"More than 400 facilities holding huge storehouses of natural gas get little regulatory oversight as their infrastructure ages."
"Earlier this week, the massive methane leak spewing from an underground natural gas storage facility in California’s Aliso Canyon passed a symbolic milestone: its duration exceeded BP’s 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
Now, a growing number of environmentalists, engineers and industry watchdogs say the disaster on the outskirts of Los Angeles could happen elsewhere. There are more than 400 underground natural gas storage sites spread across 31 states, and, like Aliso Canyon, decades-old equipment is deteriorating at many of them.
There is little federal oversight for the storage of trillions of cubic feet of potentially explosive fuel that is also a potent greenhouse gas. More than 100 facilities like Aliso Canyon that are owned and operated by local utility companies are subject to a patchwork of state regulations, which vary significantly from state to state. In California, multiple agencies have some responsibility for underground gas storage, with no designated lead authority, according to state lawmakers."
Phil McKenna reports for InsideClimate News January 22, 2016.
Do 100s of Other Gas Storage Sites Risk Methane Leak Like California's?
Source: InsideClimate News, 01/25/2016