Charges have been dropped… but is the asbestos?

For almost three years, San Diego Gas and Electric has been involved in a law suit proclaiming they improperly removed pipes containing asbestos from a 16 acre area in Lemon Grove, just east of Encanto neighborhood, where there were more than nine miles of the underground gas pipelines.

In July of this year, a jury convicted SDG&E of one count of making a false statement, and three criminal counts of removing the asbestos improperly.  The criminal charges were dropped yesterday by federal prosecutors, and the conviction has been thrown out, but 17 residents, including Juanita Gonzalez still plan to pursue a civil suit against SDG&E in San Diego Superior Court.  The samples of the asbestos used in the prosecution’s case could not be used as evidence because they had used the wrong testing method in determining the amount of asbestos.