California utility Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) will pay $565m in legal settlements and other claims for the 2010 San Bruno gas line explosion which killed eight people, injured dozens and destroyed 38 homes.
The blast took place in September 2010 when a 54-year-old pipeline exploded underneath the San Francisco suburb.
The settlement value is the outcome of lawsuits that have been filed by blast victims. The company has settled all but two claims.
Following the explosion and subsequent investigations, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said that a "litany of failures" had contributed to the blast.
The failures included inaccurate record keeping, insufficient pipeline welds, a failure to spend $50m collected by ratepayers on promised safety improvements and other factors.
PG&E spokesperson Brittany Chord told The Huffington Post that the company aims to help the community rebuild following the accident.
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By GlobalData"We hope to make our system one of the safest in the nation," Chord added.
The San Bruno pipeline explosion occurred on 9 September 2010 in San Bruno, California. A 30-inch diameter steel natural gas pipeline owned by PG&E exploded in flames in the Crestmoor residential neighborhood 2 miles west of San Francisco International Airport. Following the incident, the company strengthened the pipeline and upgraded its entire system.
Image: The deadly 2010 San Bruno gas line explosion killed eight people. Photo: courtesy of MisterOh.
