At Industry’s Request, Trump Administration Will Not Enforce Gas Storage Safety Rule

On June 19th, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) gave notice that, in response to requests from the oil and gas industry, they will not enforce aspects of a safety rule for underground natural gas storage sites.The rule was put in place under the Obama administration in response to the 2015 Aliso Canyon disaster, which leaked 4.62 billion cubic feet of gas from an underground storage facility, endangering public health and forcing thousands of people to temporarily relocate from their homes.

In response, Lena Moffitt, Senior Director of the Sierra Club’s Our Wild America Campaign, issued the following statement:

“This administration has made it clear from day one that they value the wishes of the oil and gas industry over the health and safety of our communities. There could be no clearer example of that than opting not to enforce a commonsense safety rule just because the industry asked them to.

“This rule was put in place to make sure a disaster like the one in Aliso Canyon would never happen again. To put our communities in jeopardy by recklessly ignoring safety rules to suit the whims of the oil and gas industry is unconscionable.”