A bill to block the re-opening of the Southern California Gas Co.’s Aliso Canyon natural gas field, responsible for the nation’s biggest methane leak, has cleared a key state Senate committee.
SB-57, sponsored by Senator Henry Stern, D-Canoga Park, passed out of the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee Thursday on a 7-2 vote.
The bill would prevent energy regulators from ruling the facility above Porter Ranch is safe to use until the cause of the massive 112-day leak is known. Texas-based Blade Energy Partners, LTD, is doing that analysis. Their work is not expected to be finished until later this year.
“SB 57 is about restoring the public’s trust in government and delivering on the basic promise of health and safety to all Californians,” said Stern in a statement. “The root cause analysis will provide clear answers to what caused the well failure and that is critical to providing certainty to the public that all steps have been taken to prevent a future incident like the one my constituents experienced.”
Local residents, representatives from the Los Angeles County fire and public health departments, environmental organizations, and a bipartisan coalition of elected officials appeared at the committee hearing.
“Our community has paid its dues 10 times over,” said Porter Ranch Neighborhood Council President Issam Najm in a statement. “No one should have the audacity to ask this canary to go back into that mine before they at least know what almost killed it the first time around.”
The bill will next be referred to the Senate Energy Committee. It is not yet clear when that will happen, said Stern spokeswoman Nancy Farias.
“It could be before the end of February or possibly next week,” she said.
Officials of the state Department of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources and the California Public Utilities Commission are reviewing public comments on Aliso Canyon’s re-opening and have not said when a decision will be made.
The leak pumped nearly 100,000 metric tons of methane into the air and forced a massive voluntarily evacuation of the community.
SoCalGas is opposed to Stern’s bill. Last week it agreed to pay $8.5 million to settle a lawsuit over the leak filed by the South Coast Air Quality Management District.
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