Disastrous California Gas Leak Endangers Health Of Residents

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Disastrous California Gas Leak Endangers Health Of Residents

January 12th, 2016

Awake Goy

Homes are pictured on a hillside in Porter Ranch, CA.

For months, a massive gas leak has been spewing fumes, harming the atmosphere and sickening people living nearby. In October, 2015, Southern California Gas Company (SCG) reported a gas leak at its storage well in the Santa Susana Mountains. The suburban community of Porter Ranch is located adjacent to the storage well.

After making numerous flights over the site, the California Air Resources Board (CARE) found that the amount of methane gas being emitted was 97,000 pounds per hour in early November, but that amount had decreased to 66,000 pounds per hour in late December. CARE now reports that 10,000 pounds of methane are being emitted into the atmosphere every hour.

To contain the seepage, SCG implemented a pad designed to trap the oil and water as gas flowed through it. However, SCG admitted in December that the pad was not 100% effective, and the air in Porter Ranch had been contaminated. SCG and other government entities are still trying to solve the gas leakage problem. The Los Angeles Daily News reported that “about half a dozen attempts to kill the well by pumping fluids down it have not been successful.” A relief well is now being drilled in an attempt to plug the leak, but it is a slow, hazardous process which will not be completed until late February or March, 2016.

The Department of energy issued this statement: “As far as scientists currently know, methane is not a long-term health hazard. However, more research is probably needed to completely understand the long-term effects of methane exposure.” The U.S. National Library of Medicine indicated that in high concentrations, methane exposure can reduce oxygen intake and result in headaches, nosebleeds, vomiting, and dizziness. Residents in the Porter Ranch vicinity have reported having these symptoms.

California Governor Jerry Brown was initially reluctant to declare a state of emergency because he said he wanted the burden of repairing the leak to be fully on SCG and not shifted to taxpayers. However, he relented, saying in a statement he was responding to the requests of Porter Ranch residents and the “prolonged and continuing” nature of the problem at the underground storage facility. On January 6 he declared a state of emergency.

Porter Ranch is an affluent neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles. Its population in 2014 was 35,691. As of January 8 just over 2,200 households had been relocated at the expense of SCG.