LOS ANGELES (AP) — State officials say they completed safety reviews of wells at a Los Angeles gas storage facility where a blowout spewed methane for nearly four months.
The Department of Conservation said Tuesday that it would hold public hearings in February before deciding whether to let Southern California Gas Co. resume storage of natural gas at its Aliso Canyon facility.
The blowout discovered in October 2015 drove 8,000 families from their homes and led to mass complaints of nosebleeds, nausea, headaches and other maladies.
The company has been under orders to repair or improve aging wells at what is the largest natural gas storage facility in the West.
The state says less than a third of re-worked wells now pass the rigorous tests required after the blowout.
Hearings are scheduled Feb. 1 and 2.
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This story has been corrected to show that “less than a third” of the wells have passed rigorous tests. A previous version said “more than a third” had passed.
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