Porter Ranch, Los Angeles, gas leak

“It is unconscionable that these regulators are putting people at risk while giving companies a pass. The last time Aliso Canyon was inspected by the PUC was the last time Jerry Brown was governor”, said Kelsey Baker, one of the activists at the PUC headquarters.

Permanently plugging the well took 118 days.

Since the leak was discovered, the California Air Resources Board sent up planes multiple times to measure the amount of natural gas gushing out.

The accident is being investigated by Frisco, Texas-based Blade Energy Partners.

The flow of natural gas leaking from the well at the facility near Los Angeles was stopped late last week.

Aliso Canyon is no exception to that lack of oversight, conservationists warn.

The activist group Save Porter Ranch has been demanding the field be shut down.

“This has been among the worst environmental catastrophes in recent history”, said Robin Greenwald, a senior attorney with Weitz & Luxenberg, a law firm which is taking legal action on behalf of some Porter Ranch residents.

The official end of the gas leak means also that students at Porter Ranch Community School and Castlebay Lane Charter School will be able to return to their respective campuses. Residents in the area were forced to relocate to temporary housing while state, federal and SoCalGas officials worked to control the leak.

SoCalGas was slow to get word of the leak out to residents, which outraged many.

The company’s attorneys entered the pleas in front of Judge Alan S. Rosenfield in Los Angeles County Superior Court in Santa Clarita.

SoCalGas is a regulated subsidiary of Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE), a Fortune 500 energy services holding company based in San Diego.

And so far the monetary loss is huge. On Feb. 11, 2016, the company pumped in heavy fluids and successfully controlled the flow of gas out of the leaking well.

Expenses related to the leak will be paid for by the company, which has $1 billion in insurance, not by ratepayers, Arriola said. SoCalGas, which has been paying relocation costs for more than 6,000 households, has said its response to the leak will cost about $250 to $300 million. The massive gas leak that spewed uncontrollably for almost four months drove thousands of Los Angeles residents to pack up and leave their homes, while others rode it out.

“The leak in Aliso Canyon storage field is permanently sealed”.

SS 25 was a “vintage well” that began drilling for oil in 1953. He wanted to be assured that safety valves were in place on wells in the mountain top facility, especially since the leaking well had a safety valve removed in 1979 that was not replaced.

Aliso Canyon is a 3,600 acre site comprising 115 wells and is the second largest such facility in the US.