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Tag: Pacific Gas and Electric Company

  • San Francisco lawmaker to propose plan to let cities break away from PG&E

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    Just two months ago, a massive power outage left parts of San Francisco in the dark for days, and some lawmakers are trying to make sure it never happens again.

    “San Francisco has been trying to break up with PG&E for a long time,” said Democratic Senator Scott Wiener. “The rates are extremely high and we know that public power can bring lower rates.”

    Wiener says he will announce legislation on Monday that would allow San Francisco and other cities to break away from PG&E and form publicly owned utility companies, and do it quickly.

    “San Francisco has already triggered a process to break away at the California Public Utilities Commission, but it is unbelievably slow, it’s taken years and years,” explained Wiener. “The standards set under the law are very unfavorable to a city wanting to break away.”

    A professor at UC Berkeley and faculty director of the Energy Institute at Haas School of Business, Severin Borenstein, says he has an idea about what this could look like.

    “It means trying to buy out their poles and wires to be the distributor of electricity in the city,” said Borenstein. “San Francisco is already its own entity in securing its electricity from generators. What would change, potentially, is they could own the specific distribution lines.”

    He says it could benefit the city if they feel they can do a better job maintaining the lines, and they may be able to reduce the cost. But Borenstein explains that some of the reduction in cost could be because San Francisco and other urban areas are subsidizing the more rural areas in PG&E territory, particularly in fire-prone areas.

    “If the cities opt out, or could opt out of PG&E territory, what that’s going to mean is all of those wildfire costs, which are really unavoidable, that’s what climate change is doing to us, will be shifting on to the remaining rate payers,” said Borenstein. 

    Borenstein thinks it could start a domino effect of cities wanting to form their own utility companies, and other lawmakers may want to avoid it.

    “I don’t think the legislature is going to be very supportive of this because I think a lot of legislatures understand if we go down this road there’s going to be a crisis in the areas that are left holding the bag,” said Borenstein. 

    Alameda and Palo Alto already have city-run utilities. Wiener believes San Francisco can join them.

    “Right now, PG&E, it is a publicly traded corporation,” Wiener stated. “It is beholden to Wall Street and investors and its bottom line. And public power allows you to break away from that and to focus on the public interest and not on the needs of shareholders.”

    In:

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    Amanda Hari

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  • PG&E to test equipment damaged in December fire during planned Civic Center outage

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    Less than a month after a monumental PG&E outage, it will be lights out again for those most impacted. 

    PG&E announced a planned outage scheduled to start just after midnight on Monday. 

    During that time, PG&E will complete its final tests of the Mission Substation equipment that was damaged in the fire on Dec. 20.

    The outage in December impacted approximately 130,000 San Francisco customers, some for several days, including Jimmy Fitzpatrick. 

    “We’re just assuming worst-case scenario,” said Fitzpatrick. 

    Fitzpatrick lives in the NEMA building near Market and 10th streets, not far from the Mission Substation. 

    During the outage, he lost all his food, couldn’t flush the toilet, or use the elevator, and he lives on the 25th floor.

    “I was shocked,” Fitzpatrick explained. “The building was completely unprepared for anything like this.”

    Now, he’s bracing for another outage.

    PG&E has notified people in the Civic Center area that there is a scheduled outage starting shortly after midnight on Monday. The electric company says it will last up to 12 hours, but Fitzpatrick is prepared for more.

    “Twenty-four hours, probably,” said Fitzpatrick when asked how long he thinks it will last. 

    His neighbor, Fiona Wu, is frustrated by the whole situation.

    “I actually filed a claim to PG&E for all the spoiled food, and they kind of refused to compensate for it,” said Wu. “And also my $200 credit was not reflected on my account and I had to reach out to them, like what’s going on?”

    She did eventually get the credit, which PG&E said would automatically be given to all impacted residential customers to offset the inconvenience and disruption caused by the outage.

    PG&E says this planned outage should help prevent surprise outages in the future.

    “When we return to normal operations, we expect this will help avoid some of the brief outages that customers in the Richmond District/Golden Gate Park area have experienced over the last couple of weeks,” said PG&E in a statement sent out to the media. “We know these outages have been frustrating for our customers, and we’ve been working tirelessly during this time to inspect equipment and develop plans to provide the reliability that our customers expect and deserve.” 

    For now, Fitzpatrick is just doing what he can, including charging up his battery pack and stocking up on water.

