California panel votes to increase storage capacity at site of worst US methane leak despite risks

By ROBERT JABLON and JULIE WATSON
Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) — California regulators have approved a proposal to vastly increase natural gas storage at the site of the nation’s largest known methane leak. The California Public Utilities Commission unanimously voted Thursday to permit Southern California Gas to store nearly 70 billion cubic feet of gas at the Aliso Canyon field near Los Angeles. The panel said it’s a way to guard against fuel price spikes this winter, which happened last year. There have been calls to shut down the field since a monthslong leak in 2015 released more than 120,000 tons of methane. The leak was blamed for sickening thousands of residents.