Sempra Energy Says It Will Continue Its Operations at Energia Costa Azul Despite Mexican Court Order Telling Sempra to Shut Down Plant

SAN DIEGO, June 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Despite Sempra Energy's statements of now having knowledge of a Federal Court Order to suspend their permits, authorizations, and concession authorized to Energia Costa Azul, they have taken a stance to challenge the Mexican Government by stating, "Until such time as we are formally told that the permits have been suspended we will continue operations….We currently have a ship in port right now so it would be very difficult to shut down the plant," according to a spokeswoman for Sempra.

In response to several inaccurate claims by Sempra Energy, landowner Ramon Eugenio Sanchez Ritchie responds:

"Sempra continues to misrepresent itself to the public, its stakeholders, and the analysts in the marketplace," states Sanchez Ritchie whose property dispute with Sempra set off the Court Order for the closure of the Energia Costa Azul plant.

"Firstly, Sempra has stated that it obtained its permits in 2003 and that it did so before it acquired the land from the purported legitimate seller in 2006. However, Sempra's LNG Unit could not have legally obtained all of their permits in 2003 before having purchased the property from the purported seller in 2006, and still satisfy condition #5 of their environmental impact document, which states that they must purchase land bordering the plant to ensure safety." (See page 9 of the Environmental document http://www.gatewaymediapartners.com/costaazul/xx6_3_2010ambiental _1_english3.pdf)

"Secondly, Sempra, has stated that they purchased the property under Mexican laws, however, they acquired the property from a deceased seller using a 2-year old extinguished Power of Attorney. Upon death, all powers of attorney are null & void, extinguished, and of no effect, yet Sempra managed to remove Mr. Sanchez Ritchie from his property utilizing the sham purchase contract. The Court judgment dated March 2010 found that Sempra's representatives not only testified once, but twice, that the deceased seller was not available to testify in the Sanchez Ritchie investigation because she was living in Nicaragua, two years after she was dead," according to the court document dated March 2010. (See Death Certificate of purported seller of the land to Sempra: http://www.gatewaymediapartners.com/costaazul/gomez.jpg.)

"Sempra has stated that they will wait for formal notice prior to voluntarily closing down the plant despite its knowledge that it is operating illegally as of June 17, 2010," said C.E. Cortes, speaking on behalf of Mr. Sanchez Ritchie. "The Federal Judge In this case is granting the regulatory agencies the time to act upon his order. If the authorities fail to enforce the order pursuant to the Federal Court Orders terms and conditions, then such conduct should raise questions about whether or not Sempra is engaging in undue influence over the rule of law once again."

SOURCE Ramon Eugenio Sanchez Ritchie