    He says there is a silver lining, and that’s the opportunity to connect without distractions.

    “It felt nice to look up for our phones and look at people,” said Fitzpatrick. “Just remember that we can count on people that we live near for basic supplies.”

    There will be a second outage. PG&E says that one will occur shortly after midnight Tuesday, affecting approximately 14,000 San Francisco customers in the Richmond District area. 

    It is scheduled to be much shorter, lasting up to two hours.   

    Once the return to normal operations is complete, PG&E will remove the temporary generators located at 24th and Balboa.

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    Amanda Hari

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  • NTSB releases preliminary report on Hayward house explosion; gas detected after initial leak reported capped

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    Federal investigators released an initial report on the explosion and fire that destroyed a home in an unincorporated area of Hayward last month, but they are still analyzing the handling of the response to a gas leak before the explosion.

    The explosion in the community of Ashland on December 11, 2025, seriously injured three residents, along with three Pacific Gas and Electric workers. On Thursday, the National Transportation Safety Board released its preliminary report on the incident and events leading up to the explosion, indicating that PG&E detected gas near the home after an initial leak was reported to have been capped.

    Investigators said a roadwork crew from Mayo Asphalt Milling damaged a 0.75-inch natural gas service line to a home at 868 E. Lewelling Boulevard, across the street from the home that ultimately blew up, shortly after 7:25 a.m., prompting PG&E to respond. Crews confirmed an active gas leak and initially told Alameda County firefighters that assistance was not needed, according to the preliminary report.

    PG&E workers squeezed off the damaged service line about 8:18 a.m. and later detected gas near the home across the street at 867 E. Lewelling, the report said. Crews reported knocking on the doors of 867 E. Lewelling and two neighboring homes on both sides of it to warn residents, but said that no one answered. 

    At about 8:40 a.m., the PG&E crew began digging and squeezed off a 2-inch gas main at 9:29 a.m., stopping the flow in the gas main and service lines in front of 867 E. Lewelling, eight minutes before the home exploded, the report said. 

    The NTSB said the gas distribution system, which included steel pipelines installed in 1942, was operating within allowable pressure limits at the time. Damage estimates were still being determined.

    The preliminary report said the investigation was still ongoing and will focus on physical evidence, safe excavation practices, and PG&E’s leak response and investigation procedures. The NTSB added that federal and state pipeline regulators, utility safety agencies, local fire officials, and PG&E are participating in the probe.

    CBS News Bay Area has reached out to Mayo Asphalt Milling for a response, but the company – which public business listings indicate is based in Fremont – has not yet responded. 

    In a response to questions about its gas leak response, PG&E told CBS News Bay Area in a statement Friday that NTSB rules restrict communications about the investigation while it is pending

    “The safety of the public, our customers and our coworkers is our highest responsibility. Our thoughts are with the residents and our PG&E coworkers who were injured during this incident,” a PG&E spokesperson said. “We want to thank the first responders from the Alameda County Fire Department who worked to make the area safe and minimize damage to property. We remain committed to working together with the CPUC, NTSB and other state and federal entities on the safe and reliable delivery of energy to our customers we are privileged to serve.”

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    Carlos E. Castañeda

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  • Saratoga substation fire, damaging winds cause thousands to lose power across Bay Area

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    PG&E reported several large power outages across the Bay Area on Wednesday as a wet and windy storm moved through Northern California.

    The utility company said a fire at its Saratoga substation broke out at about 8:25 a.m., initially impacting about 21,000 customers in Santa Clara County. 

    There was no immediate word on the cause of the fire. It extinguished on its own before fire crews arrived, according to PG&E.

    “We have to do the forensics because the equipment was damaged by the fire,” said PGE spokesperson Stephanie Magallon. “We have to figure out what the root cause was before we can say if it was weather-related or not, but we do know it was an equipment failure.”

    At 4 p.m., PG&E said power had been restored to several thousand customers, leaving 18,834 customers without electricity. There were 3,395 without power in the Peninsula, 13,511 in the North Bay, 87 in the East Bay and 1,836 in the South Bay. 

    The number of customers without power decreased around 7 p.m. PG&E said the Peninsula had 1,807 without power, the North Bay 11,807, the East Bay 364 and the South Bay 2,674, for a total of 16,810, including 158 San Francisco.

    By 9 p.m., more residents had lost power, including over 1,000 customers in San Francisco, only four days after a massive outage that left 130,000 PG&E customers in the city without electricity. 

