“We have temporarily controlled the natural gas flow from the leaking well and begun the process of sealing the well and permanently stopping the leak”, Jimmie Cho, a SoCalGas senior vice president, said. An exact timetable for that is yet to be announced, but the process is expected to take several days.
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Hotel dwellers will have eight days to return home once it is sealed, while those in apartments and rentals houses can stay through the end of short-term leases they signed. SoCalGas is planning two notifications to the displaced Porter Ranch residents who left their homes because of ill effects from the odorant in the leaking gas – first when the leak is controlled and a second one when DOGGR confirms it is permanently sealed.
More than 20 lawsuits against SoCalGas have been filed by residents over the leak, along with civil claims by Los Angeles city and county, the state of California and air quality regulators.
The leak stems from an underground pipeline rupture at the company’s 3,600-acre (1,457-hectare) Aliso Canyon natural gas storage field.
Crews intercepted the base of the leaking well with a relief well on Thursday and began pumping heavy fluids to temporarily control the flow of gas, San Diego-based Sempra’s Southern California Gas Co. utility said Thursday in a statement.
Robert Weisenmiller, chairman of the California Energy Commission, also told the LA Times that “The CPUC [California Public Utilities Commission] will be tracking all of the gas company’s costs to make sure they are not allocated to ratepayers and that the shareholders have full responsibility”.
When demand and prices were low, gas was injected at high pressure in the ground.
The last time infrared video showed the Porter Ranch gas leak was a month before, but new footage was released Wednesday, showing plumes escaping.
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Many folks are concerned about plummeting home values now that Porter Ranch is associated with this disaster and others fear returning to unhealthy homes or a repeat incident.
