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Would you like to inspect the original subtitles? These are the user uploaded subtitles that are being translated: 1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,459 In this episode of American Greed, in California, a convicted criminal is 2 00:00:05,460 --> 00:00:08,320 wreaking havoc, blowing up neighborhoods, 3 00:00:09,060 --> 00:00:15,639 burning entire 4 00:00:15,640 --> 00:00:22,360 towns, claiming the lives of more than 100 people. 5 00:00:22,880 --> 00:00:24,800 Who is that criminal? 6 00:00:25,120 --> 00:00:27,240 The state's powerful utility. 7 00:00:28,040 --> 00:00:31,180 Pacific Gas and Electric, P, G, and E. 8 00:00:31,980 --> 00:00:36,140 How does one company get so much so wrong over and over? 9 00:00:37,080 --> 00:00:42,060 From the shocking evidence of neglect to the wrenching stories of survivors. 10 00:00:42,900 --> 00:00:46,820 Fire comes filling up the whole house. I'm like melting alive. 11 00:00:46,821 --> 00:00:48,359 It's over. 12 00:00:48,360 --> 00:00:51,220 To the inside account of a longtime employee. 13 00:00:51,600 --> 00:00:56,579 Had I followed my supervisor's instructions, it could have killed the 14 00:00:56,580 --> 00:00:57,630 that household. 15 00:00:57,640 --> 00:01:02,640 American Greed digs deep into the deadly crimes of a company that kills. 16 00:01:26,570 --> 00:01:31,990 On the morning of November 8, 2018, in the small town of Megalia, California, 17 00:01:32,490 --> 00:01:36,430 Skye Sedgwick's life is about to be upended. 18 00:01:37,890 --> 00:01:41,410 The day begins with alarming news from her father. 19 00:01:41,790 --> 00:01:48,270 I woke to him knocking on my door loudly and saying, Skye, 20 00:01:48,390 --> 00:01:52,270 get up, there's fire coming up over the ridge. And I just shot out of bed. 21 00:01:57,290 --> 00:01:59,010 This is no small fire. 22 00:02:00,850 --> 00:02:03,810 Skye decides to get out on foot. 23 00:02:04,150 --> 00:02:09,069 When I was walking through the woods, there was huge embers falling because at 24 00:02:09,070 --> 00:02:11,510 one point I had fire on both sides of me. 25 00:02:11,810 --> 00:02:16,929 Propelled by high force winds, the flames move fast toward a small town 26 00:02:16,930 --> 00:02:19,970 Paradise. The spark started the fire in my eye. 27 00:02:20,510 --> 00:02:24,130 The fire is where? In my yard. Resources are coming as fast as they can. 28 00:02:24,450 --> 00:02:29,050 What follows for people in the path of the fire is a day of living hell. 29 00:02:29,770 --> 00:02:30,820 Are you trapped? 30 00:02:31,650 --> 00:02:32,700 Yes. 31 00:02:33,030 --> 00:02:35,130 The house next door to me is on fire. 32 00:02:35,430 --> 00:02:39,070 Before it all ends, 84 people die. 33 00:02:53,160 --> 00:02:59,820 When the smoke clears, the so -called campfire has burned 150 ,000 acres. 34 00:02:59,940 --> 00:03:03,580 It has destroyed more than 18 ,000 buildings. 35 00:03:04,140 --> 00:03:06,490 I kept telling myself, something will be left. 36 00:03:07,220 --> 00:03:08,520 There wasn't anything. 37 00:03:09,160 --> 00:03:10,660 There wasn't a thing. 38 00:03:10,920 --> 00:03:15,300 The cars melted to the ground. There was nothing. 39 00:03:20,840 --> 00:03:23,130 I didn't know you could lose so much in one day. 40 00:03:25,040 --> 00:03:30,659 And the cause of all this destruction, not a bolt of lightning or a careless 41 00:03:30,660 --> 00:03:36,739 match tossed in the woods, but instead the policies and practices of a multi 42 00:03:36,740 --> 00:03:42,200 -billion dollar corporation, Pacific Gas and Electric, PG &E. 43 00:03:42,560 --> 00:03:47,239 PG &E is the largest investor -owned utility in the United States. In 44 00:03:47,240 --> 00:03:48,380 for more than a century. 45 00:03:48,970 --> 00:03:54,429 PG &E has grown into a behemoth. Its thousands of high -voltage power lines 46 00:03:54,430 --> 00:03:58,230 gas pipelines crisscross 70 ,000 square miles. 47 00:03:58,530 --> 00:04:02,750 It delivers electricity and gas to 16 million customers. 48 00:04:03,270 --> 00:04:05,910 But energy is not all it delivers. 49 00:04:06,630 --> 00:04:11,869 For years, as a publicly traded company, PG &E pays out hundreds of millions of 50 00:04:11,870 --> 00:04:16,290 dollars in dividends to shareholders, making it popular on Wall Street. 51 00:04:17,320 --> 00:04:19,560 And that's where things get complicated. 52 00:04:20,060 --> 00:04:25,599 How can an entity that size, providing energy to its large customer base, be 53 00:04:25,600 --> 00:04:30,040 beholden to public safety and at the same time be beholden to shareholders? 54 00:04:30,640 --> 00:04:36,060 Put another way, what is more important, safety or profits? 55 00:04:37,020 --> 00:04:42,840 It's a question that plagues PG &E and comes into sharp focus in 1994. 56 00:04:43,760 --> 00:04:48,859 In the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains is a small town called Rough 57 00:04:48,860 --> 00:04:49,910 Ready. 58 00:04:49,960 --> 00:04:52,680 The summers here are hot, dry. 59 00:04:53,240 --> 00:04:56,340 People know they are living in a tinderbox. 60 00:04:57,480 --> 00:05:00,340 This is what's called a California flashy fuel. 61 00:05:00,940 --> 00:05:07,540 This grass is, what, three feet high right now, all across this hillside. 62 00:05:08,800 --> 00:05:11,340 Captain Ken Hale, now retired. 63 00:05:11,850 --> 00:05:14,370 Fights fires here for 21 years. 64 00:05:14,790 --> 00:05:19,950 This stuff, when it's pushed by a wind, burning uphill the way it is right here, 65 00:05:20,110 --> 00:05:23,790 it's capable of at least 50 -foot flame lengths. 66 00:05:24,070 --> 00:05:25,910 All it takes is a spark. 67 00:05:26,130 --> 00:05:31,410 And on a hot day in August 1994, a spark makes contact. 