Utility: California gas leak to be stopped ahead of schedule

A utility company says it expects to stop a huge natural gas leak in Southern California ahead of schedule – by the end of February or sooner.

On Monday So Cal Gas said it has abandoned a plan to capture and burn off the gas, which is a far more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.

Meanwhile, attorneys suing SoCalGas on behalf of angry residents who are calling for the 86 Bcf, 3,600-acre underground storage field to be closed have challenged SoCalGas’ characterizations that the leaking volumes had decreased by 60% and that only trace amounts of benzene have been measured around Porter Ranch since the leak was discovered October 23 (see Daily GPI, Nov. 12, 2015). Decaying pipelines under the streets of New York City represent a “ticking time bomb”, according to a report from TV station CBS2.

The Gas Co.’s new timeline comes after it decided not to install a gas-capture system at the leaking well because of safety concerns expressed by engineers.

Damage to the well might allow air to mix with methane, a development that “could be catastrophic”, the PUC said in a three-page letter.

California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment stated that the illnesses being experienced by residents impacted by the methane leak could be from mercaptan.

Gov. Jerry Brown has declared an emergency.

She made the comments during an address advising residents to file legal suits seeking redress for the leak, which she and other activists have described as America’s worst environmental disaster since the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, when oil gushed into the sea for 87 days following an explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig.

The company is under orders to pay to relocate about 4,500 families until the problem is fixed, which is not expected until March.

Such a process risked “additional fire” if the gas is blown downwind to nearby incinerators, Nazemi added.

A Southern California Gas Co. graphic shows efforts to plug the leaking gas well above Porter Ranch.

The AQMD’s board will reconvene the public hearing on Wednesday. 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.

On Saturday, the Southern Coast Air Quality Management District also proposed ordering SoCal Gas to permanently shut down the Aliso Canyon facility, which is the largest west of the MS and includes 115 wells.