Porter Ranch—North San Fernando Valley neighbors on August 6 urged California lawmakers and regulators to shut down SoCalGas’s Aliso Canyon Gas Storage Facility, where the largest natural gas blowout in California and U.S. history took place in October of 2015.
They made their statements at a hearing sponsored by State Senator Henry Stern and Assembly Member Christy Smith, who chairs the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee and the Joint Legislative Committee on Emergency Management, according to a statement from Food and Water Watch.
“Among the officials at the hearing was Governor Newsom’s Secretary of Natural Resources, Wade Crowfoot. When asked about shutting down the facility, the site of the worst gas blowout in U.S. history, Crowfoot said the governor was waiting for a recommendation from the California Public Utilities Commission. However, advocates say that following a recent report that found SoCalGas’s failure to investigate and fix ongoing leaks caused the blowout, there is no need to wait to shut down the facility,” Food and Water Watch said.
“It’s clearer than ever that the Aliso Canyon storage facility will never be safe and needs to be decommissioned immediately,” said Food & Water Watch California Director Alexandra Nagy. “The earthquake risk alone could lead to an incident that would release eight times the amount of toxic gas of the 2015 gas blowout. If Governor Newsom is so keen on a carbon-free future, the first step is to keep his promise and work with the community to shut down Aliso Canyon.”
Neighbors gave compelling testimony on their ongoing health symptoms and pleaded with officials to take action to close the facility, according to Nagy.
“When the blowout first happened, my symptoms exploded,” said Kyoko Hibino, co-founder of Save Porter Ranch. “The last five months have been the most challenging. I have reproductive organ damage and I was diagnosed with the condition one step before breast cancer and l am at a high risk for breast cancer. I know the long term risks—I am living them.”
Sen. Stern promised constituents he would aggressively pursue shutting down the gas field.
“Government’s job is to rein in corporate power when it is in excess,” Sen. Henry Stern told the audience. “I agree with the testimony that Aliso needs to be shut down. Your gas company does not want this to happen.”
Local physician, Dr. Jeffry Nordella, took issue with health department officials who said that they did not have enough data to make safety recommendations. He promised to release the next phase of his study on blood samples next month.
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