68 00:05:34,230 --> 00:05:38,550 Quickly, Hale finds the source of the fire, an oak tree. 69 00:05:39,210 --> 00:05:43,190 I walked around this tree and I could hear buzzing above me. 70 00:05:43,570 --> 00:05:50,209 And, you know, looking up, I saw a branch in direct contact with a 21 kV 71 00:05:50,210 --> 00:05:51,260 power line. 72 00:05:51,510 --> 00:05:56,309 It is known as a burner, a branch coming into contact with the electrical 73 00:05:56,310 --> 00:06:00,330 current in a power line that ignites a wildfire. 74 00:06:00,810 --> 00:06:05,290 The fire blew up through this canyon, went straight up this hill. 75 00:06:05,950 --> 00:06:10,609 This is where they primarily did, or the fire did, most of the damage that it 76 00:06:10,610 --> 00:06:16,990 did. In all, the Rough and Ready Fire burns 500 acres and destroys 12 homes. 77 00:06:17,630 --> 00:06:23,229 And that is why PG &E is required by law to keep its lines clear of trees and 78 00:06:23,230 --> 00:06:24,280 bushes. 79 00:06:24,790 --> 00:06:27,770 But is PG &E obeying the law? 80 00:06:28,970 --> 00:06:32,809 Ken Hale and fellow firefighters take to the country roads of their 81 00:06:32,810 --> 00:06:33,860 jurisdiction. 82 00:06:34,030 --> 00:06:38,250 Nevada and Placer counties and come up with a shocking answer. 83 00:06:38,590 --> 00:06:45,229 We found 743 violations in Nevada County and about 750 84 00:06:45,230 --> 00:06:52,149 in Placer County with six to eight people in two weeks. And a 85 00:06:52,150 --> 00:06:56,769 good chunk of those were burners. Hale's findings are later turned over to Jenny 86 00:06:56,770 --> 00:07:00,090 Ross, the deputy district attorney for Nevada County. 87 00:07:00,490 --> 00:07:01,810 I was angry. 88 00:07:02,800 --> 00:07:09,359 Frankly, I was angry at the behavior, at the arrogance, at the complete 89 00:07:09,360 --> 00:07:15,779 disregard, the blatant disregard of the danger they were causing for 90 00:07:15,780 --> 00:07:19,780 hundreds of thousands of people all across Northern California. 91 00:07:20,820 --> 00:07:26,659 Ross recently left a major San Francisco law firm looking for a quieter pace of 92 00:07:26,660 --> 00:07:27,980 life in a rural setting. 93 00:07:28,480 --> 00:07:32,819 But now she becomes the first criminal prosecutor to take the giant utility to 94 00:07:32,820 --> 00:07:38,340 trial, charging PG &E with more than 700 misdemeanor criminal counts. 95 00:07:38,720 --> 00:07:40,520 This was criminal behavior. 96 00:07:40,880 --> 00:07:43,740 This was not merely negligence. 97 00:07:44,060 --> 00:07:49,999 After Ross issues subpoenas, Ken Hale takes off his fire jacket and heads to 98 00:07:50,000 --> 00:07:53,280 downtown San Francisco as Ross's lead investigator. 99 00:07:54,110 --> 00:07:59,769 My first impression going into the PG &E building was that they could certainly 100 00:07:59,770 --> 00:08:04,770 afford to trim trees if they can afford to fill that building with bosses. 101 00:08:05,170 --> 00:08:11,889 And PG &E is ready for him. On the floor was this small mountain of 102 00:08:11,890 --> 00:08:17,010 documents that PG &E had simply brought in and dumped the boxes on the floor. 103 00:08:17,310 --> 00:08:21,270 But inside that mountain is just what Ross is looking for. 104 00:08:21,820 --> 00:08:27,739 Internal records incriminating evidence showing that PG &E is decimating its 105 00:08:27,740 --> 00:08:33,038 tree trimming budget. One contractor reports that its workforce has been 106 00:08:33,039 --> 00:08:39,999 49 .7%. And even PG &E's own employees send warnings. The 107 00:08:40,000 --> 00:08:43,200 potential for a major fire is very real. 108 00:08:43,539 --> 00:08:45,540 And it's not just cutting budgets. 109 00:08:46,380 --> 00:08:52,099 Ross learns that PG &E actually diverts nearly $80 million earmarked to trim 110 00:08:52,100 --> 00:08:54,260 trees into company profits. 111 00:08:54,740 --> 00:08:56,520 They sacrifice safety. 112 00:08:56,880 --> 00:09:02,059 Money that should have been put into making sure their lines were safe went 113 00:09:02,060 --> 00:09:05,190 their own pockets and into the pockets of their shareholders. 114 00:09:05,460 --> 00:09:11,739 It's hard for people to imagine how a large, wealthy, well -established 115 00:09:11,740 --> 00:09:14,440 corporation could be that callous. 116 00:09:14,990 --> 00:09:16,590 But it's all about the money. 117 00:09:16,830 --> 00:09:18,450 It's all about greed. 118 00:09:19,070 --> 00:09:21,650 It really boils down to dollars. 119 00:09:22,150 --> 00:09:27,030 The rough and ready trial against PG &E opens in March 1997. 120 00:09:28,080 --> 00:09:32,579 And they certainly didn't think that one little deputy district attorney in 121 00:09:32,580 --> 00:09:36,780 little rural Nevada County was going to do them any harm. 122 00:09:37,120 --> 00:09:42,420 PG &E defends its effort to trim trees, but Jenny Ross prevails. 123 00:09:42,660 --> 00:09:47,580 The company is convicted on 739 counts of criminal negligence. 124 00:09:47,860 --> 00:09:48,910 We were pleased. 125 00:09:49,260 --> 00:09:52,330 I didn't think there was any other verdict they could come to. 126 00:09:52,580 --> 00:09:55,440 The company is fined close to $2 million. 127 00:09:56,400 --> 00:09:58,420 Not a lot of money for the huge utility. 128 00:09:58,940 --> 00:10:04,100 But what it was, was being found criminally responsible. 129 00:10:04,840 --> 00:10:09,860 PG &E had a big label across its forehead saying, I'm a criminal. 130 00:10:10,140 --> 00:10:15,240 But whether PG &E has actually learned a lesson, well, that's another question. 131 00:10:16,420 --> 00:10:19,600 Up next, every mother's nightmare. 132 00:10:20,100 --> 00:10:23,540 I could see the flames were shooting from the neighborhood. 133 00:10:23,820 --> 00:10:24,880 You could. 134 00:10:25,660 --> 00:10:31,440 See the panic in people's eyes, and I couldn't get to her. 135 00:10:48,540 --> 00:10:54,080 In a business like PG &E, corporate culture is set at the top. 136 00:10:54,440 --> 00:10:55,500 in the C -suite. 137 00:10:55,740 --> 00:10:59,480 And when leadership changes, culture can change. 