California Governor declares ongoing gas leak a state of emergency

So what happened? Engineers think a 7-inch pipe burst 500 feet below ground, and the Los Angeles Times reports that the leaking well lacked a working safety valve. The well is operated by Southern California Gas Co, which has been trying to cap the leak, but unsuccessfully. Today there are approximately 115 storage wells providing gas to roughly 22 million customers across the Los Angeles Basin.

And relocating the fleeing residents won’t be easy. Resident Matt Pakucko is another. Rodger Schwecke, a SoCalGas executive, confirmed to L.A. Weekly that the company was not required by law to have one in place because the well was not “critical” – a formal definition that means it’s close to residences or roads.

“The order will bring the additional resources and focus we need – to get people back into their homes, restore confidence in the safety of this community, and begin rebuilding quality of life in the neighborhoods affected by the gas leak”, Garcetti said in a statement.

A Craigslist listing for a one-bedroom apartment in Panorama City, boldly titled “PORTER RACH [sic] GAS LEAK VICTIMS LOOK HERE”, lists the unit at a sky-high $4,000 a month.

Image: Equipment and machinery is seen on a ridge above the Well SS25 in Southern California Gas Company’s Aliso Canyon facility. Brown’s proclamation says that the gas company will be responsible for funding projects to cut greenhouse gas pollution and offset the methane emitted from the leaking well. The governor previously resisted local calls for a state declaration, saying he wanted to make sure the utility, rather than the state, bore the financial cost.

That methane gas, insist EDF activists, will have a massive impact on the regional environment.

The governor is also initiating emergency regulations at gas storage facilities across the state, including regular inspection and testing and ongoing measurement of the gas flow within wells. It directs state air officials to update the public regularly on the health risks and to plan a way to offset the huge emissions of methane.

Brown also directed state energy and environmental agencies to study the long-term viability of natural gas storage facilities in the state, both from a safety and climate change perspective.