    Supervisor Alan Wong issued a statement saying in part, “This evening marks the fourth PG&E power outage this month affecting the Sunset District. On Christmas Eve, once again, some of our neighbors are without power. This level of disruption is unacceptable.”

    The total number of Bay Area customers without power was 19,319. There were 1,521 without power in San Francisco, 1,625 in the Peninsula, 6,569 in the North Bay, 86 in the East Bay and  9,518 in the South Bay, according to PG&E.

    A high wind warning and wind advisory were in effect for most of the Bay Area through Wednesday morning. 

    Downtown Saratoga businesses on Big Basin Way, including Anchors Fish & Chips & Seafood, say the power went out early, but glad it was restored in time for lunch.

    Mei Huang and her husband have served up steaming hot bagels for 30 years at Saratoga Bagels. They didn’t lose electricity this time, but know very well how painful it can be for their bottom line, especially during the holiday rush.

    “A lot of food, the whole freezer had to be thrown out. That’s no fun,” said Huang.

    Varna Chandar, who’s back home for the holidays, says her electricity in San Francisco got knocked out last weekend. She’s hoping the next windstorm doesn’t shut off the Christmas lights.

    “It would be really sad if the power is out during Christmas Day or even today during Christmas Eve, because me and my family and friends are planning to do a lot of things at home,” said Chandar.

    Small businesses like Saratoga Bagels are banking on the power to stay on.

    “We want to make sure we’re open every day, because I see a lot of people coming back from home,” said Huang.

    PG&E said the investigation into the fire at the Saratoga substation was ongoing. 

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    Cecilio Padilla

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  • Thousands in one San Francisco neighborhood heading into another day without power

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    While many people in San Francisco have their power back, there are still thousands without it.

    At a press conference Monday afternoon, Mayor Daniel Lurie said 4,000 PG&E customers in the Civic Center area are still in the dark. One of them is Parvathy Menon. 

    “We haven’t been able to take showers or use the bathroom,” said Menon. “Our electricity is out. I think all our food started rotting about a day in.”

    She lives at 100 Van Ness. She said she’s grateful she’s going out of town tomorrow, but even that’s posing some problems.

    “I actually have to pack for a trip tonight, and we’re doing it in full darkness,” Menon explained. “We are using our phone lights, we are using our laptops to charge our phones.”

    Her apartment is pitch black, except for the small amount of streetlight coming through the windows. She said the apartment complex has been doing all they can to help, like providing some food and water.

    They have a small generator to power some lights in the lobby and one elevator for the nearly 30-story apartment building.

    Menon said she is most upset about the lack of communication from PG&E.

    “Initially, when this started, we were supposed to get power back within the day, then it went to the next day and now they just stopped calling us completely,” said Menon.

    San Francisco City Hall was closed for the day because of the outage, but Mayor Daniel Lurie held a press conference with Supervisors Matt Dorsey and Bilal Mahmood.

    Lurie said what residents have gone through is unacceptable, and he’s lost trust in PG&E’s estimated times for repair.

    “They gave us a timeline that they believe in, but it’s not one that I can have confidence in any longer,” Lurie said. “So, we don’t have full faith that 6 a.m. is the time tomorrow.”

    “Shame on PG&E for having this happen,” said District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey. “This is a company that has had a lot of reliability issues and the jury is out on what happened, but if this is negligence, I think it’s going to be really important for people to understand they have rights as customers.”

    Leaders encourage everyone who lost anything to file a claim with PG&E; they could be eligible for reimbursements. Mahmood is calling for a hearing after the new year to get some answers for PG&E.

    “What went wrong, why weren’t they able to address it this weekend and what steps are they taking to make sure this doesn’t happen again,” said Mahmood about the question he has for the utility company. 

    PG&E said the outage happened after a fire at its Mission Street substation left significant damage, but the cause is still under investigation.

    Meanwhile, Menon has been refreshing social media looking for good news, but she’s starting to lose faith.

    “They’re really doing nothing to help us here, so I’m losing hope,” said Menon. 

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    Amanda Hari

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  • San Francisco businesses, families throw out food due to PG&E power outage

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    San Francisco continued to recover Sunday after a massive PG&E power outage that left roughly one-third of the city without electricity at its peak, disrupting daily life, shutting down small businesses, and forcing families to throw away food just days before Christmas.

