It is hard to believe that this is actually being seriously considered under a residential neighborhood in an urban area.
The naturally occurring storage is one thing, but to reintroduce the gas and continually put it back in and take it out again seems a recipe for eventual disaster.
Folks react to gas reserve: Not under my backyard
By Mary Lynne Vellinga - mlvellinga@sacbee.com
Published 12:00 am PST Sunday, February 3, 2008
A local gas company wants to turn a cavernous rock formation deep under a south Sacramento neighborhood into a natural gas holding tank, and the people who live above it say: not under my home.
First, Sacramento Natural Gas Storage needs signed agreements from 700 residents and business owners whose land sits atop the proposed gas storage field southwest of the former Sacramento Army Depot.
Even with the promise of $500 signing bonuses and ongoing annual payments, many say they won't agree to have 7.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas pumped into the ground under their properties.
While the storage firm insists its proposal is safe, the Avondale-Glen Elder Neighborhood Association cites leaks at natural gas facilities that have caused explosions in Southern California and places like Hutchinson, Kan.
"They've never given us documentation that this site can't leak, won't leak, will never leak," said Constance Slider, co-chairwoman of the neighborhood group.
City Councilman Kevin McCarty, who represents the area, has sided with the neighborhood association. He says the gas storage proposal raises too many safety questions for him to support it.
McCarty's position has important implications. Sacramento Natural Gas Storage not only needs approval for its proposal from the California Public Utilities Commission, it also needs a permit from the city.
It has applications pending for both and hopes to clear both hurdles by this fall.
"At this point in time I oppose the project, and I see nothing that convinces me it makes sense for my area," McCarty said at a Jan. 24 neighborhood meeting at the George Sim Community Center.
