Suspicion looms over Aliso Canyon storage facility a decade after massive gas leak

This is the 10-year anniversary of the largest methane gas leak in United States history. Over  four months in 2015 and 2016, the Aliso Canyon Natural Gas Storage Facility in Los Angeles County — the largest gas storage site in California — released more than 100,000 tons of methane, drowning nearby communities in toxic fumes. 

The leak caused pounding headaches, uncontrollable nausea and bloody noses, and displaced  10,000 families. Some health effects were more detrimental, including memory loss, slurred speech and impaired vision. UCLA researchers also found the gas leak led to full-term newborns being born underweight, some weighing 5 and a half pounds or less. 

I was 14, living four miles from the facility. I can still remember the smell. Two of my good friends suffered horrible headaches and were displaced. They lived in a house provided to them for a couple of months.

After the incident, the facility shut down in 2016 only to be reopened in 2017. Was reopening the facility safe, or couldn’t Southern California Gas Co. bear the financial loss any longer? 

After the gas leak, revenue for SoCalGas’ parent company, Sempra Energy, dropped by 8.9%, to $2.16 billion. The most state Senator Henry Stern was able to secure from SoCalGas was a $71 million settlement, which represents just 5% of Sempra’s 2016 profit. 

The settlement will benefit the 1.8 million residents of neighboring communities where traces of methane were found. It is being invested in green infrastructure for homes and schools, with the goal of reducing natural gas use. 

So why, then, do we need to keep this site open? 

While working as Stern’s legislative intern in 2024 and attending a press conference in front of the SoCalGas headquarters that December, I saw firsthand that residents in the affected communities do not consider this a win. Members of the public want the facility to remain closed. 

Residents still received power the year Aliso was shut down, proving the facility is not essential to the community and, more importantly, not worth the risk. 

State officials claimed the facility can only be shut down once natural gas demand decreases, but California has already proven how quickly we can move away from fossil fuels. 

The 2018 California Clean Energy Act proposed to increase zero-carbon energy sources by 60% over 12 years. The goals were met in just three years. With the right municipal mandates, the San Fernando Valley can reduce gas usage while meeting its energy demands. By increasing renewable energy and setting reduction requirements, we will not have to depend on Aliso Canyon. 

Gov. Gavin Newsom promised during his first term to close the facility. A coalition of scientists, including PhDs from top universities, wrote a joint letter supporting the closure.

However, in December 2024, Newsom ignored this advice and broke the trust the community placed in him. He supported state officials’ decision to not only keep the facility open but to expand it.

The need for a shutdown is dire because the storage facility sits directly above the Santa Susana fault line.

The facility failed during the 1994 Northridge earthquake, which had a magnitude of 6.7. Currently, the surrounding area of Aliso Canyon has a 78% chance of experiencing a major earthquake over the next 50 years. Reopening and expanding a massive gas facility above a fault line is not just irresponsible, it’s reckless. 

The public has protested. Lawmakers have pleaded. Scientists have spoken. And yet, 10 years later, Aliso Canyon still stands. 

How long do we wait? Until the next blowout? Until another earthquake? We cannot afford to wait any longer — not when lives are at stake. 

It’s time to shut it down.