Since it was first detected on October 23, 2015, the natural-gas leak at Aliso Canyon, a Southern California Gas Co. storage facility in the bucolic Porter Ranch community, has spewed more than 86,000 metric tons of methane into the atmosphere. State officials are now concerned that a seventh attempt to plug the well may have increased the chance of a blowout, which would greatly increase the release of gas as well as the risk of a massive well fire if ignited by a spark.
Company officials had previously said they expected to stop the leak sometime between late February and late March.
A few dozen residents gathered outside the Granada Hills High School Saturday to protest the gas leak; Matt Pakucko was among them and he told the Los Angeles Times it was time to shut down the facility. The utility also says California Air Resources Board data shows estimated methane emissions have decreased more than 60 percent from their peak in late November and that Benzene levels are now consistent with those in the rest of the region.
Local news media and environmentalists have seized on the CPUC letter, which referred to possible "catastrophic" consequences if the attempt to capture and burn the leaking gas does more damage to the already fragile wellhead.
Officials with the South Coast Air Quality Management District have postponed a plan to mitigate a natural gas leak that has caused health issues among nearby residents, Reuters reports (Tso, Reuters, 1/16). But he was ignoring the biggest climate catastrophe in his state.
In response to a shorter-term effort to capture large amounts of the leaking gas and burn it a safe distance from the wellhead, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) on Thursday stopped the work until a long set of questions and concerns outlined in a three-page letter to SoCalGas are resolved. These emissions occur when natural gas is either (unintentionally) leaked or (intentionally) vented from well sites, compressor stations, pipelines and other facilities. As for calling for the governor's resignation, I think that's certainly an interesting idea, and I would like to see how all this plays out as we go.HEDGES: On Saturday, Southern California air regulators failed to take a course of action on containing the methane, furthering the harm to health and the environment that residents and activists want the EPA to put a stop to immediately.
She made the comments during an address advising residents to file legal suits seeking redress for the leak, which she and other activists have described as America's worst environmental disaster since the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, when oil gushed into the sea for 87 days following an explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig.
SoCal Gas has been accused of understating the hazards of the leak, as some have raised concerns over the level of benzene being emitted into the air.
"If we can't capture that gas safely, we're not going to do that".
2015 hottest year on record
NOAA said 10 months previous year registered as the hottest for their respective months. "Now we must act!" Schmidt, head of NASA's climate-science unit.
