How Dairy Cows Could Make Up for California's Aliso Canyon Methane Leak

A nearly $120 million settlement, if approved, would mitigate the climate impact of one of the largest U.S. natural gas leaks by capturing methane from manure.

There's a twist in the big gas-leak settlement announced in California this week:  It includes a program to pay for methane gas collection at a dozen of the state's dairy farms.

State and local officials reached a $119.5 million settlement with the Southern California Gas Company on Wednesday to mitigate climate impacts and address ongoing health concerns from one of the largest natural gas leaks in U.S. history.

The dairy part of the settlement would address a substantial source of methane, a potent greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change.  State officials say the plan would reduce by at least 109,000 metric tons the amount of methane that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere over a 10-year period.

That's the same amount that was released over several months following a blowout in October 2015 at the Aliso Canyon gas storage facility on the outskirts of Los Angeles.

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