138 00:10:59,960 --> 00:11:06,059 And that's what many say happens to PG &E, a company once run by engineers who 139 00:11:06,060 --> 00:11:11,759 get replaced by people with MBAs. And when the people who had MBAs started to 140 00:11:11,760 --> 00:11:15,500 run the company, they started looking at financial performance first. 141 00:11:16,040 --> 00:11:19,760 And safety and engineering took a back seat. 142 00:11:20,600 --> 00:11:22,860 Steve Segali sees that shift. 143 00:11:23,440 --> 00:11:28,220 He works on the gas side for PG &E, starting as a meter reader in 1981. 144 00:11:29,560 --> 00:11:31,360 I was very proud to work there. 145 00:11:32,280 --> 00:11:36,920 I loved what I did. And, you know, after a while, I got an apprenticeship. 146 00:11:38,140 --> 00:11:39,500 I couldn't be happier. 147 00:11:40,060 --> 00:11:44,820 But over 40 years, he watches the company he loves slowly disappear. 148 00:11:47,340 --> 00:11:51,960 The culture went from you will work hard, you will not take shortcuts. 149 00:11:53,560 --> 00:11:58,979 Now, we talk safety, but there's too much pressure to meet budgetary 150 00:11:58,980 --> 00:12:01,360 requirements on maintenance. 151 00:12:01,760 --> 00:12:05,380 And those budgetary requirements can spell disaster. 152 00:12:06,220 --> 00:12:11,079 In the spring of 2005, Segali says he gets a call about a gas leak in Marin 153 00:12:11,080 --> 00:12:13,180 County, north of San Francisco. 154 00:12:13,540 --> 00:12:17,140 It is serious, posing a threat to nearby homes. 155 00:12:18,480 --> 00:12:20,140 But it's late in the day. 156 00:12:21,020 --> 00:12:24,700 Repairing the leak will mean overtime pay for Sigali and his partner. 157 00:12:25,660 --> 00:12:30,799 Sigali checks in with his supervisor, a man he knows is under pressure to keep 158 00:12:30,800 --> 00:12:31,880 costs down. 159 00:12:32,340 --> 00:12:36,659 He told me to fill the hole back in and go home. And I said, no, this isn't a 160 00:12:36,660 --> 00:12:38,770 business decision. This is public safety. 161 00:12:38,880 --> 00:12:43,799 I'm not going home. I have an obligation to protect the public. I have a job to 162 00:12:43,800 --> 00:12:47,020 do. And I wasn't going to do the wrong thing. 163 00:12:48,760 --> 00:12:53,819 Sagali fixes the leak. And several families in that neighborhood have no 164 00:12:53,820 --> 00:12:58,300 how lucky they are that he is on the job that day in 2005. 165 00:12:59,140 --> 00:13:05,519 Had I followed my supervisor's instructions and left, later that day, 166 00:13:05,520 --> 00:13:10,800 day, the day after, could it have blown up one of those houses? Absolutely yes. 167 00:13:10,801 --> 00:13:13,419 It could have killed the members of that household. 168 00:13:13,420 --> 00:13:17,080 In a bold move, Sagali later attends a shareholders meeting. 169 00:13:17,680 --> 00:13:21,180 and reports his concerns directly to PG &E's CEO. 170 00:13:21,800 --> 00:13:27,239 An investigation is opened, and widespread problems in the gas 171 00:13:27,240 --> 00:13:29,140 are discovered and addressed. 172 00:13:30,160 --> 00:13:35,940 But an even more dangerous threat still looms in a town 25 miles south. 173 00:13:36,720 --> 00:13:41,280 This is San Bruno, a small suburb bordering San Francisco. 174 00:13:42,020 --> 00:13:44,740 It's where Joe Rugomez grows up. 175 00:13:44,741 --> 00:13:48,109 It's a great little tight -knit community. 176 00:13:48,110 --> 00:13:53,070 Went to elementary school, middle school, high school there, college 177 00:13:53,790 --> 00:13:55,030 San Bruno was home. 178 00:13:56,250 --> 00:14:00,770 San Bruno is also home to Renee Morales, a mother of four. 179 00:14:01,630 --> 00:14:04,350 The neighbors were wonderful, very welcoming. 180 00:14:05,430 --> 00:14:07,690 The schools were excellent. 181 00:14:08,970 --> 00:14:14,609 In time, Renee and Joe's lives become intertwined when her daughter Jessica 182 00:14:14,610 --> 00:14:16,110 Joe... Start dating. 183 00:14:16,450 --> 00:14:19,700 We couldn't stay away from each other. It was literally every day. 184 00:14:19,750 --> 00:14:21,530 We'd hang out all day, every day. 185 00:14:23,670 --> 00:14:29,750 On a fall day in 2010, Joe and Jessica are at Joe's house watching a game. 186 00:14:31,230 --> 00:14:32,730 And we're sitting on the couch. 187 00:14:34,250 --> 00:14:40,269 And out of nowhere, you just hear this excruciatingly loud noise that sounded 188 00:14:40,270 --> 00:14:42,750 like a jet engine, like right in your ear. 189 00:14:44,490 --> 00:14:50,430 It starts accelerating for like four or five seconds, and then boom. 190 00:14:52,170 --> 00:14:54,250 Fire comes filling up the whole house. 191 00:14:54,930 --> 00:14:57,830 It's like a huge blowtorch, if you will. 192 00:14:58,210 --> 00:15:01,880 I don't know what's going on, but all I know is that I'm like melting alive. 193 00:15:02,370 --> 00:15:03,420 It's over. 194 00:15:03,730 --> 00:15:08,950 People away from the center of the explosion see what looks like a plane 195 00:15:09,410 --> 00:15:11,230 It appears that we have a plane. 196 00:15:12,970 --> 00:15:17,470 Watching the news, Renee Morales recognizes the supposed crash site. 197 00:15:17,910 --> 00:15:21,510 It is Joe's neighborhood where Jessica is spending the evening. 198 00:15:22,590 --> 00:15:26,370 I could see the flames were shooting from the neighborhood. 199 00:15:27,610 --> 00:15:31,370 You could see the panic in people's eyes. 200 00:15:32,510 --> 00:15:36,170 And I couldn't get to her. 201 00:15:36,780 --> 00:15:41,399 James Haggerty, at the time, is a San Bruno police detective and is among the 202 00:15:41,400 --> 00:15:42,450 first on the scene. 203 00:15:42,680 --> 00:15:47,799 The odd thing was that the fireball kept going, and it raged for approximately 204 00:15:47,800 --> 00:15:52,779 90 minutes. And I had a sense that this was something different than a plane 205 00:15:52,780 --> 00:15:55,120 crash. Something kept fueling the fire. 206 00:15:56,020 --> 00:16:00,040 PG &E employees nearby recognize what is happening. 207 00:16:00,420 --> 00:16:02,120 This is not a plane crash. 208 00:16:02,500 --> 00:16:05,300 Their own gas pipeline has exploded. 