UNSTOPPABLE CALIFORNIA GAS LEAK BEING CALLED WORST CATASTROPHE
SINCE BP
POSTERS COMMENT...
OK FOLKS....THIS JUST MAY STOP OUR PRECIOUS GCR / RV. DO WE HAVE YOUR ATTENTION YET?? FOLKS WE ALSO HAD A CHEMTRAIL DAY (CHRISTMAS) IN THE MAJORITY OF THIS COUNTRY....THANKS TO OUR U.S. AIR FORCE .... GENERAL D. WE THANK YOU FOR KEEPING THE TOXINS GOING THROUGH THE NATION ON CHRISTMAS AS WE WOULDN'T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITHOUT THEM..... THIS IS A MARK OF GREAT LEADERSHIP.... IT IS SUCH A UN (UN) AMERICAN DAY....THANKS UN...... BY THE WAY, WE NEED TO TELL YOU THE REST OF YOUR ILK TO GET OUT OF OUR COUNTRY NOW AND SPEND SOME TIME DUMPING THE TRAILS ON BILLY BOP GATES, KING BARNARD, AND THE D.C. WHOREHOUSE......... THESE PIECES OF SHITTOLA NEED TO FEEL THE SENSATION OF WHAT THEIR MONEY IS CAUSING OTHERS....OH!! THANKS TO GENERAL D'S FRIEND AIR FORCE GENERAL MARK A. WELSH III.... CHIEF OF STAFF OF THE U.S. AIR FORCE ... HE IS DOING WHAT THE TRAITORS, COMMIES, AND NAZIS IN THE UN WANT HIM TO DO.... YOU GUYS ARE DOING SUCH A GREAT JOB IN POISONING AND MURDERING YOUR FAMILIES, FRIENDS, AND COUNTRY... YOU KNOW THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG WHEN THE BOY SCOUTS ARE ASKING US WHERE IS GENERAL D'S FIGHTING MILITARY AND OUR MILITIA. HAVE THEY ALL BEEN BOUGHT AND PAID FOR LIKE WHAT HAPPENED TO THE TEA PARTY AND REPUBLIC OF TEXAS IN THE EARLY 1990'S.... IT IS PRETTY DAMN SAD WHEN WE HAVE MORE GUNS AND AMMO THAN THE MILITARY AND WE SIT BACK AND WATCH ICELAND DO WHAT THEY DID WITH PITCHFORKS AND BROOMS...PEOPLE WE EITHER GET THE TRAITORS NOW OR WE WILL SEEING MUZZY'S AT OUR DOORS SOON... MOST OF MY (OUR) COUNTRY SEEMS LIKE A BUNCH OF SCARED WHIMPS...
_______________________________________________________________ INTRODUCTION
http://theantimedia.org/unstoppable-california-gas-leak-being-called-worst-catastrophe-since-bp-spill/
SEE ARTICLE BELOW THIS INTRODUCTION
"If that leak ever blows, I'm guessing it would make the combined energy and destruction released by Hiroshima and Nagasaki look like a 'Piccolo Pete'." The crater alone would probably be 10 miles around, and who knows how long the methane would continue to burn off? Another probably even more devastating event that could occur in the event of a huge uncontrolled explosion would be the triggering of a giant earthquake. A safe relocation distance from the potential blast radius would probably be somewhere around Santa Clarita, but even that may be too close.
Population Stats For Porter Ranch California
24,923 population in 2000, according to the U.S. Census
30,571 population in 2008, based on L.A. Department of City Planning estimates. (Who knows what the current total population is for Porter Ranch, 43,000? maybe?)
5.59 square miles
4,462 people per square mile, among the lowest densities for the city of Los Angeles but about average for the county
Updated December 23, 2015
Letter from Dennis Arriola, SoCalGas President and CEO :
To the Community Affected by the Aliso Canyon Natural Gas Leak. On behalf of all of us at SoCalGas®, I would like to thank each and every one of you for your understanding and patience during this time. I especially want to thank those families who have chosen to temporarily relocate for their continued cooperation. (To read more, click links below.)
Letter from Dennis Arriola (English)
Letter from Dennis Arriola (Español)
Letter from Dennis Arriola (Korean)
Letter from Dennis Arriola (Armenian)
Special Notice: Some customers have reported to us that they have received calls from SoCalGas offering relocation services. We are NOT contacting customers in the area with that offer. We will only contact customers who have made a request for relocation or in-home air filtration. If you receive a call, and are concerned about the offer, please call our hotline at 818-435-7707 or email us at AlisoCanyon@SoCalGas.com.
