Board approves update to AGA’s gas storage containment principles
WASHINGTON, DC, Feb. 22
By Nick Snow
OGJ Washington Editor
The American Gas Association’s board of directors agreed to incorporate two practices recommended by the American Petroleum Institute last week dealing with natural gas storage into the gas utility trade association’s safety enhancement commitment for pipelines. The action came as California’s Division of Oil, Gas & Geothermal Resources confirmed in a Feb. 18 announcement that a well that had been leaking methane since Oct. 23 at Southern California Gas Co.’s Aliso Canyon gas storage facility near Los Angeles had been permanently sealed. SoCalGas, a Sempra Energy subsidiary, began drilling a relief well on Dec. 4, 2015, and started to pump cement into the leaking well’s base to stop the gas flow. It also launched a relocation program for affected residents at the nearby Porter Ranch subdivision under a Dec. 24 agreement with the Los Angeles County Attorney’s office. California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) declared a state of emergency in connection with the matter on Jan. 6 and issued a series of directives to state agencies and lawmakers. The state’s two US senators, Democrats Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, introduced an amendment to a broad energy policy bill on Jan. 29 calling for US Sec. of Energy Ernest G. Moniz to direct a federal investigation of the incident.
