Reaches $4 Million Settlement Over Natural Gas Leak A storage system spewed thousands of tons of methane and other chemicals into the air, forcing the evacuation of more than 6,000 people. === A California company that operated a The company, The company will also be required to install and maintain an infrared methane monitoring system at the site in Aliso Canyon that will cost up to $1.5 million. Other provisions call for pressure monitors at each gas well, an outside company to test and certify the systems, and the hiring of six full-time employees to operate and maintain the new leak detection systems around the clock. The total cost for these positions will be about $2.25 million for the next three years, according to the prosecutor’s office. The company will also pay $246,672 for the cost of the investigation and emergency response by the Los Angeles County Fire Department’s Health and Hazardous Materials Division. Terms of the settlement must be completed by a Nov. 29 sentencing date. The agreement will not interfere with pending civil suits against the company, Ms. Lacey said. The prosecutor’s office said that with the conviction, the company could face more serious criminal penalties in the future “if the same unlawful conduct occurs.” Southern California Gas Company said in a statement that the agreement was “another important step in our efforts to put the leak behind us and to win back the trust of the community.” The agreement stems from a natural gas leak that engineers believed was caused by a rupture 500 feet below the surface. Residents who returned after being evacuated continued to complain of being sick from the odors even after the leak was Alexandra Naga, a senior organizer with the group “No fine can make SoCalGas’ aging Aliso Canyon storage facility safe,” she said in a statement. Matt Pakucko, the president and a founder of the group “There are still plenty of people getting ill,” said Mr. Pakucko, who has lived a little more than a mile from the gas operation for nine years. “This place has been sitting idle for 10 months now. We don’t know what’s going to happen when it’s pumped back up.” The rupture led to state reforms about the regulation of the Aliso Canyon storage site specifically and the introduction of legislation about the placement of natural gas wells statewide.