New leak over the weekend above Porter Ranch

Operations at the Aliso Canyon Gas Storage facility in file photo.

State authorities reported there was a new, but small leak of natural gas and oil on Saturday from another well in the Aliso Canyon Gas Storage facility on the ridges above Porter Ranch in the north San Fernando Valley. The leak was detected at a well known as Standard Sesnon 1-21 about 8:25 a.m. and was stopped two hours later. The Governor’s Office of Emergency Services said about 30 gallons of oil spray and an unknown amount of natural gas escaped into the environment.

SoCalGas said the well was not theirs but was operated by an outside firm the gas comoany did not name. SoCalGas did operate the notorious well that began leaking in October and continued to send odorized natural gas billowing into the sky for months. Hundreds of Porter Ranch residents are still waiting for the OK to return to their homes.

From the Daily News:

After the new leak on Saturday, local conservationists repeated their call to permanently shut down the Aliso Canyon facility. The much depleted underground storage field, when full, supplies energy to power plants, institutions and millions of residents across Southern California.

“We are outraged!,” said Jennifer Milbauer, a spokeswoman for Save Porter Ranch, in a statement. “It’s more obvious than ever that Aliso Canyon is dangerous and needs to be completely shut down immediately, regardless of the operators in that field.

“These wells are old, decaying,” she added, “and this will continue to happen again and again, poisoning thousands in the nearby communities.”