1/25: California Regulators Order Company To Permanently Close Leaking Gas Well; Porter Ranch Residents Angry Over Failure To Shut Down Gas Leak Facility

California Regulators Order Company To Permanently Close Leaking Gas Well
When Southern California Gas Company finally manages to seal a natural gas storage well that’s been leaking for months, the company will have to shut the well down permanently, California regulators say. And in the meantime, the company will have to minimize air pollution from the ongoing leak and fund an independent study on potential health impacts on the surrounding community. Read more about the new requirements here.

PORTER RANCH RESIDENTS ANGRY OVER FAILURE TO SHUT DOWN GAS LEAK FACILITY
Many Porter Ranch residents were angry after the South Coast Air Quality Management District hearing board voted 4-1 to approve a nuisance abatement order to Southern California Gas Company for its months-long gas leak at a storage facility near the city but stopped short of shutting it down. Read more about the vote here.

Gas company CEO addresses Southern California gas leak
More than 2,600 families have now fled their homes due to the massive gas leak in the Los Angeles suburb of Porter Ranch. But in his first interview since the leak began in October, the CEO of the company responsible says the danger has been overblown. Read more of what he said here.

Gas Leak in Los Angeles Has Residents Looking Warily Toward Flint
Health officials have tested the air and deemed it safe. Yes, the awful smell from a huge natural gas leak near the Porter Ranch neighborhood may cause vomiting, nosebleeds and other short-term symptoms, they say, but they have assured residents that it does not pose long-term health risks. Read about the similarities to the Flint disaster here.

Team from State Assembly Takes Action in Aliso Canyon Gas Leak
A bi-partisan effort is underway in the California State Assembly to address the Aliso Canyon storage facility leak, a discovery last October that methane gas was being released in the Porter Ranch area, affecting residents. Assemblyman Scott Wilk (R-Santa Clarita) coauthored a set of bills with Senator Fran Pavley (D-Agoura Hills) and Senator Ben Allen (D-Santa Monica) to ensure accountability, protect public health and safety and implement practices to prevent another disaster like the leak at the Aliso Canyon storage facility. Read the specifics of their legislation here.

Regulators demand California utility responsible for massive gas leak pay for study on health effects
Regional air quality regulators in California voted on Saturday to require the utility responsible for a ruptured underground pipeline in the Los Angeles area to underwrite an independent study on the health effects of a huge methane leak from the site. Read more about the study here.

Regulators Vote to Shut Down Porter Ranch Gas Well [Video]
Southern California air regulators Saturday approved a sweeping abatement order aimed at minimizing a three-month-old leak of natural gas from a Porter Ranch-area storage facility that has forced evacuations and raised health concerns. Watch the video here.

Panel orders SoCalGas to shut down leaking well in Porter Ranch
Too big to fail. So said a U.S. congressman from the San Fernando Valley on Saturday before the approval of a sweeping nuisance abatement order against the Southern California Gas Co. whose leaking gas well above Porter Ranch sickened residents for months, forcing the relocation of thousands. Read about the terms of the shut down here.

Things to know about 12-week-old Los Angeles gas leak
Since Dec. 21, the air district has been taking samples around the clock, and all but one showed benzene at 0.1 parts per billion, said spokesman Sam Atwood. SoCalGas spokesperson Kristine Lloyd told the AP that the discrepancy between the newest report of high benzene levels and past ones is “an oversight” that was being corrected. See the list here.

My Valley: Save Porter Ranch has New York support
Porter Ranch residents outraged about the massive natural gal leak above their community have found some allies on the other side of the country. A group called We Are Seneca Lake is protesting a Texas-based company’s plan to expand a natural gas storage facility and seeking approval to store liquefied petroleum gases at its property on this bucolic lake, the deepest in the Finger Lakes chain in the southwestern part of New York. Read the rest of the story here.

Stains on Brown’s Legacy – San Onofre, San Bruno and Now … Aliso Canyon in Porter Ranch

Does Jerry Brown see that the stink from the growing natural gas leak in Aliso Canyon and other utility scandals could also be the cloud that tarnishes his legacy after four terms of having voters’ favor? Read about Brown’s legacy here.

CAS Prof Investigates “the Mother of All Gas Leaks”
Of all the thousands of natural gas leaks he’s tracked, Nathan Phillips has never encountered a monster like this. Read the interview with the professor here.