With Southern California Gas Co. crews bringing the natural gas leak from the Aliso Canyon Storage Facility under control, U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer called Friday for an independent air quality study to ensure it will be safe for residents to return to their homes.
The thousands of families relocated out of Porter Ranch and other nearby communities during the gas leak have up to eight days to move back after the leak is officially declared fixed by the state Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources.
“Before these families return, they will need to know with certainty that the air will be safe to breathe and their homes will be safe to occupy,” Boxer said.
Boxer said the state agency has a poor reputation and “hasn’t been that respected.”
Mike Mizrahi, a Gas Co. official, told ABC7 in response to Boxer’s statements, that he found it “curious that a government official from the federal level would call for an independent audit because she doesn’t trust the agencies that represent the state.”
The Gas Co. also released a statement saying that “several independent agencies are already conducting real time air monitoring in Porter Ranch,” including the Air Quality Management District, Air Resources Board and the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment
These agencies “all have data that show the air is safe to breath and that it is safe for residents to return to their homes,” the utility said.
“The infrared video released today by the California Air Resources Board and data from a network of state-operated air monitors in the Porter Ranch neighborhood confirm the leaking well at the Aliso Canyon storage facility has been temporarily controlled and emissions have stopped,” the Gas Co. said in a written statement.
“We will continue to work around-the-clock to seal the well with cement and cooperate fully with the Department of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources (DOGGR) as they work to confirm the leak has been permanently sealed.
“Achieving temporary control of the well marks an important milestone in SoCalGas’ efforts to permanently stop the leak, and for residents who relocated during the leak,” the utility said.
“City, county and state air-quality authorities consistently report that the leak posed no long-term health risk, and any short-term symptoms would go away once the leak was stopped.”
As of Wednesday, people from 4,645 households were living in temporary housing at Gas Co. expense.
According to the utility, 1,726 other households that had been relocated have already returned home. The Gas Co. said it also has installed 5,467 air scrubbers at Porter Ranch-area homes and performed “weatherization” work on 5,410 homes.
The Gas Co. said a relief well more than 8,600 feet long intercepted the leaking well and crews began pumping heavy fluids to control the flow of gas on Thursday.
Next, cement will be injected from the relief well into the leaking well, a process expected to take several days. Once the gas company seals the leaking well with cement, the Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources agency must confirm that the flow of gas has stopped. That process is expected to take several more days.
Once the state confirms that the leak has been halted, residents who have been relocated from their homes due to the leak will have eight days to move back to their homes. People living in temporary housing with extended leases will have until those leases run out to return home.
“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,” said Jimmie Cho, Gas Co. senior vice president of Gas Operations and System Integrity.
An estimated 1,100 kindergarten through eighth-grade students at Porter Ranch Community School have been attending class at Northridge Middle School since the beginning of the year.
The 770 kindergarten through fifth-grade students at Castlebay Lane Charter School have been at Sunny Brae Elementary School in Winnetka.
Los Angeles Unified School District officials said absentee rates had been unusually high at both campuses since the leak began. Despite the leak being temporarily stopped and potentially on the way to being permanently sealed, the relocated students are expected to continue classes at their temporary campuses until the end of the school year.
The leak was discovered Oct. 23 and has triggered multiple lawsuits and criminal charges filed by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
The Gas Co. was charged with three counts of failing to report the release of hazardous materials from Oct. 23 to Oct. 26, and one count of discharging air contaminants, beginning Oct. 23 and continuing to the present. The charges are all misdemeanors.
If convicted, the company could be fined up to $25,000 a day for each day it failed to notify the state Office of Emergency Services about the leak. It could be fined up to $1,000 per day for air pollution violations, prosecutors said.
Officials with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health have said they do not believe the gas leak poses any long-term risk, but it plans to continue monitoring air quality in the area.
Environmental attorney Robert Kennedy Jr., speaking on behalf of thousands of Porter Ranch families, said the Santa Susana fault that begins east of Fillmore and runs into the San Fernando Valley, intersects all of the natural gas injection wells located in the Aliso Canyon Underground Storage Facility.
The combination of the fault line and the aging wells’ infrastructure increases the risk of additional well blowouts.
“SoCalGas must be forced to complete all repairs before forcing the residents of Porter Ranch to return,” Kennedy said.
“The Santa Susana earthquake fault lines intersect every gas injection well in this facility, magnifying the risks to human health and property values in Porter Ranch and surrounding communities.”
— City News Service