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PG&E Questioned For Using Erasable Ink On Records

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Pacific Gas and Electric Co. records show California regulators questioned the utility about its record-keeping practices several years before the San Bruno pipeline explosion, when they found the company was writing key documents in erasable ink.

Records filed this week with the California Public Utilities Commission show authorities discovered the practice through audits of the company.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that in response, PG&E sent its employees a bulletin on Dec. 31, 2007, ordering all records to be written in permanent ink going forward. The company said it wanted to ensure its documents "represent the work of the party actually performing the required task."

PG&E included the bulletin in nearly 200 records it provided the commission in response to a probe of the company's record-keeping in the wake of the deadly San Bruno blast.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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