Former US Senator George Mitchell has been appointed to serve as mediator in the ongoing talks to reach a settlement in the San Bruno penalty and enforcement proceedings between Pacific Gas & Electric, the safety division of the California Public Utilities Commission and other parties, the PUC said late Monday.
At issue are alleged violations of various safety rules connected to the September 2010 explosion of a 1950s-era PG&E natural gas transmission pipeline that killed eight people and destroyed 28 homes in San Bruno, California.
The PUC has three penalty proceedings and another on changes to safety rules and pipeline enhancements under way related to the incident, and both the utility and the commission have said they prefer to reach a settlement rather than continuing a long regulatory process.
The services of Mitchell and his law firm DLA Piper LLP will be paid for by PG&E shareholders.
PUC President Michael Peevey said the commission is "confident Senator Mitchell can help achieve a solution that will resolve these cases sooner rather than later, bring justice to the good people of San Bruno, and move California forward to our goal of a much safer natural gas system."
Mitchell is known, among other things, for his role as the US Special Envoy for Northern Ireland, where he brokered the Good Friday Peace Treaty in April 1998, and more recently as President Barack Obama's Special Envoy to the Middle East.
Mitchell will serve as mediator between PG&E, the PUC's safety enforcement staff, and other parties such as the City of San Bruno, the City and County of San Francisco, the PUC's Division of Ratepayer Advocates, and ratepayer advocacy group The Utility Reform Network.
"I encourage all of the parties to make a good-faith effort at a negotiated solution, working with Senator Mitchell," said PUC Commissioner Mike Florio. "This is the most expeditious way to resolve these cases and bring closure to the people of San Bruno. More than two years have passed since the tragedy. The evidence is all in, and the time has come to resolve these cases once and for all."
Any settlement reached would be publicly filed with the PUC, and considered by its five commissioners after public review, the commission noted.
