State senator seeks to close Aliso Canyon gas storage facility
A bill introduced last month seeks to shut down the Aliso Canyon gas storage facility near Porter Ranch, the site of the largest methane gas leak in U.S. history.
The bill, introduced by California state Sen. Henry Stern (D-Porter Ranch), would close down the Southern California Gas Company's storage facility by 2027.
This bill would also require several local and state agencies to develop a natural gas demand reduction plan by June of 2023 that would set natural gas reduction targets by 2030 and 2035 for the service area covered by SoCalGas, Southern California Edison and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.
On Wednesday, a group of protesters joined Stern in front of SoCalGas headquarters in Chatsworth demanding the closure of the facility.
Senate Bill 1486 marks the first time legislation has been introduced in an effort to permanently close Aliso Canyon. Last May, the Los Angeles City Council voted in favor of closing the facility, a largely symbolic gesture.
Beginning in October 2015, the Aliso Canyon underground storage facility spewed about 109,000 metric tons of methane into the air and led to the temporary relocation of about 7,000 Porter Ranch-area residents. The leak was not capped until February 2016.
The leak led to mass complaints of health issues ranging from headaches and nosebleeds to nausea and cancer; issues that persisted after the leak was capped.
Gas injections resumed at Aliso Canyon in July 2017 despite court efforts from Los Angeles County officials to block them.
Then, last November, the California Public Utilities Commission voted to expand storage capacity at Aliso Canyon to 60%.
"It was a shame that the PUC decided to reopen this field last winter, and to pretend like everything would go down unless this field's on," Stern said Wednesday. "We knew that's not the case. We saw L.A. operate leaner, but smarter and cleaner, without Aliso Canyon."
In September of last year, a $1.8 billion settlement was reached in the years-long battle over the leak. Attorneys representing more than 35,000 people impacted by the leak said SoCalGas and its parent company, Sempra Energy, would have to pay up to $1.8 billion.
In August of 2018, officials with the state of California and the city of L.A. reached their own $119.5 million settlement with SoCalGas over the leak.
The leak occurred in an over 60-year-old well, one of 115 wells at a vacant oil field that was converted in the 1970s to store gas a mile-and-a-half underground where crude oil had been removed.
Aliso Canyon is the largest natural gas storage site in the West.