SDG&E, Workers Charged With Violating Safety Standards

SAN DIEGO -- San Diego Gas & Electric Co. and three workers have been indicted again on charges of violating safety standards while removing asbestos from pipes at a Lemon Grove site, it was reported Wednesday.

A previous five-count indictment against the utility, two employees and a contractor was dismissed by a federal judge in November.

The new indictment, handed down Tuesday, essentially mirrors the previous one. It charges SDG&E, along with employees Jacquelyn McHugh, a supervisor in the environmental department; and David Williamson, an environmental specialist.

Kyle Rhuebottom, the project superintendent for contractor IT Corp., was also charged, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Melaine Pierson said the previous indictment was dismissed because a judge ruled it didn't contain the proper language regarding testing for asbestos. The new indictment added wording to correct that, Pierson told the newspaper.

In 2000, the utility began clearing a 16-acre Lemon Grove site to sell the property to a developer. Prosecutors allege workers tried to save time and money by telling government inspectors that the asbestos-coated pipes did not pose a risk, the Union-Tribune reported.

SDG&E faces up to a $2.5 million fine if found guilty. The workers face a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each charge, the newspaper reported.

The utility and workers are expected to be arraigned March 9, according to the newspaper.