Victory: A Working-Class Neighborhood Defends Itself Against a Dangerous Gas Project – And Wins, Residents fought back after a company wanted to store 8 billion cubic feet of natural gas beneath a densely-populated, urban community in southeast Sacramento, California

Victory: A Working-Class Neighborhood Defends Itself Against a Dangerous Gas Project – And Wins, Residents fought back after a company wanted to store 8 billion cubic feet of natural gas beneath a densely-populated, urban community in southeast Sacramento, California by Amanda Werner, August 13, 2012, AlterNet
Recently, the Greenlining Institute worked alongside a neighborhood association and its legal team to implement this perfect storm of strategies and stop a threat to the community’s health and safety – setting important state precedent along the way. … In April 2007, Sacramento Natural Gas Storage (SNGS) first sought approval to store 8 billion cubic feet of natural gas beneath a densely-populated, urban community in southeast Sacramento, California. The affected neighborhood, Avondale/Glen Elder, is a product of historic redlining – the illegal practice of denying services to communities of color. This project is the first of its kind to be reviewed by the California Public Utilities Commission. While gas storage areas are not new, these projects are typically confined to sparsely-populated areas to lessen the significant public health and safety risks. Yet SNGS sought to operate its facility directly beneath the homes of thousands of residents and working families, a community park, and two local schools. After reviewing the specifics of this plan, a group of residents formed the Avondale/Glen Elder Neighborhood Association (AGENA) to defend their community and defeat this project. … In early 2010, an environmental impact report found “significant and unavoidable impacts” in three major areas: gas migration, groundwater contamination, and construction noise. Gas migration represents a latent public health and safety risk as gas accumulates in confined spaces – creating risk of fire, explosion, or asphyxiation. This risk is aggravated by the findings of some experts that faults or fractures might exist in the sandstone barrier between the high-pressured gas and residents’ homes. Groundwater contamination is also a serious concern, as the project poses a risk to local drinking water.

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