If you are interested in receiving updates on Aliso Canyon, you can fill out a form here.
Air Filtration & Air Purification: We are offering air purification and weatherization services to local residents in the 91326 zip code to help with the odor problem. We are working with a licensed Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) contractor to provide whole-house air purification by replacing the standard air filter(s) in your HVAC system with a specially designed activated carbon filter that can remove the compounds found in natural gas and its odorant from the air in your home.
If you wish to purchase a system separately, please ensure that the unit uses an activated carbon/charcoal filter, filters out VOCs (volatile organic compounds), and is approved by the California Air Resources Board (CARB). CARB has provided a letter discussing the various types of technologies available for air purification and recommends a few air purifier models. Although we don’t expressly recommend a particular brand, typical examples are available by following this link , or you can see all of the approved CARB filters by clicking here. For more information, please call the SoCalGas® Aliso Canyon hotline at 818-435-7707 or email us at AlisoCanyon@SoCalGas.com. You can also email CARB at aircleaners@arb.ca.gov or call CARB at 916-445-0753.
Temporary Relocation: For residents in neighboring communities who wish to relocate, we are providing free, temporary housing accommodations, including locations that can accommodate residents with disabilities and people with access and functional needs. And for residents with pets, we have arranged pet-friendly locations. For more information, please call us at 404-497-6808 and indicate that you are a SoCalGas customer calling about an Aliso Canyon claim.
For those residents who have been temporarily relocated, you can download a reimbursement package.
For residents temporarily located, and staying with friends or family, please download the following information package.
General Claims: If you feel you have suffered harm or injury as a result of this incident, please complete this online form or call us at 213-244-5151 and one of our claims processors will help you.
Safety at Aliso Canyon
The safety of our employees, contractors and people in the communities we serve continues to be our top priority. We continue to work alongside multiple agencies such as L.A. County and City Fire, The Department of Public Health, CAL-OES, DOGGR and CPUC, to oversee the operation and worker safety.
Connecting with SoCalGas
For guidance on securing temporary accommodations, how to file a claim, and how to get free home air filtration and weather stripping to reduce odor, and other questions, the Community Resource Center is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends.
Holiday hours for the center are:
December 24, Christmas Eve: 10 AM to 4 PM
December 25, Christmas Day: Closed
December 31, New Year’s Eve: 10 AM to 4 PM
January 1, New Year’s Day: Closed
It is located at 19731 Rinaldi St. just south of Ralphs grocery store in the Porter Ranch Town Center.
Stopping the Flow of Gas
SoCalGas’ team of well-management experts has resumed a multi-day process of pumping fluids down the well to stop the flow of gas. The goal is to fill the well pipe with enough brine solution to outweigh the pressure of the gas coming up out of the ground. The brine solution will act like a plug. Once the flow of natural gas is stopped, we will begin the effort to place a permanent seal at the bottom of the well pipe.
Relief Well
Crews are actively working on Phase 3 of the process. This potentially time consuming phase is critical to the overall success, and encompasses positively identifying the leaking well with electromagnetic 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.
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.
Air Samples & The Environment
The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has completed an assessment of six weeks of air samples taken from areas around the Aliso Canyon storage facility, and their results state that “available Porter Ranch neighborhood air sample data does not indicate that an acute toxicity health hazard exists in the Porter Ranch neighborhood as a result of the Aliso Canyon natural gas leak”. For details from OEHHA, please click here.
We have added experts from multiple, highly experienced companies to help us in evaluating solutions to recapture natural gas escaping from the well site. These solutions will assist in minimizing the impact of leaking gas as well as provide the benefit of helping to heat and power local residences and businesses.
A team of our environmental specialists and retained experts will continue conducting daily air sampling and monitoring at several representative sites both within the leak site and the community. Although experts agree that natural gas is not toxic and that the levels of the odorant in the natural gas are too low to be a long-term health concern, we are continuing to conduct this sampling to provide the community with more information. The samples we are taking are in addition to those being taken by South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD). Click here for our Air Sample Updates.
