April 2, 2016 - 3:20 PM EDT
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Obama announces task force to investigate Aliso Canyon gas leak

LOS ANGELES, April 2 (UPI) --

The Obama administration announced the creation of a task force to investigate a massive natural gas leak from a pipeline in Southern California's Aliso Canyon.

The task force will be led by officials from the Departments of Energy and Transportation and is required to report back to Congress in six months with answers on how the leak happened and how future pipeline leaks can be prevented.

The leak, which was discovered in October, forced thousands of residents in the Porter Ranch area of Los Angeles to evacuate. The leak has since been sealed but the government has still not given residents the all-clear to move back to their homes. Testing in the area is still ongoing, the local CBS News affiliate reported.

The task force drew praise from elected officials, including Sens. Diane Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, who drafted legislation calling for it to happen earlier this year. The measures had not achieved final congressional approval when Obama said Friday he would create the task force on his own authority without waiting for authorizing legislation from Congress.

I am gratified that President Obama understands that we must make sure that what happened in Aliso Canyon never happens again and the task force he has appointed will report back in six months on how to do just that, Boxer said. I have been assured by [Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz], whom I spoke with yesterday, that the task force will work with state and local officials to resolve all outstanding issues, including whether Aliso Canyon can operate safely in the future, in order to protect our people and our planet.

Feinstein agreed, calling for the closure of the well where the leak originated, saying: In my view, the facility should be shut down, and it's my hope the task force comes to the same conclusion. It's imperative to protect the health and safety of local residents, and having this facility so close to a subdivision is simply too dangerous.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti also praised the task force and said city agencies would work with the group, while also seeking to reduce our city's dependency on natural gas in the future.

The Aliso Canyon leak caused an estimated 1 million barrels of natural gas to be leaked into the atmosphere per day for months, making it the worst natural gas leak in the nation's history. The carbon footprint of the leak is estimated to be larger than that of the Deepwater Horizon oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico.


Source: United Press International (April 2, 2016 - 3:20 PM EDT)

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