The state Senate unanimously approved legislation Thursday calling for an immediate moratorium on the injection of natural gas at the Aliso Canyon storage facility, where a well has been leaking since late October.
The legislation would also restrict the use 1950s-era wells at the Aliso Canyon facility until their integrity can be verified by the state Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources. It also calls on the state Public Utilities Commission to evaluate whether the entire storage facility can be shut down or severely minimized without affecting gas supplies for the region — something the agency is already exploring.
“My constituents have been on the receiving end of a natural disaster for the last three months,” said Sen. Fran Pavley, D-Agoura Hills. “The uncontrolled leak of natural gas from the Aliso Canyon facility is a public health and climate emergency.”
The legislation will now move to the Assembly.
SoCalGas officials noted that no gas has been injected into the Aliso Canyon facility since the leak was discovered Oct. 23. At the direction of the CPUC, withdrawals from the facility were stopped last week “to maintain a minimum level of storage.”
“Minimum storage levels are intended to address reliability requirements so that residential, commercial and industrial customers are not left without heat and hot water and electricity outages do not occur,” according to SoCalGas. “In 2012, well in advance of discovering the natural gas leak at Aliso Canyon, SoCalGas began implementing a rigorous and structured storage integrity management program for all wells at the facility. We have accelerated our inspection of 18 wells at Aliso of similar vintage as the leaking well, and that process is ongoing.”
Since the gas leak was discovered Oct. 23, thousands of households have been temporarily relocated out of the area near the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility — at Gas Co. expense.
Gas Co. officials said Monday that a relief well being drilled at Aliso Canyon in an effort to cap the leak is nearing completion, but they warned it will still take time to finish the job.
According to SoCalGas, the relief well was at a depth of about 8,400 feet on Monday, about 200 feet away from the leaking well. Gas Co. officials said that while the relief well is nearly completed, the final phase of extending it to intercept the leaking well, then drill into it, will take some time.
Gas Co. crews are planning to pump fluids and mud through the relief well and into the leaking one, plugging the leak.
“Our team of experts has been working 24 hours a day, seven days a week since we started the relief well operations, and we’re very pleased with the progress we’ve made so far,” according to Jimmie Cho, senior vice president of gas operations and system integrity. “Our top priority remains the safety of those working on the site and the residents of the community.
“We have developed various contingency plans in case we encounter unexpected developments in the relief-well drilling process that could slow our current progress,” he said. “Our current schedule to control and stop the leak in February is consistent with the plan we have submitted to” the state Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources.
The company still hopes to have the operation completed by late February, or possibly sooner.
— Wire reports