LA County Officials Move To Block Aliso Canyon's Reopening

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — County officials are headed to court Monday to try to block the reopening of the Aliso Canyon storage facility in Porter Ranch.

In a message to constituents, Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger said it is irresponsible to restart Aliso Canyon until a study is completed into the cause of the four-month leak that sent tons of methane into the air from the facility and forced thousands of residents from their homes in late 2015 and early 2016.

According to the California Public Utilities Commission and the state Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources, the investigation into the cause of the leak is continuing. Regardless of that study, the agencies on Wednesday cleared the way for the Southern California Gas Company to resume injections of natural gas to store at the facility.

CPUC Executive Director Timothy Sullivan said the facility will be restricted to about 28 percent of its operating capacity, "just enough to avoid energy disruptions in the Los Angeles area."

The Aliso Canyon storage facility has been largely out of use since the four-month leak 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, the largest of its kind in U.S. history, began in October 2015 and was capped in February 2016.

(© Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)