    PG&E officials said more than 130,000 customers lost power Saturday after a fire broke out at the Mission Substation — about one-third of the utility’s San Francisco customers. While power has since been restored to most areas, about 13,000 customers remained without electricity as of Sunday afternoon. PG&E says it does not suspect sabotage or malicious activity and has not yet explained how or why the fire started.

    In the Richmond District, the outage brought traffic to a standstill as darkened intersections forced SFMTA workers to manually direct cars in the rain. Nearby businesses, including gas stations and grocery stores, were forced to close.

    At 25th and Clement Produce Market, owner Spiros Johnson said the prolonged outage wiped out thousands of dollars in perishable inventory.

    “This morning, we had to just get rid of everything, chicken, meat, fish,” Johnson said.

    Johnson said the losses extended beyond spoiled meat, hitting his business during one of the busiest weekends of the year.

    “It’s not only the loss of the meat,” he said.  “But it’s the loss of revenue.  And this is one of our busiest weekends just before the Christmas holiday.”

    Other business owners tried to minimize losses by giving away food that was still safe to eat. Ice cream shops, however, had no such option.

    “You can’t sell it. All the ice cream is just done,” said Mahgoub Elnour, owner of Bourbon County Market, as he pointed out bags of melted ice cream.

    Residents were also forced to throw away holiday groceries.

    “We have to throw out a full refrigerator of food. So that’s frustrating,” said Richmond District resident Greg Ogarrio.

    Saturday night, large swaths of San Francisco were plunged into darkness, creating an eerie and unsettling atmosphere in affected neighborhoods.

    “In the dark, it’s dead quiet, and that is almost unnerving in a sense,” Ogarrio said.

    Another resident, Skylar McAdow, said the size and length of the outage were shocking.

    “Total shock, it’s so surprising that this is even possible in today’s day and age,” McAdow said.

    PG&E spokesperson Melissa Subbotin said crews were still working to restore power to all customers.  

    “There was extensive damage following a fire inside our substation. Our goal is to continue working until every customer has been restored,” Subbotin said.

    On Sunday afternoon, Mayor Daniel Lurie toured the Richmond District and met with business owners who stayed open using flashlights or backup generators. He described the disruption as significant and said weekend closures could cost businesses hundreds of thousands of dollars.

    “We are definitely going to have to sit down with PG&E after this and assess what went wrong with this fire at the substation. We’re still looking for information from them,” Lurie said.

    Some businesses without power operated on a cash-only basis, trying to sell inventory before it spoiled. Esa Yonn-Brown, owner of Butter Love Bakeshop, said she reached out to the neighborhood for help.

    “I posted a plea with the neighborhood to please come support us and make sure that this doesn’t end up in the trash because I just hate the idea of food getting wasted,” Yonn-Brown said.

    By early Sunday afternoon, power was restored to parts of the Richmond District, drawing cheers from residents when lights flickered back on. For others, the restoration came too late.

    Back at 25th and Clement Produce Market, Johnson said the damage was already done — but he hopes the lights stay on as more rainstorms move into the Bay Area.

    “We’ve been on the corner for 33 years, I’ve never seen anything like this.  It’s very upsetting,” he said.

    PG&E says businesses that lost products or revenue may file a claim with the utility, but must provide documentation and evidence showing what was lost.

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    Da Lin

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  • Power restored to about 110,000 San Francisco customers after widespread outage

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    About 21,000 San Francisco PG&E customers were still without power Sunday morning after a massive power outage left about a third of the city in the dark on Saturday.

    In an update Sunday morning, PG&E said it had restored power to 110,000 customers. Those without power were in the Presidio, Richmond District, Golden Gate Park and small areas within Downtown.

    According to the utility company, there was a fire at one of their substations, and it caused “significant and extensive” damage.

    “The repairs and safe restoration will be complex,” PG&E said. “We have mobilized additional engineers and electricians.”

    There was no estimated time for when power would be fully restored, PG&E said. 

    In Mayor Daniel Lurie’s update, he said he would be trying to get more information from PG&E on when power would be restored.

    “About 20,000 customers remain without power, primarily in the Richmond and Presidio. I have been in touch with community leaders in those neighborhoods and we’re working to bring resources directly to those communities,” Lurie said. “We will continue to push PG&E for a firm timeline on full power restoration. We will continue to provide updates later this morning.”

    Waymo suspends service

    The autonomous driving technology company suspended its robotaxi services during the power outage.