209 00:16:06,320 --> 00:16:10,100 And I'm seeing the news. I'm talking to coworkers. 210 00:16:10,360 --> 00:16:14,180 And I was just, it was gut -wrenching. 211 00:16:15,020 --> 00:16:16,400 It was surreal. 212 00:16:19,100 --> 00:16:23,720 Up next, how PG &E gambles with customers' lives. 213 00:16:24,000 --> 00:16:30,599 Every time they raised that pressure inside that pipe, they made the crack 214 00:16:30,600 --> 00:16:31,650 bigger. 215 00:16:51,920 --> 00:16:58,519 The day after a PG &E gas transmission pipeline explodes in San Bruno, 216 00:16:58,520 --> 00:17:01,160 return to unbelievable destruction. 217 00:17:03,340 --> 00:17:08,499 The aftermath was this large crater that was in the middle of the street, and 218 00:17:08,500 --> 00:17:13,040 everything around it had been instantly vaporized and melted and burned. 219 00:17:13,540 --> 00:17:17,880 In all, 38 homes are completely destroyed. 220 00:17:19,260 --> 00:17:20,680 Joe Rugomez. 221 00:17:21,280 --> 00:17:25,578 Covered in second and third degree burns, is rescued by a neighbor who gets 222 00:17:25,579 --> 00:17:26,629 to a hospital. 223 00:17:26,760 --> 00:17:31,120 I remember them putting a mask on me and I didn't wake up till like Halloween. 224 00:17:31,121 --> 00:17:34,259 This was September 9th and I didn't wake up till Halloween. 225 00:17:34,260 --> 00:17:38,859 On the night of the explosion, Renee Morales races from one hospital to the 226 00:17:38,860 --> 00:17:40,740 next, searching for Jessica. 227 00:17:41,680 --> 00:17:47,959 About two o 'clock the next day, the coroner's office drove up to my house 228 00:17:47,960 --> 00:17:49,060 and... 229 00:17:50,270 --> 00:17:55,589 They delivered the news that they had found something that could be identified 230 00:17:55,590 --> 00:17:56,640 as Jessica. 231 00:17:57,510 --> 00:17:59,750 Seven others also die. 232 00:18:05,730 --> 00:18:11,469 The trigger for the explosion is a power failure at the PG &E Milpitas Control 233 00:18:11,470 --> 00:18:13,330 Center, 35 miles away. 234 00:18:13,550 --> 00:18:19,270 It causes a surge of gas through a segment of what is known as Line 132. 235 00:18:19,930 --> 00:18:25,989 A pipe installed by PG &E in 1956 to service a new housing development in San 236 00:18:25,990 --> 00:18:31,709 Bruno. When the line explodes years later, a 3 ,000 -pound piece of pipe is 237 00:18:31,710 --> 00:18:32,910 thrown out on the ground. 238 00:18:33,130 --> 00:18:39,329 When the pipeline rupture occurred, a section of about 30 feet long 239 00:18:39,330 --> 00:18:44,370 portion of the pipeline was launched about a quarter way up this hill. 240 00:18:44,960 --> 00:18:49,380 And that section of the pipeline has been a disaster in waiting for years. 241 00:18:51,160 --> 00:18:55,239 Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board immediately 242 00:18:55,240 --> 00:18:56,290 the problem. 243 00:18:56,480 --> 00:19:01,999 We did find a longitudinal seam on the pipe, which means it started as a flat 244 00:19:02,000 --> 00:19:05,859 piece of metal, which was then curved on itself and then welded longitudinally. 245 00:19:05,860 --> 00:19:08,560 And that seam that should hold the pipe together? 246 00:19:09,600 --> 00:19:11,100 doomed from the start. 247 00:19:11,360 --> 00:19:16,220 You're supposed to weld pipe like that both on the exterior and the interior. 248 00:19:16,540 --> 00:19:22,979 So you have double welds. The pipe that exploded only had one weld. And so the 249 00:19:22,980 --> 00:19:24,960 pipe is at risk for a crack. 250 00:19:25,530 --> 00:19:29,749 The defective weld is visible when the pipe is installed. But since it is 251 00:19:29,750 --> 00:19:34,249 missed, it could be discovered before the gas is turned on through a safety 252 00:19:34,250 --> 00:19:36,210 check called a hydrotest. 253 00:19:36,410 --> 00:19:41,169 The hydrotest is real simple. You throw water pressure in there, and you crank 254 00:19:41,170 --> 00:19:43,190 it up to see if there are any leaks. 255 00:19:43,191 --> 00:19:45,569 Because if there's a leak, there's a crack. 256 00:19:45,570 --> 00:19:48,150 And if there's a crack, that's a big problem. 257 00:19:48,810 --> 00:19:52,410 But PG &E does not conduct a hydrotest. 258 00:19:53,000 --> 00:19:55,360 It does not know if the pipe has a crack. 259 00:19:56,160 --> 00:20:01,819 Later, it checks the line for corrosion from primarily above ground with a test 260 00:20:01,820 --> 00:20:06,539 not capable of finding the defective weld, which would be hugely expensive to 261 00:20:06,540 --> 00:20:07,590 fix. 262 00:20:07,780 --> 00:20:12,060 Haggerty believes the choice of an ineffective test is deliberate. 263 00:20:12,720 --> 00:20:18,099 This is why the corrosion assessment was preordained. It could not locate these 264 00:20:18,100 --> 00:20:22,879 flaws in the pipeline because if they discovered these flaws, they would have 265 00:20:22,880 --> 00:20:23,579 fix them. 266 00:20:23,580 --> 00:20:29,940 And so in 1956, PG &E buries the untested pipeline with a dangerous 267 00:20:30,160 --> 00:20:35,120 knowing that families will be moving into the neighborhood expecting to be 268 00:20:35,440 --> 00:20:39,239 It's just something that you would never even fathom. I mean, the fact that 269 00:20:39,240 --> 00:20:40,620 there's a ticking time bomb. 270 00:20:40,840 --> 00:20:46,260 On my front lawn, of all places, it's just unbelievable. 271 00:20:46,780 --> 00:20:47,830 But it gets worse. 272 00:20:47,960 --> 00:20:53,799 In order to ensure future capacity, PG &E deliberately increases the pressure 273 00:20:53,800 --> 00:20:55,700 the line beyond what is needed. 274 00:20:55,960 --> 00:21:01,899 They actually exacerbated the problem with the one piece of pipe that only had 275 00:21:01,900 --> 00:21:08,739 single well. Every time they raised that pressure inside that pipe, they made 276 00:21:08,740 --> 00:21:09,790 the crack bigger. 