Porter Ranch Gas Leak Rages On, State of Emergency Declared

Governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency in Porter Ranch on Wednesday.

Although the well is situated in a mountainous area more than a mile away from residential areas, residents have complained of health effects like headaches, nausea, vomiting and breathing difficulties.

SoCal Gas maintains more than 160 of the roughly 340 active gas storage wells in the state. Methane is an incredibly potent greenhouse gas; it traps 86 times more heat over a 20-year period than carbon dioxide does.

In a sunny suburb of Los Angeles, an invisible menace rages.

The leakage stems from a vast underground storage field in Porter Ranch, on the outskirts of Los Angeles.

Southern California Gas President Dennis Arriola said in a statement Wednesday that the company was focusing on stopping the leak and minimizing the harm to residents.

Southern California Gas’ reservoir is one of the largest underground natural-gas storage facilities in the US and can hold enough natural gas to fuel Southern Californnia for a month, according to ABC News.

Gov. Brown’s order – which makes state personnel, equipment and facilities available to aid the situation – states that the gas company, not California, will be responsible for all expenses related to the leak and that Southern California Gas Co. will not raise rates as a result.

“The Governor’s Office of Emergency Services… shall provide frequent and timely updates to residents affected by the natural gas leak and the appropriate local officials, including convening community meetings”, Brown added, in the statement. That sounds nice, but experts still say the leak will take months to fix. Ariola said the utility would work with the state to offset the long-term environmental impact of the gas.

Los Angeles County and the Los Angeles school board already have declared the crisis an emergency, moving students out of two schools in the neighborhood.

Brown’s order seems to assure that will happen.