    “We have temporarily suspended our ride-hailing services given the broad power outage in San Francisco. We are focused on keeping our riders safe and ensuring emergency personnel have the clear access they need to do their work,” Waymo said.

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    Jose Fabian

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  • Power restored to about 110,000 San Francisco customers after widespread outage

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    About 21,000 San Francisco PG&E customers were still without power Sunday morning after a massive power outage left about a third of the city in the dark on Saturday.

    In an update Sunday morning, PG&E said it had restored power to 110,000 customers. Those without power were in the Presidio, Richmond District, Golden Gate Park and small areas within Downtown.

    According to the utility company, there was a fire at one of their substations, and it caused “significant and extensive” damage.

    “The repairs and safe restoration will be complex,” PG&E said. “We have mobilized additional engineers and electricians.”

    There was no estimated time for when power would be fully restored, PG&E said. 

    In Mayor Daniel Lurie’s update, he said he would be trying to get more information from PG&E on when power would be restored.

    “About 20,000 customers remain without power, primarily in the Richmond and Presidio. I have been in touch with community leaders in those neighborhoods and we’re working to bring resources directly to those communities,” Lurie said. “We will continue to push PG&E for a firm timeline on full power restoration. We will continue to provide updates later this morning.”

    Waymo suspends service

    The autonomous driving technology company suspended its robotaxi services during the power outage.

    “We have temporarily suspended our ride-hailing services given the broad power outage in San Francisco. We are focused on keeping our riders safe and ensuring emergency personnel have the clear access they need to do their work,” Waymo said.

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  • Major outage leaves more than 130,000 customers in San Francisco without power

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    Several San Francisco neighborhoods were impacted by a massive power outage on Saturday that left nearly a third of the city without electricity, according to PG&E’s website. 

    The outage map showed The Presidio, Seacliff, Outer and Inner Richmond, Golden Gate Park, the Panhandle, Inner and Outer Sunset, and part of West of Twin Peaks as being affected. Parts of the Western Addition and Downtown were also shown as being part of the power outage.

    Just before 3 p.m., PG&E’s website stated that about 30% of the city was without power. As of late Saturday afternoon, more than 130,000 customers were without service, the utility provider said. 

    PG&E said power was restored to about 90,000 customers by 9 p.m. The remaining 40,000 customers could expect power to be restored overnight. 

    According to the electric utility tracker PowerOutage.us, nearly 37,000 customers were still without power as of 10:30 p.m. local time Saturday. 

    The first power outage started around 9:40 a.m.

    At about 3:15 p.m., the San Francisco Fire Department said it was working a one-alarm fire at PG&E’s substation located at 8th and Mission streets. Fire crews said they were working to shut down power and extinguish the fire with carbon dioxide.

    PG&E has not said what may have caused the outage.  

    BART said the Powell Street and the Civic Center stations were closed due to the power outage. Muni said its trains were not getting into the Muni Metro and Central Subway due to the outage. 

    San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie said at about 9 p.m. that the two BART stations were reopening and Muni services were resuming. However, lingering effects of the closure were expected to impact services. 

    “If you don’t need to travel tonight, please stay off the roads and stay inside,” Lurie said. 

    Lurie added that more officers will be at intersections and corridors to ensure safety. 

    According to PG&E’s website, about 30% of the city of San Francisco was without power just before 3 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025.

    PG&E


    The San Francisco Department of Emergency Management said the outage may be affecting traffic lights, and drivers should treat the intersections as four-way stops.

    Waymo said it temporarily suspended its services in the city due to the outage.

    The utility company said there have been no injuries. 

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  • Crews cap gas leak in downtown Los Altos that prompted evacuations

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    Utility crews have capped a gas leak in the community of Los Altos that prompted evacuations of the downtown area, officials said.

    Shortly before 10:10 a.m., the Santa Clara County Fire Department announced that they were responding to a “significant” gas leak in the area of Parking Plaza North near 1st Street. Officials said an “audible leak” was heard, indicating a significant amount of gas escaping.

    Crews with Pacific Gas & Electric responded to the scene, while police and firefighters worked to clear the surrounding area.

    In an update around 10:45 a.m., firefighters said PG&E was able to secure the gas leak. The public is urged to avoid the area until an all-clear is issued.

    Officials did not say what caused the leak. 

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    Tim Fang

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  • PG&E undergrounds 1,000 miles of power lines along North Bay coast

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    Pacific Gas and Electric announced that crews have undergrounded about 1,000 miles of power lines in high-wildfire-risk areas across the San Francisco Bay Area and Central California.

