Sacramento pays PG&E $125,000 settlement for infrastructure failure. Here’s where

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The city of Sacramento has paid Pacific Gas & Electric a $125,000 settlement for a 2018 infrastructure failure.

PG&E employees discovered in May 2018 a city-owned culvert had failed and washed out, causing sections a Union Pacific Railroad Company embankment to fall, according to a PG&E lawsuit filed in Sacramento Superior Court in 2019. Embankment materials and large concrete debris hit natural gas lines.

The incident occurred in North Sacramento, just west of Roseville Road, south of Tri Stations Road and north of Arcade Creek.

The city culvert failure caused significant damage to several lines and required PG&E to do an emergency response to maintain continuity of natural gas service, followed by a complete replacement of the line, the lawsuit states.

PG&E spokeswoman Lynsey Paolo declined comment on the settlement agreement.

City spokesman Tim Swanson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The lawsuit, which also named Union Pacific as a defendant, claimed negligence and trespassing.

It’s unclear if Union Pacific also paid a settlement.

“Union Pacific has reached an amicable resolution of the dispute with the parties,” spokeswoman Meg Ronspies said in a statement. Asked if the resolution included a monetary settlement, Ronspies did not immediately respond.

The settlement agreement, signed in September, was posted to a city webpage last week. The city in 2021 started posting its settlement agreements online at Mayor Darrell Steinberg’s direction, following a Sacramento Bee report.