277 00:21:09,950 --> 00:21:15,289 With so much at risk, why would PG &E not play it safe and properly test the 278 00:21:15,290 --> 00:21:20,849 pipe? A possible answer is inside PG &E's own records later used as evidence 279 00:21:20,850 --> 00:21:26,250 court. One senior manager writes, a pressure test is not economically 280 00:21:26,650 --> 00:21:30,750 Another describes financial, not technical reasons. 281 00:21:31,130 --> 00:21:35,450 In other words, it seems again, profits matter more than safety. 282 00:21:36,270 --> 00:21:39,220 They can talk all they want about public safety, it's cost. 283 00:21:39,760 --> 00:21:40,810 It is cost. 284 00:21:40,811 --> 00:21:44,839 Even when they talk about safety, it's safety to a point of, well, if it costs 285 00:21:44,840 --> 00:21:48,999 too much, we're not going to do it. The company even says as much in a draft of 286 00:21:49,000 --> 00:21:53,880 an internal document from May 2008, just over two years before the explosion. 287 00:21:54,280 --> 00:21:55,760 What is not up for debate? 288 00:21:56,060 --> 00:21:57,880 8 % earnings per share growth. 289 00:21:58,440 --> 00:21:59,920 What is up for debate? 290 00:22:00,660 --> 00:22:07,240 Safety. That was a very clear and succinct expression of PG &E's 291 00:22:07,900 --> 00:22:09,280 of profits over safety. 292 00:22:09,520 --> 00:22:14,699 And it is not only shareholders who are rewarded with good earnings. When the 293 00:22:14,700 --> 00:22:20,959 CEO in charge of PG &E in the years leading up to the explosion retires, he 294 00:22:20,960 --> 00:22:24,540 leaves with a package reportedly worth more than $35 million. 295 00:22:26,780 --> 00:22:33,259 In 2014, 17 years after PG &E's rough -and -ready conviction, the company is 296 00:22:33,260 --> 00:22:35,200 indicted and convicted once again. 297 00:22:35,640 --> 00:22:40,739 PG &E maintains that it follows the law, but a federal jury finds it guilty of 298 00:22:40,740 --> 00:22:44,140 violating the Pipeline Safety Act and obstructing justice. 299 00:22:44,700 --> 00:22:49,539 It is placed on probation, ordered to pay billions of dollars in fines and 300 00:22:49,540 --> 00:22:52,160 penalties, and to make a public apology. 301 00:22:52,700 --> 00:22:56,740 We are deeply sorry. We failed our customers in San Bruno. 302 00:22:56,960 --> 00:23:02,900 In its ad, PG &E describes improvements it makes in its gas distribution system. 303 00:23:03,310 --> 00:23:06,050 We've replaced hundreds of miles of gas pipeline. 304 00:23:06,350 --> 00:23:07,650 And makes a commitment. 305 00:23:08,130 --> 00:23:13,769 That's why we're working every day to make PG &E the safest energy company in 306 00:23:13,770 --> 00:23:14,629 the nation. 307 00:23:14,630 --> 00:23:18,570 It's an admirable goal, but so far out of reach. 308 00:23:19,010 --> 00:23:23,790 Especially as the electric side of the business faces an increasing threat, 309 00:23:24,050 --> 00:23:25,100 climate change. 310 00:23:25,730 --> 00:23:28,200 California temperatures are breaking records. 311 00:23:28,510 --> 00:23:31,070 Trees and grasses are bone dry. 312 00:23:31,710 --> 00:23:37,529 The danger posed by a spark thrown from a power line is greater than ever, and 313 00:23:37,530 --> 00:23:39,890 PG &E is not prepared. 314 00:23:39,891 --> 00:23:44,029 They could have chosen to put insulated lines, but they didn't. They could have 315 00:23:44,030 --> 00:23:47,770 chosen to bury lines underground, but they didn't. 316 00:23:48,230 --> 00:23:50,250 Both of those are expensive. 317 00:23:50,450 --> 00:23:56,969 So they choose to put naked conductors in rural areas, and now they have to 318 00:23:56,970 --> 00:24:00,410 guard against the risk of tree line contact. 319 00:24:05,290 --> 00:24:07,490 And so the deadly fires begin. 320 00:24:09,750 --> 00:24:16,189 In 2015, in Jackson, California, a tree hits a wire and the Butte fire takes off 321 00:24:16,190 --> 00:24:19,390 torching 70 ,000 acres. 322 00:24:24,010 --> 00:24:28,070 Burning more than 500 homes and killing two. 323 00:24:30,630 --> 00:24:32,070 In 2017, 324 00:24:32,920 --> 00:24:38,480 Twelve different fires caused by trees hitting PG &E lines killed 18 people. 325 00:24:39,520 --> 00:24:42,220 California reels from the death and destruction. 326 00:24:43,140 --> 00:24:47,060 Sadly, the deadliest fire of all is still to come. 327 00:24:47,880 --> 00:24:50,880 Up next, panic in paradise. 328 00:24:51,500 --> 00:24:55,459 The entire town of paradise is under mandatory evacuation. Please leave 329 00:24:55,460 --> 00:24:56,510 immediately. 330 00:25:08,560 --> 00:25:13,419 In 2018, as Northern California struggles to recover from a series of 331 00:25:13,420 --> 00:25:14,680 devastating wildfires, 332 00:25:15,400 --> 00:25:20,420 PG &E crews work to trim back trees dangerously close to power lines. 333 00:25:21,720 --> 00:25:25,760 But there is another looming threat that is missed entirely. 334 00:25:26,260 --> 00:25:31,519 It is here in the Feather River Canyon that runs through the Sierra Nevada 335 00:25:31,520 --> 00:25:33,020 northeast of Sacramento. 336 00:25:33,620 --> 00:25:37,280 This is PG &E's Caribou Palermo power line. 337 00:25:37,790 --> 00:25:42,889 part of the company's hydroelectric stairway of power that once brought 338 00:25:42,890 --> 00:25:44,770 to the entire Bay Area. 339 00:25:45,110 --> 00:25:50,530 At the time that it was built, it was considered an engineering marvel. 340 00:25:50,990 --> 00:25:56,469 For almost a century, the towers that hold the line take a beating from the 341 00:25:56,470 --> 00:25:59,210 winds that rip through these canyons every fall. 342 00:25:59,630 --> 00:26:00,680 The clock. 343 00:26:01,160 --> 00:26:07,359 at between 30 and 50 miles an hour most of the night and into the morning. And 344 00:26:07,360 --> 00:26:10,440 so these are devil winds. 345 00:26:11,260 --> 00:26:16,139 Just above the canyon is a collection of small mountain towns, both beautiful 346 00:26:16,140 --> 00:26:17,220 and affordable. 347 00:26:19,380 --> 00:26:24,280 One is Megalia, where Skye Sedgwick lives with her father, John. 348 00:26:24,600 --> 00:26:28,840 We lived in an old cabin that had so much family history. 