    “A thousand miles is longer than the state of California, so that thousand miles of power lines have now kept customers safe from wildfire risk,” Dave Canny, the vice president of PG&E North Coast Region, told CBS News Bay Area.

    Canny oversees several crews, including the crews working in the mountainous neighborhood of Angwin in Napa County.

    “These power lines at the top of the pole, once our project is complete, those will be removed permanently, permanently removing any wildfire risks associated with those lines,” he said.

    Crews are paving trenches to install power lines underground, and in Napa County, will be installing throughout 50 miles in the community.

    The project began back in 2021, and PG&E crews forecast they will lay about 1,600 miles of underground power lines throughout the service region by the end of 2026.

    About five miles north, Jeff Alvarez is picking up the pieces from the Pickett Fire back in August.

    “This is Schwartz’s Creek right here, and we’re in the middle of the burn zone. And the fire consumed about 8,000 acres from Calistoga to Aetna Springs,” Alvarez, the president of the Biological Field Studies Association, told CBS News Bay Area.

    The association runs the Cleary Reserve, which is now bare due to the fire scorching 440 acres of the property.

    “We’ve had a history here for 62 years of doing environmental education work and scientific research, and much of that is sent back to zero. It’s going to be many, many years before we can get students back up here,” he said

    “We lost all these great pines here, they’re really fragile when it comes to fires. This entire area was covered in willow trees, which are now essentially black sticks in the creek bed,” Alvarez added.

    He started an online fundraiser in hopes that the community could jump in and help with cleanup efforts.

    “The county of Napa is really requiring us to clean up the site that we already have. All of that has to be removed. It has to go to metal recycling, hazardous waste, or whatever facility for dumping, and that costs a huge amount of money,” Alvarez said. “And since we’re just a nonprofit that really operates on volunteers, we have a really steep hill to climb.”

    Alvarez added that while he appreciates PG&E’s efforts to mitigate wildfires across the Bay Area, he said more needs to be done.

    “PG&E and others do have to work with CAL FIRE and the state to try to make protective zones, so shade breaks, fire breaks, more access and more money, not just for firefighting and prevention of fire in these areas,” he said.

    That is the collaboration that Canny is pushing for. He said that starting with underground power lines, they will be a more reliable and safer power source for customers.

    “Because our men and women live and work in these communities, many of them experienced wildfire personally, and are therefore particularly passionate about our wildfire reduction risk programs,” Canny said.

    The company’s goal is to install 10,000 miles of underground power lines across the state of California.

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    CBS Bay Area

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  • A Cat Covered in Toxic Chemicals Is Terrorizing Japan

    A Cat Covered in Toxic Chemicals Is Terrorizing Japan

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    Photo: Christopher Furlong / Staff (Getty Images)

    The city of Fukuyama, Japan is on high alert after a cat fell into a vat of toxic chemicals and escaped into the night. Officials warned the animal is covered in hexavalent chromium, and residents should be careful not to touch any “cat that seems abnormal.”

    Kara Swisher on All the Nonsense in the Tech Industry

    A worker at Nomura Plating factory discovered a set of yellow paw prints leading away from a chemical tank early Monday morning. The cat was later spotted leaving the factory on security footage, according to the newspaper Asahi Shimbun. You can see a video of the ill-fated cat below.

    A dip into hexavalent chromium, also known as chromium 6, may be a death sentence no matter how many lives the feline has left. The solution can cause skin irritation, respiratory issues, heart failure, lung cancer, and even death. As the Washington Post points out, it’s the same chemical that leaked into groundwater in the Julia Roberts movie Erin Brockovich.

    【六価クロム】まみれのネコ逃走中 「触らないで」 広島・福山市

    Fukuyama Environmental Conservation Division reported that the cat may be dead but issued a warning to locals, according to Ahahi Shumbun, “If you find a cat that seems abnormal, please do not touch it and contact the city or police.” Nippon TV News reports that officials are asking elementary schools to keep children away from cats in general.

    There’s no update on the cat or its whereabouts as of press time, but the cat would probably be easy to pick out if it’s still on its feet. If the cat is alive that means it probably hasn’t licked itself clean, which means it would probably be stained a yellow or reddish-brown color thanks to the hexavalent chromium. According to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, chromium compounds are widely used for electroplating, stainless steel production, leather tanning, textile manufacturing, and wood preservation.

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    Thomas Germain

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