Aliso Canyon, the controversial gas field that leaked 100,000 gallons of methane into the environment in 2015, was cleared to open by state regulators.

State Senator Henry Stern, D-Canoga Park, who represents a portion of the Santa Clarita Valley, criticized the state regulator’s decision to reopen Aliso Canyon in a statement released Wednesday.

“Re-opening Aliso Canyon before we know what caused the blowout and before studying seismic and fire risks is premature and unnecessary,” said Senator Stern. “While the Energy Commission’s suggestion to shut Aliso down and replace it with clean energy over the next decade is encouraging, the community won’t have comfort unless there are real teeth to this plan.”

Related: Aliso Canyon Bill Stalled In Senate, Another Vote Expected

On October 23, 2015, SoCal Gas failed to promptly report a leak at their Aliso Canyon facility, which resulted in worst methane gas leak in United States history.

The blowout spewed tons of methane gas into the air until it was plugged in February 2016. Since then, the gas field has been subject to a moratorium.

The environmentally damaging incident resulted in the gas company needing to reach a settlement of $4 million and implement new safety standards for the plant.

Senator Stern has attempted on multiple occasions to pass Senate Bill 57, which would extend the moratorium on the gas field until the Brown Administration completes its “root cause analysis” to determine why the well blew out, but that bill was perpetually stalled.

“Following months of rigorous inspection and analysis of wells at the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility – and the implementation of multiple new safety protocols – state engineering and safety enforcement experts have concluded the facility is safe to operate and can reopen at a greatly reduced capacity in order to protect public safety and prevent an energy shortage in Southern California,” said a CPUC news release.

However, critics of the plant, such as Stern, believe the facility and the punishment did not go far enough or give enough time to ensure that this type of accident would not occur again.

“I’ll continue fighting to make sure that we get to the bottom of what happened at Aliso back in 2015 and implore the Administration to take a deep breath and slow down,” said Stern. “We have an oversupply of power and gas in the system right now.”

“Let’s take our time,” said Stern, “and get this right.”

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