349 00:26:29,620 --> 00:26:33,919 We used to joke about every person that came through that house would leave a 350 00:26:33,920 --> 00:26:34,970 bit of them. 351 00:26:35,280 --> 00:26:41,539 What Skye admires about her dad is that at the age of 82, he is still full of 352 00:26:41,540 --> 00:26:46,000 energy. A retired volunteer fireman, there is not much he can't handle. 353 00:26:46,280 --> 00:26:53,059 We actually had a chimney fire in our house the winter before the 354 00:26:53,060 --> 00:26:55,680 campfire, and my dad put it out by himself. 355 00:26:57,630 --> 00:27:00,450 I climbed up into the rafters and put it out. 356 00:27:02,290 --> 00:27:07,489 Just five miles south of Magalia is a town called Paradise, where Richard 357 00:27:07,490 --> 00:27:14,109 Salazar moves in 1979 with four siblings, all adopted out of foster care 358 00:27:14,110 --> 00:27:15,770 Phyllis and Chris Salazar. 359 00:27:17,530 --> 00:27:20,720 We're all pretty damaged. You have problems in that kind of life. 360 00:27:21,610 --> 00:27:22,950 You don't know who to trust. 361 00:27:24,150 --> 00:27:25,790 And I felt I could trust them. 362 00:27:26,410 --> 00:27:30,490 And in paradise, Richard finds an ideal family life. 363 00:27:30,750 --> 00:27:36,349 I played little league and dad coached. Mom was always doing something with the 364 00:27:36,350 --> 00:27:37,850 church or something like that. 365 00:27:38,130 --> 00:27:42,510 A coach drive. She baked for Christmas. 366 00:27:43,190 --> 00:27:46,350 It just, it felt like a hometown. 367 00:27:47,270 --> 00:27:53,269 As idyllic as life is in these small towns, everyone lives with the threat of 368 00:27:53,270 --> 00:27:54,320 fire. 369 00:27:54,410 --> 00:27:58,029 My dad, every night at dinner time when the winds were blowing and the 370 00:27:58,030 --> 00:28:01,100 temperature was high, he would say, please, Jesus, no fires. 371 00:28:02,370 --> 00:28:06,710 On November 8, 2018, the canyon winds are blowing. 372 00:28:11,090 --> 00:28:16,509 Early in the morning, a fire is reported near Camp Creek Road, adjacent to a 373 00:28:16,510 --> 00:28:18,630 tower on the Caribou -Palermo line. 374 00:28:19,090 --> 00:28:21,430 And from there, the campfire takes on. 375 00:28:22,420 --> 00:28:24,770 storming up the walls of Feather River Canyon. 376 00:28:25,460 --> 00:28:29,960 In Magalia, Skye Sedwick watches a mounting tower of smoke. 377 00:28:30,900 --> 00:28:35,199 That was the closest I'd ever seen it. We'd seen smoke before, and we'd been 378 00:28:35,200 --> 00:28:37,790 evacuated before, but I'd never seen it that close. 379 00:28:37,840 --> 00:28:42,980 When Skye makes the decision to leave, her dad says that he will wait for a 380 00:28:43,600 --> 00:28:50,599 I started to walk away, me and my dog, and I stopped, and I turned 381 00:28:50,600 --> 00:28:51,650 around. 382 00:28:55,600 --> 00:28:58,940 I gave him a hug, and I said, I love you, Dad. 383 00:29:01,000 --> 00:29:05,519 At the time, Richard Salazar is at work, away from town, when he hears about the 384 00:29:05,520 --> 00:29:09,020 fire heading toward paradise and toward his parents. 385 00:29:09,440 --> 00:29:13,860 It was the norm up there for shelter in place until you were told what to do. 386 00:29:14,640 --> 00:29:19,219 So the day of the fire, there was shelter in place. My niece called my 387 00:29:19,220 --> 00:29:21,570 she said, Grandma, you need to get out of there. 388 00:29:21,571 --> 00:29:25,759 It's on fire. He says, no, no, no, they haven't told us what normally they tell 389 00:29:25,760 --> 00:29:26,810 us. 390 00:29:27,300 --> 00:29:32,459 Shortly after nine, the order to evacuate Paradise comes in. I'm 391 00:29:32,460 --> 00:29:35,950 entire town of Paradise is under mandatory evacuation. Please leave 392 00:29:36,120 --> 00:29:41,880 But like Richard's parents, many residents are elderly and disabled and 393 00:29:42,480 --> 00:29:44,000 Yes, I don't have a vehicle. 394 00:29:44,560 --> 00:29:47,640 She is paraplegic. She can't. She's in a wheelchair. 395 00:29:47,860 --> 00:29:48,910 She can't move. 396 00:29:48,920 --> 00:29:50,680 We can't breathe. Please help us. 397 00:29:51,280 --> 00:29:52,660 Can you get out of the house? 398 00:29:53,660 --> 00:29:55,559 The next 399 00:29:55,560 --> 00:30:05,480 day, 400 00:30:05,580 --> 00:30:11,259 as embers turn into ashes, state fire investigators are focusing on a 401 00:30:11,260 --> 00:30:13,680 source of the spark that touched off the fire. 402 00:30:14,060 --> 00:30:17,500 A tower on PG &E's Caribou Palermo line. 403 00:30:17,940 --> 00:30:20,460 Tower 27222. 404 00:30:21,550 --> 00:30:26,150 Its 150 -volt line gets loose and hits the steel tower. 405 00:30:26,990 --> 00:30:32,410 It creates an arc of current so hot that it actually melts the tower. 406 00:30:33,470 --> 00:30:36,930 Molten metal showers down into the dry brush below. 407 00:30:37,870 --> 00:30:41,810 And so Butte County law enforcement takes immediate action. 408 00:30:42,150 --> 00:30:48,350 We needed to block it off, rope it off, make sure that for the duration. 409 00:30:49,320 --> 00:30:53,400 that that was now going to be treated as a crime scene. 410 00:30:54,020 --> 00:30:57,680 Up next, the failure of PG &E. 411 00:30:58,060 --> 00:31:04,799 That, in a sense of homicide case, this is the 412 00:31:04,800 --> 00:31:05,850 smoking gun. 413 00:31:19,950 --> 00:31:26,749 In November 2018, after 17 days of extraordinary destruction, the campfire 414 00:31:26,750 --> 00:31:32,010 finally contained, and residents return home to see what has survived. 415 00:31:32,850 --> 00:31:36,130 There was nothing, and not even a tree. 416 00:31:36,570 --> 00:31:38,860 There's not even one tree left on my property. 417 00:31:39,050 --> 00:31:43,430 For Skye Sedgwick, by far the greatest loss is the loss of her father. 418 00:31:43,670 --> 00:31:46,270 She learns he fought the fire all day. 419 00:31:46,470 --> 00:31:49,050 His body is found behind their house. 