San Diego Gas & Electric will appeal the guilty verdict a federal jury reached Friday involving the company’s environmental asbestos abatement at a natural gas storage facility in 2001.

The original lawsuit, against SDG&E's parent company Sempra Energy, involved the removal of pipes on a lot in Lemon Grove which had been home to the Encanto Gas Holder Station until it was closed in the late 90's. 

The suit claimed that asbestos had been removed from those pipes in a way that was in violation of asbestos removal laws, which resulted, according to the lawsuit, in the asbestos turning into dust that was then scattered as a result of the methods used.  The lawsuit began thanks to residents of the San Diego community of Encanto notifying county officials upon their observing the removal process and during which a great deal of dust was apparently stirred up in the air in that process.

After years of legal wrangling and political finger-pointing, in January 2006 a Federal Grand Jury finally handed up a five count indictment in the case -one count was for conspiracy to unlawfully remove asbestos, three counts for unlawful removal of asbestos, and one count of making false statements.  The indictments handed up named SDG&E as well as three individuals.

The original press release of the Grand Jury findings and subsequent endictments in the asbestos removal case can be found at the US Department of Justice web site at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/cas/press/cas60111-1.pdf

The final verdict found SDG&E guilty of three counts of violating asbestos work practice standards, as well as one count of making a false statement.  A site contractor as well as an SDG&E employee were each also found guilty of one count of violating asbestos work practice standards.  A third individual was acquitted of charges, and the conspiracy charge from the original indictments was dismissed altogether due to a lack of evidence.

Today, asbestos, exposure of which can lead to mesothelioma, is heavily regulated and has ceased to exist in all but a few, closely monitored, products and industries. Despite this reduction in usage, a study completed in 1980 by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), a subsidiary of the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) of the federal Department of Health and Human Services, maintains that there is no safe level of exposure to asbestos fibers.