Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas), which owns and operates the storage facility, has been constructing a relief well to stop the leak, which the company was unable to plug in the days and weeks immediately following the breach.
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The Porter Ranch gas leak has been one of the worst disasters to hit Southern California in the past several decades, with its long-term outlook still unknown.
The new regulations will apply to a dozen natural gas storage fields across nine counties, according to the state Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources, which will issue the new rules.
The leak has been out-of-control since late October and has driven thousands of people out of the upscale Los Angeles community of Porter Ranch.
The leak isn’t tidy, an expert explained to Lobet: The escaping gas can’t simply be siphoned off. And as the Los Angeles Times detailed earlier this week, the pressure of the escaping gas makes it impossible to stop the leak by filling the well from the top. Fumes from the leaking wells have caused many residents to complain about a range of illnesses including headaches, nosebleeds, nausea and dizziness.
The leak is coming from a damaged well below the surface at the Aliso Canyon Underground Storage Facility.
Brown has come under intense criticism from campaign groups for his slow response to the leak.
Gizmodo calls this the biggest natural gas leak on record and has one question for Brown: “What took so long?”
A screenshot of a Craigslist post advertising a home “perfect for families affected by gas leak”.
The gas company was not moving fast enough for Gov. Brown, who has already been accused by Porter Ranch residents of not taking action sooner.
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The governor ordered state agencies to “utilize all necessary state personnel, equipment, and facilities to ensure a continuous and thorough response to this incident”. Regulators will monitor Southern California Gas Co.to maximize its efforts to capture leaking gas and store it elsewhere. “Methane is a potent climate pollutant that traps more than 25 times as much heat as carbon dioxide”, they wrote in the letter.
