Due to the recent gas leaks from the Southern California Gas Company, the residents of the Porter Ranch community were temporarily re-located. Many of which reported complaints regarding headaches, nosebleeds and other symptoms.
The Southern California Gas Company previously tried to force mud into the well to stop the leak, yet all efforts resulted in failure. On Thursday, however, the California Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources confirmed that the well is temporarily sealed.
Although, on Wednesday the Los Angeles City Council voted to call on its sanitation bureau to step up the sewer service and trash bills of relocated households. This being an imperative matter as basic services have to be provided to the families who moved out of their homes due to the Porter Ranch community gas leak. These residents will have to wait a week before going back to their homes, according to the timeline posted on the Southern California Gas website.
In recent events, the well above Porter Ranch ruptured and discharged roughly 94,000 metric tons of methane into the atmosphere. That amount of methane put the lives of the Porter Ranch community in danger as some showed symptoms related to methane exposure. The company has relocated more than 4,500 households due to the gas leaks reported by the Porter Ranch community.
Now that the gas leak is properly sealed, families won’t be able to move back until Friday. It’s worth mentioning that the massive natural gas leak was reported on October 23, 2015. It was originally accounted at the company’s Aliso Canyon storage facility. The gas leak spewed incredible amounts of methane uncontrollably for 16 weeks before the leak was temporarily plugged last week.
“The last thing Southern California Gas needs is for a second well to leak or crack,” said Senator Fran Pavley. “I realize it can’t be done,” added Pavley on closing the Aliso Canyon permanently.
Following the investigation
The Southern California Gas Company is still under investigation due to the massive leaking of climate-changing amounts of methane. The reasons behind what caused the rupture and discharge of natural gas are still unknown. It’s important to know that California regulators don’t require gas companies to test the pressure of the storage wells. Regulators would have to verify that the leak has been properly sealed before it’s declared over and safe for families to go back, the company said.
Local, state and federal politicians seemed relief as the well was temporarily sealed, yet warned that there’s much work to do to prevent this from happening again. Research teams will continue to drill a backup relief well as a safety measure until the leak has been stopped permanently, according to the SoCal Gas company officials.
Source: The LA Times