$71 million settlement reached over Aliso Canyon, the largest methane gas leak in U.S. history

The distribution of a $71 million settlement for the Aliso Canyon gas leak was announced Wednesday, a payout intended to address environmental concerns stemming from the leak which released more than 100,000 tons of methane into the San Fernando Valley nearly 10 years ago.

The massive settlement being paid out by SoCal Gas, which owns the Aliso Canyon Natural Gas Storage Field in Porter Ranch, will go towards funding construction and infrastructure developments intended to help neighborhoods affected by the four-month-long leak — which federal officials have described as the largest methane gas leak in U.S. history. 

While the payout was first announced last year, local officials and community activists held a news conference Wednesday explaining how it will now be used for infrastructure and construction changes to nearby communities. 

The historic leak led to the evacuation of more than 5,000 homes as it unfolded over a four-month span between 2015 and 2016.

People living in the area reported complaints of nosebleeds, nausea and headaches among other harmful health effects. Meanwhile, traces of harmful chemicals and substances such as benzene, a known carcinogen, were found in the atmosphere, according to a study by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other researchers.

Community activists, local residents and some lawmakers have called for the facility to be shut down, saying long-term impacts have continued to be felt in the years since the leak unfolded.

"There's nine years of suffering, ongoing contaminations, emissions," said Matt Pakucko, president of the advocacy group Save Porter Ranch, as he described "dreadful reports" detailed in an ongoing health study out of UCLA. "Let's be clear: we've seen over the last nine years that Aliso Canyon is a disaster — not a necessity."

Within the payout is $40 million for transitioning homes off of natural gas, making changes such as swapping out gas-run water heaters with ones driven by electricity, $14 million for infrastructure changes to make senior centers and other buildings housing vulnerable populations more resilient to extreme heat, $15 million for changes to schoolyards to make them greener and cooler with more areas of shade and $2 million for outreach and education about the leak and the changes being made in light of it. 

In 2019, Gov. Gavin Newsom directed the California Public Utilities Commission to fast-track a permanent shutdown of the Aliso Canyon gas facility. But two years later, the public agency voted to expand capacity at the plant, a decision widely criticized by community activists and local residents, some of whom have been critical of Newsom's handling of the situation. 

The governor released a statement following the 2021 facility expansion decision saying state officials have been working to close Aliso Canyon but must still fulfill California's current energy needs. 

Last month, the Public Utilities Commission announced a proposal to reduce reliance on natural gas from the plant — a set of plans that stops short of actually fully closing Aliso Canyon within a concrete stretch of time. 

Sen. Henry Stern, who represents Porter Ranch and surrounding valley communities in the state legislature, described the public agency's proposed plans as "bad news" during Wednesday's news conference. Meanwhile, he said the payout will offer some "practical solutions" to "hopefully dig our way out of the tragedy that's been this blowout."

In 2022, Stern introduced a bill that would require the facility be closed down by 2027.