Southern California Gas Company recently settled a lawsuit filed by the Center for Environmental Health alleging the company had violated California’s Proposition 65 during the 2015 Aliso Canyon facility leak.
Under Proposition 65, businesses are required to provide warnings about possible exposures to toxic chemicals.
“SoCalGas entered into an agreement to settle claims alleging violations of Proposition 65 related to the 2015 Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility leak, pending approval by the court,” SoCalGas spokesperson Christine Detz told the Southern California Record.
As part of the settlement, the utility company must monitor for benzene at its Aliso Canyon facility in the San Fernando Valley. The company must also provide text message and email alerts for all residents in the surrounding area in the event of another leak.
“The settlement includes a $1.55 million payment from SoCalGas to the plaintiffs, the State of California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment and counsel. Additionally, SoCalGas will install two benzene monitors at the facility,” Detz said.
Among actions taken during the leak and the months following, thousands of air, soil and dust samples were tested by multiple public health agencies. All data collected, analyzed and reported by public health officials showed there was and is no long-term risk to public health from the gas leak, Detz said.
Moving forward, benzene monitors will activate if the fenceline methane monitoring system detects methane levels of 25 ppm for 30 minutes. SoCalGas will also post a Proposition 65 warning on its methane monitoring website if benzene monitors are triggered and detect the chemical at a level of 1.5 ppb for an average of 30 minutes and notify members of the community who have signed up for email or text notifications if a warning is posted.
Under the agreement, Detz said SoCalGas will reduce emissions at the facility by converting or replacing its Aliso Canyon onsite fleet of ATVs with zero emission vehicles within 12 months of the settlement’s effective date.
This comes as SoCalGas announced agreements that are expected to resolve substantially all material civil litigation related to the 2015 Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility leak in September.
SoCalGas previously entered into a settlement agreement with the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office, the County of Los Angeles, the California Office of the Attorney General and the California Air Resources Board to resolve the claims made by those government bodies against the company related to the leak, Detz said.