State fines PG&E $100,000 over environmental infractions | Business

Environmental oversights in northwest Bakersfield have cost Pacific Gas and Electric Co. $150,000.

The California Public Utilities Commission fined PG&E $100,000 for "failure to comply with certain environmental mitigation measures" in its construction of the Seventh Standard Substation, the commission said Thursday in a news release. Among PG&E's infractions: surveys not completed within the required time frame, lack of environmental awareness training for laborers, and lack of prior notification to CPUC.

PG&E will also donate $50,000 to the Endangered Species Recovery Program at California State University, Stanislaus as part of its settlement agreement with CPUC.

"PG&E has voluntarily instituted new procedures to help ensure that the circumstances that led to this proceeding do not occur again," PG&E said Thursday. "We are making real performance and process improvements across all of our lines of business. We are committed to conducting our business with great care and consideration for the environment in which we live and work."

Construction on the 4.9-acre Seventh Standard Substation, which is south of Seventh Standard Road and west of the Calloway Canal near Highway 99, was completed in November 2010, according to an online CPUC document.