420 00:31:50,160 --> 00:31:57,040 I just hope that he wasn't frightened, that he wasn't scared. 421 00:31:57,920 --> 00:32:02,579 And when I think about how he was when we had that chimney fire, he wasn't 422 00:32:02,580 --> 00:32:03,630 afraid at all. 423 00:32:06,000 --> 00:32:07,300 I think he was okay. 424 00:32:11,600 --> 00:32:14,920 In paradise, hundreds of people are missing. 425 00:32:15,920 --> 00:32:20,839 It takes several weeks for Richard Salazar to learn that his parents did 426 00:32:20,840 --> 00:32:21,890 make it to safety. 427 00:32:22,940 --> 00:32:29,039 I know my parents. During challenging times, my dad was always holding Mom's 428 00:32:29,040 --> 00:32:31,330 hand. They were always comforting each other. 429 00:32:33,100 --> 00:32:39,399 So I know, I know, my dad was, you know, they were comforting each other at that 430 00:32:39,400 --> 00:32:40,450 moment. 431 00:32:40,451 --> 00:32:44,489 That's what I want to believe, that's what I'm going to believe. 432 00:32:44,490 --> 00:32:45,930 Because that's who they were. 433 00:32:49,330 --> 00:32:53,930 In all, 84 people do not survive the campfire. 434 00:32:55,070 --> 00:33:00,429 What is inconceivable to many is that the cause of the deadly fire all boils 435 00:33:00,430 --> 00:33:02,050 down to a single hook. 436 00:33:02,610 --> 00:33:07,670 A small but essential component of Tower 27222. 437 00:33:08,550 --> 00:33:12,390 That hook holds up that aluminum line. 438 00:33:13,580 --> 00:33:19,860 through which 115 ,000 volts of higher energy, electricity, 439 00:33:20,120 --> 00:33:21,360 is going through. 440 00:33:21,860 --> 00:33:26,880 For 100 years, the Seahook is buffeted by the canyon's high winds. 441 00:33:27,340 --> 00:33:33,879 Rocking back and forth in its steel housing, the hook wears through, breaks, 442 00:33:33,880 --> 00:33:34,930 the line falls. 443 00:33:35,220 --> 00:33:38,780 And that was what's left, and that's... 444 00:33:40,140 --> 00:33:46,859 That, in a sense of homicide case, this is the 445 00:33:46,860 --> 00:33:47,839 smoking gun. 446 00:33:47,840 --> 00:33:54,620 This is the weapon that took out the lives, hopes, 447 00:33:54,860 --> 00:34:01,519 dreams, and souls of some 84 of our Butte County 448 00:34:01,520 --> 00:34:06,020 citizens. And the question to answer seems obvious. 449 00:34:09,949 --> 00:34:16,928 regular thick hook like this, and then a hook that is 450 00:34:16,929 --> 00:34:23,829 worn through, and no one sees it. Why has this major utility company 451 00:34:23,830 --> 00:34:28,409 not done the proper maintenance? 452 00:34:29,739 --> 00:34:35,138 At some point in the past, PG &E does recognize the danger of wear on its 453 00:34:35,139 --> 00:34:41,678 infrastructure and adds reinforcements to the arm that holds the C -hook. PG &E 454 00:34:41,679 --> 00:34:48,638 said, oh, the steel structure itself may be a little too soft, so 455 00:34:48,639 --> 00:34:52,300 we'll put in a harder angle iron or a hanger plate. 456 00:34:52,620 --> 00:34:54,600 And in its own records... 457 00:34:54,830 --> 00:34:59,110 PG &E has documentation that suspension hooks wear thin. 458 00:34:59,410 --> 00:35:03,790 And this was many years before the Butte County campfire. 459 00:35:04,050 --> 00:35:08,929 That tells prosecutors that the cause of the campfire, the failing C -hook, 460 00:35:08,930 --> 00:35:10,430 should have been foreseeable. 461 00:35:10,630 --> 00:35:14,480 It's not like these hooks are going to get more steel on them. They're wearing. 462 00:35:14,590 --> 00:35:17,110 Every day they're flipping around in the wind. 463 00:35:17,330 --> 00:35:19,930 Every day they're wearing thinner and thinner. 464 00:35:20,170 --> 00:35:23,730 But to eliminate dangers, a company has to look for them. 465 00:35:24,010 --> 00:35:29,369 And at PG &E, routine climbing inspections of the towers are repeatedly 466 00:35:29,370 --> 00:35:35,329 back. In the late 1980s, the policy is to regularly climb the towers for safety 467 00:35:35,330 --> 00:35:38,510 checks. But that changes in 1995. 468 00:35:39,250 --> 00:35:42,210 In 1995, they got rid of climbing inspections. 469 00:35:42,470 --> 00:35:49,370 They reduced the number of overall inspections and patrols. 2005, 470 00:35:49,730 --> 00:35:50,780 they did that again. 471 00:35:52,170 --> 00:35:57,209 Yeah, and they went from doing an inspection every year to doing an 472 00:35:57,210 --> 00:36:03,370 every other year to the current, which is doing an inspection every five years. 473 00:36:03,710 --> 00:36:06,050 And that seems counterintuitive. 474 00:36:06,550 --> 00:36:09,430 Someone gets older, you better inspect it more. 475 00:36:09,710 --> 00:36:13,870 What we saw was as it got older, it got inspected less. 476 00:36:14,390 --> 00:36:19,990 But PG &E is still doing aerial inspections, just not like they used to. 477 00:36:20,870 --> 00:36:25,329 According to Butte County prosecutors, PG &E used to take a day and a half to 478 00:36:25,330 --> 00:36:28,270 inspect the towers of the Caribou -Palermo line. 479 00:36:29,210 --> 00:36:31,250 Not anymore, prosecutors say. 480 00:36:31,670 --> 00:36:37,450 In 2017, PG &E inspected more than 400 towers in just over two hours. 481 00:36:38,690 --> 00:36:43,349 The air patrols are just a flyby. They're flying high, they're flying 482 00:36:43,350 --> 00:36:47,129 they're just looking down to make sure that the towers are still standing 483 00:36:47,130 --> 00:36:48,180 upright. 484 00:36:50,670 --> 00:36:55,430 For James Haggerty, the issues surrounding the campfire sound familiar. 485 00:36:55,930 --> 00:37:01,209 And when I met with the investigative team in Butte County, slowly but surely, 486 00:37:01,210 --> 00:37:05,549 lot of the themes that we discovered in San Bruno could be applied to the Butte 487 00:37:05,550 --> 00:37:06,690 County investigation. 488 00:37:07,350 --> 00:37:11,230 They had an old electrical tower. We had an old pipeline. 489 00:37:11,590 --> 00:37:14,150 We had a pipeline that was improperly assessed. 