Background
On October 23, SoCalGas crews discovered a leak at one of the natural gas storage wells at its Aliso Canyon storage field. In response, we activated the appropriate procedures to begin to address the leak.
We regret that the smell of the odorant in natural gas is unpleasant and that some people are sensitive to the odor, and we sincerely apologize for the annoyance and concern this odor is causing the neighboring communities. However, the leak does not pose an imminent threat to public safety. The well is located in an isolated, mountain area more than a mile away from and more than 1,200 feet higher than the closest home or public area. Scientists agree natural gas is not toxic and that its odorant is harmless at the minute levels at which it is added to natural gas. In outdoor locations such as this, natural gas quickly dissipates into the air, greatly reducing the possibility for ignition and further diluting the gas as it reaches the public. The human nose is amazingly sensitive and can detect the smell of the odorant at levels much lower than any level of concern.
We have assembled a world-class team of experts, and we are working as quickly as safety will allow to stop the leak. In addition, we are in regular communication with L.A. City and County Fire and Hazmat Departments, the L.A. County Department of Health, the California Division of Oil, Gas & Geothermal Resources, and the South Coast Air Quality Management District.
We apologize for how this incident may be affecting you, and we appreciate the community's ongoing patience as we work as quickly and safely as possible to resolve this situation. If you believe you have suffered harm or injury as a result of this incident, please complete this online form or call 213-244-5151. For temporary housing accommodations, call us at 404-497-6808.
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Claire Bernish
December 23, 2015
(ANTIMEDIA) Porter Ranch, CA — Methane gas continues spewing, unchecked, into the air over southern California from a fractured well to an underground storage site — at such an alarming rate that low-flying planes have necessarily been diverted by the FAA, lest internal combustion engines meet highly volatile gas and, well, blow the entire area to hell.
This is, indeed, the biggest environmental catastrophe since the BP Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010; and for now, there is no way to stop it.
This methane disaster is worse than can be sufficiently described in words, because while it’s estimated well over 100,000 pounds of methane spew into the atmosphere every hour, the leak can’t be halted, at least until spring. Even then, that stoppage depends entirely on the efficacy of a proposed fix — which remains a dubiously open question.
According to the California Air Resources Board, methane — a greenhouse gas 72 times more impactful in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide — has been escaping from the Aliso Canyon site with force equivalent “to a volcanic eruption” for about two months now. So far, the total leaked gas measures somewhere around 100,000 tons — adding “approximately one-quarter to the regular statewide methane emissions” during that same time frame.
“The relative magnitude of emissions from the leak compared to other sources of methane in the State underscores the urgency of stopping the gas leak. This comes on top of any problems caused by odor and any potential impacts from exposure,” states the initial report on the Aliso leak by air quality officials.
“The enormity of the Aliso Canyon gas leak cannot be overstated. Gas is escaping through a ruptured pipe more than 8,000 feet underground, and it shows no signs of stopping. As the pressure from the weight on top of the pipe causes the gas to diffuse, it only continues to dissipate across a wider and wider area,” explained Erin Brockovich, who spent time in nearby Porter Ranch investigating the leak.
Officials and experts are concerned, and they can’t recall another leak of this magnitude in decades — if ever. “I asked this question of our staff of 30 years,” said Steve Bohlen, who recently left his position as state supervisor of oil and gas. “This is unique in the last three or four decades. This is an unusual event, period.”
Though methane, itself, has no odor, the addition of odorants methyl mercaptan and tetrahydrothiophene — a safety measure to alert people by smell to the presence of natural gas — has made the enormous methane seepage impossible to ignore. Thousands of households have evacuated the area, despite little help, much less information, from the gas company about when they might be able to return. As reported by the Los Angeles Times, SoCalGas spokesperson Michael Mizrahi claimed the company had paid to relocate and house 2,092 households — but that effort is severely lacking, says Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer.
Yesterday, the city attorney’s office sought a restraining order to mandate SoCalGas relocate residents in the affected area within 48 hours of their request; and it is also seeking a “special master” to oversee the entire relocation operation, which is currently being handled by the gas company. Not only does the present relocation lack speed and coordination, but a housing crunch has resulted in surrounding areas — in some cases landlords, who prefer year-long leases to shorter terms, have driven rent as high as $8,500 per month. Hotels are operating at capacity, and in “some of those hotel rooms there are not enough beds for the people who are being moved,” explained chief deputy to the city attorney, James P. Clark.
