Air regulators to consider methane burn-off from gas leak

To stop the leak, the company is drilling a relief well about 8,500 feet beneath the surface, but that isn’t expected to finish until March.

The move came at a public hearing where Porter Ranch residents, many of whom have been displaced or sickened by the methane leaking from the underground storage well, expressed frustration over the failure of the state or the utility, Southern California Gas Co, to stop the leak.

Atwood said air regulators would approve the plan to trap and burn the gas if it is deemed safe to do so.

Garcetti said the leak at the Aliso Canyon Natural Gas Storage Facility, operated by Southern California Gas Company, “has been traumatizing for our Porter Ranch residents”.

The meeting will be a continuation of their hearing from January 9 with South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD) board members, with many residents calling for a permanent closure of a gas storage facility ahead of a hearing.

The late Friday meeting marked the highest level delegation of California officials to the Porter Ranch area since Governor Jerry Brown visited the site on January 4, prompting him to declare a state of emergency.

Some environmental activists have called it the worst leak in the United States since the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

A letter the PUC sent the company includes a warning that damage to the well system, which was subjected to two months of aggressive high-pressure pumping to try to plug the leak, might now permit air to mix with methane in a way that “could be catastrophic” if an attempt is made to burn the gas. “Safety is the first priority”, company spokesman Mike Mizrahi said. About 300 people packed the forum at a Granada Hills school, with about a quarter of those speaking out – many venting about the company and regulators.

Attendees held signs that read “Shut it all down”, and asked about the immediate impact on their health, whether they had stayed in their homes or chose to relocate, with expenses to be covered by Southern California Gas Co, one of the country’s biggest gas utilities and a division of San Diego-based Sempra Energy. John Cadiz-Klemack reports for Today in LA on Saturday, Jan. 16, 2016.

Nearby residents have complained of such ailments as headaches, nausea and respiratory irritation from mercaptans, the odorants added to natural gas, according to Los Angeles County health officials.