Weather conditions likely caused a minor, intermittent methane leak near a natural gas well at Southern California Gas' Aliso Canyon gas storage facility, the site of the country's largest-ever methane leak. In a statement, SoCalGas likened the amount of methane leaked to the "wisping vapors of a single table candle" and said it posed no health, safety or environmental risks.

Southern California Gas said in its report to the California Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources that 28 wells at its Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility have passed all safety tests, while results are still pending for five wells and another 81 wells are out of operation. Aliso Canyon shut down last October following a natural gas leak.

Southern California Gas has announced that additional wells have passed safety inspections at its Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility in Los Angeles. The field has been shut since last fall due to a methane leak, and there's still more work to be done before the California Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources allows the facility to come back online.

Southern California Gas plans to begin injecting natural gas again late this summer in the Aliso Canyon storage field, which has been closed since a methane leak began in late October. The company hopes to use a small number of high-production wells that will have been fully tested for safety, rather than wait for test results on all 115 wells at the facility.

Southern California Gas pleaded not guilty to charges that it failed to initially report that a storage well had begun leaking natural gas into a Los Angeles neighborhood. "We do not believe a criminal prosecution is warranted here," SoCalGas spokesman Mike Mizrahi said. The company could be fined if convicted of misdemeanor criminal charges that it failed for several days to report the leak, which began in late October.