“It’s time Porter Ranch residents had direct and complete answers about all facets of this leak,” Clark continued, “including what caused it, how to stop it, and what will be done to assure it never happens again. They should receive better, quicker, and completely adequate relocation assistance.”
On Thursday, Los Angeles Unified School District board members voted unanimously to close two Porter Ranch schools and relocate their 1,900 students and staff to different locations for the foreseeable future. A local emergency has been declared by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.
Multiple lawsuits have now been initiated against SoCalGas and/or its parent company, Sempra Energy. A Los Angeles firm representing three of the families, who filed their suit Friday, described in a statement that the well has been “leaking noxious odors, hazardous gases, chemicals, pollutants, and contaminants due to a massive well failure and blowout. However, SoCalGas failed to inform residents of neighboring communities of the disastrous gas leak in a timely manner, putting the health and well-being of thousands of families in jeopardy.” Those suits allege “negligence, strict liability of ultra-hazardous activity, private nuisance, inverse condemnation, and trespass.”
A class-action lawsuit has also been filed on behalf of the Save Porter Ranch group; and City Attorney Mike Feuer filed a civil suit earlier this month due to the leak’s continued threat to residents’ health and damage to the environment, alleging failure by SoCalGas to prevent the leak and further exacerbation of “the effects of that failure by allowing the acute odor and health problems faced by the community to persist for more than one month, to say nothing about the indefinite time it will persist into the future,” state the court documents. “No community should have to endure what the residents of Porter Ranch have suffered from the gas company’s continued failure to stop that leak,” Feuer stated.
SoCalGas insists there will be no long-term health effects resulting from the persistent leak; but as Brockovich pointed out, “no one really knows the potential long-term side effects of benzene and radon, the carcinogens that are commonly found in natural gas.” In an email to the Los Angeles Daily News, SoCalGas stated they were “providing air filters for people’s homes” and “have established a claims process for those who feel they may have suffered harm or injury. And our top priority remains stopping this leak as quickly and safely as possible.
“While the odor added to the leaking gas can cause symptoms for some, the gas is not toxic and county health officials have said the leak does not pose a long-term health risk.”
But what’s making this massive leak so difficult to stop pertains to the storage ‘container,’ itself. “We have the largest natural gas storage system in the world,” boasts Chris McGill, vice president of the American Gas Association. In the United States, old underground oil fields are often put to use as storage vessels for natural gas — because, hey, that geology worked just fine to hold oil for millions of years, so why not natural gas?
In fact, there are some 300 such depleted subterranean oil fields being employed this way around the United States. Aliso Canyon, a natural gas storage site since the 1970s, has one of the largest capacities: 86 billion cubic feet. During the summer, gas earmarked for winter heating is pumped into these underground cavities by SoCalGas — and the process is reversed with the turn of the seasons. However, this year, workers encountered what quickly became evident was anything but a typical hiccup. As Wired reported:
“On October 23, workers noticed the leak at a 40-year-old well in Aliso Canyon. Small leaks are routine, says Bohlen, and SoCalGas did what it routinely does: put fluid down the well to stop the leak and tinker with the well head. It didn’t work. The company tried it five more times, and the gas kept leaking. At this point, it was clear the leak was far from routine, and the problem was deeper underground.”
Beginning December 4th, SoCalGas crews began drilling a relief well to intercept the fissured pipe. Cement will then be poured into both to seal the wells permanently. Of course, for this to work, crews must locate that original pipe, which is a mere seven inches in diameter, thousands of feet underground — without accidentally creating any sparks, whatsoever. Work near the leak site, therefore, has been prohibited after nightfall, when lighting equipment could potentially cause such a spark; though drilling for the relief well is situated far enough away to continue nonstop.
Flaring, or setting a deliberate fire to burn off excess gas, simply isn’t an option. The mammoth scope of this leak means a flare would ultimately complicate matters even further.
“There is no stone being left unturned to get this well closed,” Bohlen stated. “It’s our top priority.”
In the meantime, it will be months without any possibility of halting this disaster-in-motion. Sickened, uprooted, and furious residents can rest assured, though, because even as methane spews nonstop into the air, SoCalGas did have this consolation:
“We are deeply sorry for the frustration.”
1 comment:
They better not let haliburton plug the well or it will be another bp.
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