Cedric The Entertainer Sues Gas Co. Over Aliso Canyon Leak

PORTER RANCH, CA — Cedric the Entertainer is reportedly suing Southern California Gas Co. alleging the Aliso Canyon disaster caused his family to suffer nausea, nosebleeds, vomiting and vertigo.

As first reported by TMZ, Cedric alleges the Gas Company is to blame for the catastrophic gas leak because the company failed to replace an emergency safety valve back in 1979. He also alleges the leak has caused his property value to plummet.

Cedric is one of hundreds of neighbors to sue the Gas Company following the the nation’s worst ever atmospheric gas leak that seeped 109,000 metric tons of methane into the air from October 2015 to February 2016 and displaced thousands of residents.

In February, SoCalGas settled a suit with the South Coast Air Quality Management District for $8.5 million, including $1 million in funding for an SCAQMD-sponsored health study on the impacts of the leak.Patch has been unable to reach The Gas Co., a subsidiary of San Diego’s Sempra Energy, for comment.

A judge in November approved a $4 million settlement that resolved criminal charges against SoCalGas, with the utility pleading no contest to a misdemeanor count of failing to immediately report the leak, which began Oct. 23, 2015 and was capped in mid-February 2016.

That settlement requires SoCalGas to install and maintain an infrared methane monitoring system at the Aliso Canyon site -- estimated to cost between $1.2 million and $1.5 million -- and to retain an outside company to test and certify that the monitoring system and real-time pressure monitors to be placed at each gas well are working properly. It also required the hiring of a half- dozen full-time employees to operate and maintain the new leak-detection systems.

The agreement also called for the company to revise and adopt new reporting policies for actual and threatened releases of hazardous materials to the appropriate agencies, and mandates training courses on proper notification procedures for all of the utility's employees who work at natural gas storage facilities within Los Angeles County.

City News Service contributed to this report. Photo:LOS ANGELES, CA - APRIL 16: Actor Cedric the Entertainer arrives to the premiere of Open Road Films' 'A Haunted House 2' at Regal Cinemas L.A. Live on April 16, 2014 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)