La Goleta Gas Storage Approved

Despite more than 900 signatures and numerous commenters raising opposition to the expansion of a natural gas storage field near Goleta Beach, the County Planning Commission voted 5-0 to approve the La Goleta project proposed by the Southern California Gas Company last Wednesday. That moves the matter to the Board of Supervisors, possibly as soon as June 25, for a final vote. Residents of the nearby Rancho Goleta mobile home park plan to continue their protests there, worried about the safety of the project. “We were barely acknowledged,” said resident Naneki Elliott, who wondered why the commissioners spent so much time asking about fracking, which was never proposed as part of the project. “It was quite clear from the start that the staff had made up their mind.”