Gas company finds underground location of leaking LA well

The Gas Co. has already told state regulators that drilling of the primary relief well will be completed by February 24.

The company is aiming to intersect the leaking well with the relief well at more than 8,500 feet below the surface and pump heavy mud and fluids into the leaking well to stop the flow of gas from the Aliso Canyon gas storage reservoir below.

The leak itself is invisible but new infrared video shows a jet of gas pluming into the foothills, which hopefully will bring some awareness to the issue. Although the Los Angeles County Department of Health and SoCal Gas have assured residents that the leak poses no harm to human health, the highly-flammable, odorless gas has been treated with chemicals to give it a “rotten-eggs” smell, which can cause headaches, nausea, and nosebleeds. They are drilling a relief well nearby that they will eventually connect to the leaking well so they can plug it with cement.

The most concerning result of the leak, however, is that methane is a potent greenhouse gas, according to the California Air Resources Board (CARB).

“It’s one of the biggest leaks we’ve ever seen reported”, Tim O’Connor, the California climate director for the Environment Defense Fund, told The Washington Post.

“We think it’s probably leaking above the thousand-foot level”, Gas Co. spokeswoman Melissa Bailey said Monday. Since then, over 2,100 families have been placed in temporary housing due to adverse health effects suffered by people living near the methane leak. The move is set to take place over winter break and could last until June. Southern California Gas Co.is paying to relocate those who say they are being sickened.

The rate of release has surprised methane experts for its ferocity and because California is under a legal mandate to reduce carbon emissions to flatten the trajectory of climate change. By that point, enough methane will have been released into the atmosphere to make an impact on the United States’ total yearly emissions – to say nothing of the costs and upheaval residents of Aliso Canyon have endured, or the financial cost of repairing the broken line.

The leak at SoCal Gas’ Aliso Canyon site is northwest of Los Angeles and just adjacent to the Porter Ranch community. It is home to about 30,000 people and includes parks and hiking trails.

The leaking well is an 8,700-foot steel pipeline measuring seven inches in diameter that deposits natural gas into an underground storage field.