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Taking Responsibility for Our Historical Impacts
At PG&E, we are accountable for all our own actions. One recent event truly exemplifies this: the 2006 settlement that effectively resolved 10 years of litigation related to our use of chromium decades ago. In our announcement, we took responsibility for PG&E's actions in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s, and we unequivocally affirmed the critical importance of ensuring that our conduct always aligns with our values.
PG&E's Topock
Compressor Station
PG&E has been delivering power to our customers for more than 100 years. As a result, we generated waste products that were disposed of in ways that were acceptable in their time, but ultimately created the need to clean up or isolate these wastes to protect human health and the environment.
We have taken responsibility for cleaning up historic or "legacy" contamination from past operations. For example, PG&E successfully led a multi-year effort to clean up a geothermal waste facility in Lake County, Calif., with oversight from the California Regional Water Quality Control Board and several other agencies. The facility was abandoned by its operator, and PG&E and numerous other companies were left with responsibility for securing the site and completed the effort in 2006. Key milestones included excavating and solidifying 186,000 cubic yards of waste, evaporating 21 million gallons of wastewater and planting 32 acres of trees, which are helping to lower the groundwater table, protecting it with contact from solidified waste. PG&E even enlisted 900 goats for weed abatement, and we created and are managing a 40-acre conservation easement containing three acres of new wetlands on the property. PG&E has also committed to long-term monitoring and maintenance to ensure the property’s ongoing stable management and security.