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T. Boone Pickens Company in Legal Fight

A public bus agency in eastern Riverside County is seeking “millions of dollars” in damages from Seal Beach-based Clean Energy, an alternative fuels provider founded eight years ago by Texas oil magnate T. Boone Pickens.

The suit filed by the SunLine Transit Agency in Thousand Palms alleges a former SunLine general manager was involved in a scheme with Clean Energy to shortchange taxpayers.

The former head of SunLine, Richard Cromwell III, resigned two years ago amid allegations of improper shifting of internal funds and questions about his relationship with Clean Energy.

The suit was filed in Riverside’s Superior Court this week. A temporary restraining order was granted Friday that prevents Clean Energy from seizing equipment at SunLine fueling stations in Indio and Thousand Palms as possible retaliation for Sunline’s legal action.

A hearing to consider whether to make the order permanent is scheduled Sept. 6.

Clean Energy called the lawsuit “without merit.”

The company claims it is owed $600,000 from SunLine under a fuel-supply contract.

Pickens, Clean Energy’s chairman, wasn’t named in the suit. Clean Energy has grown to become the largest provider of vehicular natural gas in North America with a broad customer base in the refuse, transit, shuttle, taxi, police, trucking, airport and municipal fleet markets.

Clean Energy holds fuel contracts and jointly owns five compressed natural gas stations with SunLine Services Group, an affiliate of SunLine Transit. SunLine was the first in the nation to convert to compressed natural gas in the early 1990s for its now fleet of 47 buses.

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