1. PG&E says it lost twelve years of natural gas pipeline records for portions of the South Bay, the Chron reports. PG&E’s shoddy recordkeeping is at the heart of the state investigation of the utility, which stems from the 2010 deadly pipeline blast in San Bruno. The missing records involved underground pipelines in an area that includes Palo Alto, Mountain View, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Sunnyvale, Campbell, Cupertino, and Monte Sereno.
Alex Padilla.
2. The massive methane gas leak near Porter Ranch in Southern California has forced Secretary of State Alex Padilla to evacuate his family, NBC Los Angeles reports (h/t Rough & Tumble). Padilla’s wife and three young children are now living in a Burbank hotel. Southern California Gas has said that it likely will take months to fix the leak, which has been spewing huge amounts of greenhouse gases and has prompted thousands of people to flee their homes.
3. The federal government has agreed to stop approving new fracking operations off the California coast until it has determined whether the oil and gas extraction method is safe for marine life and water quality, the AP reports (h/t Rough & Tumble). The Department of Interior’s decision stems from a lawsuit filed by environmental organizations.
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4. The state’s almond industry is taking a major hit because of plummeting prices worldwide, the SacBee$ reports. The massive almond boom in the state, which has depleted California’s water supplies, was originally prompted by high prices.
6. San Francisco prosecutors may file criminal charges against two Alameda County Sheriff’s deputies who pursued a man into the city and then beat him relentlessly — in an incident that was caught on video, the Chron$ reports. Investigators are also looking into three other Alameda County deputies.
