SAN DIEGO -- A federal jury in San Diego Friday found San Diego Gas & Electric guilty of violating asbestos work practice standards relating to the removal of asbestos from 9.23 miles of underground piping in Lemon Grove.

SDG&E was also found guilty of one count of making false statements.

Kyle Rhuebottom, the project manager for the prime contractor on the site of the former Encanto Gas Holder Facility, and David "Willy'' Williamson, an SDG&E environmental specialist, were each found guilty of one count of violating asbestos work practice standards.

According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Melanie K. Pierson, the evidence at trial established that SDG&E, Williamson, and Rhuebottom violated the asbestos work practice standards of the Clean Air Act in the removal of the asbestos at the Encanto site in 2000-01 in order to save time and money.

The jury found SDG&E employee Jacquelyn McHugh not guilty of that charge.

"SDG&E put the public at risk by improperly removing more than 40,000 linear feet of potentially cancer-causing asbestos,'' said Granta Nakayama, the EPA's Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance.

"Today's convictions show that financial gain will not come before one's obligation to obey the law.''

SDG&E Vice President of Environmental Safety and Facilities Bret Lane issued a statement expressing disappointment over the verdicts. The company plans an appeal "based upon the lack of evidence and a number of rulings by the court that we believe resulted in prejudice to SDG&E and our employee, the defendants,'' Lane said.

"This was an unjust prosecution against our company and employees who were diligently doing their job and following the law,'' Lane said. "Extensive air and soil testing by state, county and private experts never detected a single fiber of asbestos in the air or soil at the site and demonstrated that public health was never at risk.''

According to court documents, in January 1998, an analysis of a sample of the coating of the underground piping at the Encanto facility indicated that the coating was regulated asbestos-containing material. A consultant hired by SDG&E reached the same conclusion.

SDG&E subsequently entered into a tentative agreement for the sale of the Encanto facility, and in June 2000, the utility began soliciting bids from contractors to handle demolition and the removal of the underground piping.

SDG&E began removing the pipe wrap without treating it as regulated asbestos containing material.

The jury found that SDG&E, Rhuebottom and Williamson left the Encanto facility without properly ensuring that the uncontained regulated asbestos containing material was placed in a leak-proof container.

Jurors also found that SDG&E failed to provide adequate notice in advance of the asbestos removal, failed to adequately wet the asbestos during removal, and falsely claimed that an SDG&E employee was a certified asbestos consultant.

The defendants are scheduled to appear before U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw Sept. 6 for further proceedings.