Aliso

Area residents and their supporters seeking to close California’s largest natural gas underground storage field, Aliso Canyon, rallied at a state lawmaker’s district office Wednesday, calling for the permanent closure of the 86 Bcf capacity facility north of Los Angeles in the suburban San Fernando Valley.

A U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) official pressed last week for California regulators to reopen the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility while opponents on Monday continued to push for the 3,600-acre facility to be permanently closed.

California regulators on Wednesday released a revised set of informal draft rules affecting underground injection control (UIC) wells, an effort that has grown more complex after last year’s methane leak at Southern California Gas Co.’s Aliso Canyon underground storage facility.

Staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has prepared an environmental assessment (EA) for Texas Eastern Transmission LP’s (Tetco) proposed Idle Line 1 Abandonment project [CP17-6]. FERC staff concluded that, with appropriate mitigating measures, the project would not significantly affect the quality of the human environment. Tetco is seeking authorization to abandon in place and by removal 165 miles of Line 1 pipeline that runs from Fayette County, OH, to Greene County, PA, that were placed into idle service in 1989, including three segments of 24-inch diameter pipeline, associated lateral lines 10-L and 10-M, metering and regulating facilities and other aboveground facilities. FERC will accept comments on the EA through May 22.

Backers of a California legislative proposal (SB 57) to keep Southern California Gas Co.’s (SoCalGas) Aliso Canyon underground natural gas storage facility closed hope to gain a two-thirds vote in the state Senate after the bill was passed and sent to the Senate Appropriations Committee. SB 57 would prevent Aliso Canyon from reopening until an ongoing root cause analysis investigation is completed and made public. The bill includes language allowing the governor to declare a state of emergency to reopen Aliso Canyon if the region faces power outages due to an inability to get gas supplies from the 86 Bcf capacity facility. If passed as written by both houses by at least two-third votes, SB 57 would become law immediately with its designation as an emergency measure.

Supporting the contention of many local residents and government officials, a study commissioned by Los Angeles County has concluded that Southern California Gas Co.’s (SoCalGas) now-closed 86 Bcf Aliso Canyon underground natural gas storage facility is not needed to ensure regional energy reliability, countering past contentions from state energy officials.

California’s largest underground natural gas storage facility north of Los Angeles on Tuesday continued to be lambasted by residents and local government officials who told a state legislative hearing in Sacramento that the facility is unsafe, still leaks constantly and is the cause of continuing health problems for nearby residents of an upscale housing development.

In the past three months, Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) has reported various leaks at its closed Aliso Canyon underground natural gas storage complex. The latest incident, albeit small, happened Friday with a “minor leak” in an eight-inch diameter above-ground pipeline.

Texas Attorney General (AG) Ken Paxton is seeking to block federal safety standards for underground natural gas storage facilities that took effect in January.