State of Emergency Declared in California over Methane Leak

Massive Methane Leak Continues in SoCal

Gov. Brown has declared a state of emergency in Los Angeles area after a massive methane gas leak in Aliso Canyon continued to sicken the residents for more than two months.

The leak, which was allegedly discovered on October 23, is spewing about 62 million cubic feet of methane gas into the environment each day, with a total of about 79,500 metric tons of the powerful climate pollutant released so far.

The leak is currently spewing between 33,000 and 50,000 kg/hr of the GHG, which is said to be the equivalent of a quarter of California’s total methane emissions from all sources.

The emissions are making the residents sick. Thousands of the residents have experienced nausea, dizziness, vomiting, nosebleeds, and headaches among other symptoms from the hazardous gas.

As of December 29m, some 6,500 families had filed for help, but only about 2,250 were relocated, with another 120 or so staying with family or friends.

Aliso Canyon storage field in Northridge, Los Angeles County, California is owned and operated by Southern California Gas Company, a subsidiary of Sempra Energy.

Methane – the main component of natural gas – is a powerful short-term climate forcer, with over 80 times the warming power of carbon dioxide in the first 20 years after it is released. Methane is estimated to be leaking out of the Aliso Canyon site at a rate of about 62 million standard cubic feet, per day. The daily leakage has the same 20-year climate impact as driving 7 million cars a day. EDF

The following statement was issued by Brown’s office:

SACRAMENTO – Given the prolonged and continuing duration of the Aliso Canyon gas leak and at the request of residents and local officials, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today issued a proclamation that declares the situation an emergency and details the administration’s ongoing efforts to help stop the leak. The order also directs further action to protect public health and safety, ensure accountability and strengthen oversight of gas storage facilities.

Related Links

• Gas Well Blowout at Porter Ranch, California Sickening Residents  December 29, 2015
• GHG Concentrations Hit Yet Another Record  November 9, 2015
• Tap Water Catches Fire in North Dakota January 1, 2014
• Expect ‘Methane Explosions’ in Siberia, Researchers Warn September 23, 2015
• Hundreds of Flares Expelling Methane Gas off NZ Coast April 30, 2015

Gas Well Blowout at Porter Ranch, California Sickening Residents

Monster Gas Leak Spewing up to 50,000 kg/hr of  powerful GHG

The massive gas leak at a natural gas storage well at Aliso Canyon storage field in Northridge, California, operated by SoCalGas, has released about 75,000 metric tons of methane since it was discovered on October 23, 2015.

The leak is currently spewing about 33,000 – 50,000 kg/hr of the GHG, which is said to be the equivalent of a quarter of the state’s total methane emissions from all sources.

The emissions are making the residents sick. Thousands of the residents have experienced nausea, dizziness, vomiting, nosebleeds, and headaches among other symptoms from the hazardous gas.

Some 6,500 families have filed for help, but only about 2,250 have since been relocated, with another 100 or so staying with family or friends.

New video shot with a highly specialized Optical Gas Imaging camera shows time-lapse image of Southern California Gas Co.’s Aliso Canyon gas leak. Video depicts an ominous cloud of methane gas flowing down from the gas well over the community of Porter Ranch. The video shows the gas cloud at 60x speed. For more information visit: http://porterranchlawsuit.com/

Relocating Schools

The Board of Education took action last week to expedite the temporary relocation of Castlebay Lane Charter and Porter Ranch Community School, comprising a total of about 1,900 students, due to disruptions in teaching and learning caused by the methane leak in Aliso Canyon.

“When classes resume after the winter break, the 770 students in grades K-5 who attend Castlebay Lane will be relocated to Sunny Brae Avenue Elementary in Winnetka. Porter Ranch Community School, which has 1,100 students in grades K-8, will relocate to Northridge Middle School. Portable classrooms and available space at the host schools will be used to house the Castlebay Lane and Porter Ranch students, teachers and staff.”

SoCalGas in Aliso Canyon, outside of Los Angeles, has released the following in its latest report on the blowout.

Relief Well  [BPesque?]

Efforts to drill the relief well are progressing. Crews are actively working on Phase 3 of a 5 phase process. This potentially time consuming phase is critical to the overall success, and encompasses positively identifying the leaking well with active magnetic ranging technology. Once identified, the relief well will follow the leaking well to more than 8,000 feet deep and intercept it near its bottom. Once we intercept the well, we will pump heavy mud and fluids into the leaking well to stop the flow of gas from the reservoir and into the well. Once the flow of gas has been stopped, we will pump cement into the bottom of the well to permanently seal it. The drilling process continues around the clock, and is expected to be completed by late February to late March.

As of December 27, we have successfully located the leaking or target well using the active magnetic ranging tool and are preparing to resume drilling.  We have currently drilled approximately 3,800 feet of measured depth.  From this point on, we will be interchanging drilling and ranging equipment as needed to increase the precision of the relief well in relation to the target well’s location and to follow it down at the appropriate distance, angle and orientation.

We are also initiating a secondary relief well as backup to our ongoing drilling of the primary relief well. Grading of the drilling pad for the secondary well should be complete in early January.  At that point a drilling rig will be moved in and set up.  Drilling is slated to begin in late January.