United States v. Pacific Gas & Electric Co.

ORDER DENYING DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO DISMISS FOR FAILURE TO STATE AN OFFENSE: COUNTONE

This matter came before the Court on October 19, 2015 for a hearing on Defendant Pacific Gas & Electric (“PG&E”)’s Motion to Dismiss for Failure to State an Offense: Count One. After carefully considering the parties’ written and oral arguments, the Court now DENIES Defendant’s motion, for the reasons set forth below.

BACKGROUND

On September 9, 2010, a gas line owned and operated by PG&E ruptured, causing a fire that killed 8 people and injured 58 others. Superseding IndMment (“SI”) ¶ 5 (Docket No. 22): The fire damaged 108 homes, 38 of which were completely destroyed. Id On July 30, 2014, a grand jury returned a superseding indictment (“Indictment”) charging PG&É with 28 counts, including one count of obstructing the National Transportation Safety Board (“NTSB”) investigation.that followed,the explosion. Id ¶ 61.

The NTSB is “an independent establishment of the United States Government,” charged by Congress with “investigating] and- reporting] on the safe transportation of hazardous material,” including by pipeline. 49 U.S.C. §§ 1111 (a), (g). The NTSB began an investigation immediately…