Opposition Group Forms Over SoCal Gas Project

With the County of Santa Barbara ready to release the environmental report on the proposal to expand the capacity of the natural gas storage facility owned by Southern California Gas Company near Goleta Beach on May 16, an official opposition group formed this week. Called Goleta Against Drilling and mostly composed of residents in the Rancho Goleta mobile home park, which sits across the creek from the decades-old gas facility, the group has gathered 200 signatures via an online petition and plans to show up en masse for the next hearing on the project, which is expected to be June 5. SoCal Gas, meanwhile, maintains that the project, which will also extract some untapped natural gas, is completely safe and beneficial for ratepayers.