490 00:37:14,510 --> 00:37:18,330 They learned that this electrical tower was improperly assessed. 491 00:37:19,050 --> 00:37:24,289 And what is infuriating to victims is that for years, while PG &E fails to 492 00:37:24,290 --> 00:37:29,069 ensure that its equipment is safe, it pays out billions of dollars to 493 00:37:29,070 --> 00:37:30,120 shareholders. 494 00:37:30,310 --> 00:37:32,610 That says safety is not number one. 495 00:37:33,190 --> 00:37:35,420 Giving money to shareholders is number one. 496 00:37:35,730 --> 00:37:42,089 In March 2020, after a year -long investigation, Butte County indicts PG 497 00:37:42,090 --> 00:37:47,929 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter and one count of unlawfully starting a 498 00:37:47,930 --> 00:37:54,519 fire. We were going to do it. We were going to go to the end and make sure 499 00:37:54,520 --> 00:37:56,680 justice was found. 500 00:37:57,300 --> 00:38:02,340 Up next, faced with 84 dead, who does the court send to prison? 501 00:38:16,840 --> 00:38:22,659 In the spring of 2020, in the Butte County Courthouse in Chico, California, 502 00:38:22,660 --> 00:38:27,040 &E enters its plea to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter. 503 00:38:28,080 --> 00:38:30,780 The prosecutors have set the scene. 504 00:38:31,760 --> 00:38:37,919 We had pictures of 84 people on that wall there that paid the price 505 00:38:37,920 --> 00:38:43,120 of PG &E's greed in a very real way. 506 00:38:43,790 --> 00:38:49,749 William Johnson, at the time the company's newly hired CEO, is there to 507 00:38:49,750 --> 00:38:55,449 for PG &E. As it relates to count one, as alleged in count five, count 13, as 508 00:38:55,450 --> 00:39:01,430 alleged in count 36, count 52, count 68, on behalf of PG &E, have you pleaded? 509 00:39:01,590 --> 00:39:05,690 The answer is repeated an astounding 84 times. 510 00:39:15,720 --> 00:39:20,280 For the families of the victims, PG &E's failure is bewildering. 511 00:39:20,500 --> 00:39:22,060 And I just don't understand why. 512 00:39:24,700 --> 00:39:28,140 Is money that more important? I would rather have the people. 513 00:39:29,040 --> 00:39:31,900 If I give it all away, I'd rather have my parents. 514 00:39:32,940 --> 00:39:35,440 That's all we have is each other. 515 00:39:39,760 --> 00:39:45,479 In 2019, facing billions of dollars in liabilities and lawsuits from wildfire 516 00:39:45,480 --> 00:39:52,079 victims, PG &E declares bankruptcy and emerges in 2020 with what it says is a 517 00:39:52,080 --> 00:39:53,740 new commitment to safety. 518 00:39:54,460 --> 00:39:59,700 In publicity videos like these, it points to a long list of improvements, 519 00:39:59,780 --> 00:40:05,339 including inspecting and repairing aging equipment and installing weather 520 00:40:05,340 --> 00:40:09,160 stations and using drones to mitigate fire risk. 521 00:40:09,470 --> 00:40:13,170 The company denies that it has placed profits over safety. 522 00:40:13,450 --> 00:40:18,769 In a statement to American Greed, it says, in part, while we cannot change 523 00:40:18,770 --> 00:40:24,649 past, we can learn from it. And adds, we can never let up in our pursuit of 524 00:40:24,650 --> 00:40:26,290 safety and doing what is right. 525 00:40:27,150 --> 00:40:32,070 But victims ask, why does it seem to take a disaster to make things right? 526 00:40:33,010 --> 00:40:34,990 We are trusting the utility. 527 00:40:35,800 --> 00:40:41,260 to uncover defects, to replace infrastructure before they fail. 528 00:40:41,480 --> 00:40:46,379 And they also wondered if the answer is more technology or more accountability 529 00:40:46,380 --> 00:40:47,600 at the top. 530 00:40:47,900 --> 00:40:51,380 Not one CEO saw the inside of a jail cell. 531 00:40:51,600 --> 00:40:57,539 If you're going to be in a power position making key decisions that are 532 00:40:57,540 --> 00:41:03,819 affect the public entity, they should be accountable for those actions and for 533 00:41:03,820 --> 00:41:04,870 those decisions. 534 00:41:05,390 --> 00:41:08,630 And they weren't. Butte County prosecutors agree. 535 00:41:09,090 --> 00:41:11,750 We wanted to get individual liability. 536 00:41:12,230 --> 00:41:18,569 We wanted to be able to snap the handcuffs on the people that are 537 00:41:18,570 --> 00:41:21,390 responsible for this. We didn't achieve that goal. 538 00:41:21,670 --> 00:41:26,789 And that's because decisions that lead to PG &E's disasters are made over the 539 00:41:26,790 --> 00:41:31,530 course of decades, making it difficult to place blame on individual offenders. 540 00:41:32,330 --> 00:41:36,989 But it is Butte County's hope that this time the criminal conviction will have a 541 00:41:36,990 --> 00:41:39,950 compelling impact on the culture at PG &E. 542 00:41:40,550 --> 00:41:47,229 Hopefully the people at PG &E take us seriously and make changes, that they 543 00:41:47,230 --> 00:41:51,709 learn from their mistakes, that they don't continue making the same mistake 544 00:41:51,710 --> 00:41:52,850 and over and over again. 545 00:41:53,870 --> 00:41:57,570 That wish is shared by thousands of people in California. 546 00:41:58,250 --> 00:42:03,589 who are tired of catastrophes caused by a company that repeatedly promises to 547 00:42:03,590 --> 00:42:04,850 keep them safe. 548 00:42:05,290 --> 00:42:10,889 I think about how many different people didn't do their job or how many people 549 00:42:10,890 --> 00:42:12,709 said, no, we're not spending that money today. 550 00:42:12,710 --> 00:42:16,570 Or, you know, that's not important right now. 551 00:42:17,330 --> 00:42:21,110 How many missed opportunities to prevent this? 552 00:42:22,290 --> 00:42:25,590 It's mind -numbing. 553 00:42:25,850 --> 00:42:26,950 It really is. 554 00:42:29,450 --> 00:42:31,310 Because it didn't have to be like this. 555 00:42:31,360 --> 00:42:35,910 Repair and Synchronization by Easy Subtitles Synchronizer 1.0.0.0 51259

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