PacifiCorp, Negligent Wildfire Starting, California 2022

A multi-million-dollar settlement has been reached in a case involving PacifiCorp, a power company accused of negligently starting six wildfires in California and Oregon.

The United States government alleged that PacifiCorp’s electrical lines were responsible for igniting the devastating fires, which burned over 290,000 acres of public land. The settlement, worth $575 million, will help to repay the United States for the costs of fighting the fires and restore some of the damaged land.

The six wildfires in question include the Slater Fire, which started on September 8, 2020, and burned 157,229 acres of federal land. Another fire, the McKinney Fire, began on July 29, 2022, and burned 39,000 acres of federal land. The four Oregon fires involved in the settlement were the 242 Fire, the Archie Creek Fire, the Echo Mountain Complex Fire, and the South Obenchain Fire.

The settlement is a significant victory for the United States government, which has been working to hold companies accountable for the costs of wildfires. The U.S. Forest Service now spends more than half of its budget on wildfire suppression annually, and the settlement funds will help to alleviate some of that burden.

PacifiCorp has denied liability for the fires, but the settlement marks a major step forward in the government’s efforts to recover costs associated with the devastating blazes. The company will pay $575 million to resolve the claims, with nearly $240 million of that amount related to the California fires.

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson praised the settlement, saying, ‘This agreement strikes a balance by addressing the government’s significant fire-suppression costs and loss of natural resources without preventing PacifiCorp from offering electricity at fair prices.’

The settlement is the result of a joint effort by the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Eastern District of California and Oregon, the U.S. Forest Service, and the Department of the Interior.

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