SoCalGas, a subsidiary of Sempra Energy, has said it needs at least another two months to stop the leak, a complicated project that involves drilling a relief well (248 DEN A-9, 12/29/15).
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MAKING THE BEST OF IT-Iris Sanderson, 69, and her mom, Eleanor Dorin, 92, try to make themselves at home Friday in their room at the Residence Inn in Westlake Village, where they have been moved due to the gas well leak in Porter Ranch. The system will either filter out some of the chemicals or burn off the gas.
Residents claim the gas, which has drifted into surrounding neighborhoods, is sickening them with nausea, nosebleeds, and headaches. “For many years, I only cared for my business and my family, but the gas leak has made me feel a need to be more involved”. Benzene can be extremely harmful to human health if found at high enough quantities, though readings near the leak have shown levels that are below the threshold when it would be considered a health risk.
The Aliso Canyon leak was discovered October 23. However, methane stays in the atmosphere for only about two decades, whereas carbon dioxide remains for many centuries, warming the climate over the long term. Goodin said the smell of the gas was horrific as she drove her kids to class. “This is a challenge, it is a tragedy, and I know we can do better”. It supplies the natural gas for 14 power plants. The EDF has sponsored numerous investigations of methane leaks in the country’s oil and gas industry.
In August, the EPA proposed its first-ever rules targeting methane emissions from new and modified oil and gas equipment and infrastructure. More than half of the 111 Aliso Canyon storage wells are over 60 years old.
According to the company’s January 6 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the leak is the subject of investigations at the California Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources, the L.A. County Department of Public Health, the South Coast Air Quality Management District, the state Air Resources Board, the California Public Utilities Commission, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office and the California Attorney General’s Office.
Conley estimates the leak has emitted about 80,000 tons of methane to date. “I called Porter Ranch community school on numerous occasions”. Southern California Gas Co. has been delivering clean, safe and reliable natural gas to its customers for more than 140 years. De Leon said the legislative response to the leak would be bipartisan.
Brownstein said scientists have observed other large methane emissions sources around the US, but none on this scale. The well sits about 8,700 feet (2,651 meters) underground, and the leak is thought to come from a broken pipe about 500 feet below the surface. The company is also preparing to drill a backup relief well as a precaution. It has cost the company more than $50 million and is not expected to be plugged until March. Its stock, unsurprisingly, has taken a hit in recent weeks. State Senator Pavley’s bills “mirror” Governor Jerry Brown’s emergency declaration last week, which also called for continuing the ban on gas injections and a deep look at the “long-term viability of the state’s natural gas facilities”, says the LA Times. This is a massive disaster and it’s one that some environmental groups claim might have been prevented had state regulators required the older wells to be brought up to the same safety standards as new wells.
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If issued, the order would clear the way for SoCalGas to build “an interim gas capture and control system”, the proposal said.
