Rep. Steve Knight: SoCalGas is Working ‘Diligently’ to Repair Gas Leak
Bloomberg Government | December 30, 2015 –
Rep. Steve Knight, R-Calif., says he’s satisfied that a Sempra Energy subsidiary is doing everything it can to fix leak at a natural gas storage facility that has affected his district’s Porter Ranch neighborhood for more than 2 months.
“We do have full confidence that they are working on this as diligently as they can and there’s nobody who needs to fix this more than the gas company,” Knight tells First Word Energy
Knight says “there was a little delay on the gas company’s part at the beginning but they have stepped it up. They are moving forward pretty quickly”
NOTE: Leak first discovered Oct. 23 at a facility owned by Sempra Energy’s Southern California Gas Company unit in Aliso Canyon
Knight says his office has received constituent calls from residents of the Porter Ranch neighborhood with concerns over health and safety
Says “there’s a concerted effort by the gas company to move people out of the area who want to be moved”
Says the EPA, California Air and Resources Board have “known about this leak since the very first day”
Knight says the first priority is fixing the leak, then he’ll look at what can be done “to make sure this doesn’t happen again and what safeguards are in place”
“That may be a position where legislation can come in. It might not. It might be an anomaly”
Knight says there will likely be roundtable with industry representatives from across the country to discuss good and bad regulations and best practices to prevent future leaks
