Gas storage control sought
In light of the Porter Ranch-area well leak, county officials ask state for new rules.
Los Angeles County supervisors called on the state Tuesday to set up a new regulatory structure to oversee natural gas storage facilities like the one in Aliso Canyon that has been leaking for the last two months.
The panel voted unanimously to send a letter to Gov. Jerry Brown and legislative leaders asking the state to modernize inspection technology immediately and update what they described as an antiquated regulatory process.
The vote came one day after Brown met with a handful of Porter Ranch residents and toured the site of the leaking natural gas well.
The letter also will call for the state to establish an independent panel of experts to oversee the inspection and repair of remaining wells across the region and in communities with facilities similar to the one outside Porter Ranch.
Those include wells and storage sites near Santa Barbara, Los Angeles Inter-
national Airport and Valencia, supervisors said.
Porter Ranch residents say fumes from the leak, which began Oct. 23, have left them with headaches, bloody noses and nausea. Thousands have been relocated to temporary housing by Southern California Gas Co. under orders from the county Department of Public Health.
County health officials say the symptoms residents are experiencing are a reaction to additives that give the gas its sulfur-like odor. They do not expect longterm health problems.
Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich, who represents the Porter Ranch area, described the leak as “a mini Chernobyl” and said that health effects could surface months or years down the line.
In a written statement supporting the county’s letter to the governor,” Antonovich initially said the leak was the “result of a massive failure on the part of all involved parties” and “exposes the corruption and incompetence of the state’s regulatory system.”
In a later draft, Antonovich softened the wording to say it “calls into question the efficacy of the state’s regulatory system.”
Rep. Brad Sherman (DSherman Oaks) sent his own letter Tuesday, asking six federal and state agencies to work more closely in stopping the leak as quickly as possible.
During his meeting with residents, Brown expressed concern about the health of people in Porter Ranch and demonstrated that he has been working on the problem, contrary to the complaints of some residents who say he has not been actively involved, said two of the four people who attended the meeting Monday.
“I felt he was engaged and definitely there to find out what was happening in the community,” said Paula Cracium, president of the Porter Ranch Neighborhood Council.
Cracium said she and others at the meeting urged Brown to be more visible on the issue and to help with a major concern that will last long after the leak is plugged — declining property values.
Real estate experts say property values have taken a hit since the leak started in October.
Residents told Brown they want any fines assessed against the gas company reinvested in Porter Ranch’s residential and commercial areas.
The governor’s office did not provide details on the nature of the conversation with residents.
However, a spokesman noted the governor sent a letter to SoCal Gas last month asserting that cleanup “efforts have proven insufficient.”
Before meeting with the residents, the governor spent an hour at the site of the damaged well and at the nearby relief well being drilled to stop the leak.
Porter Ranch residents have complained for weeks about what they saw as Brown’s invisibility on the issue as they moved out of their homes and fought off headaches and nausea associated with the fumes.
Pat Pope, who hosted the hour-long meeting with Brown at his home, said the residents “knew that the governor’s office was working on this, and especially the Office of Emergency Services, but the governor and his staff seemed to be invisible to the rest of the world.”
Company officials believe the leak will not be repaired until February or March. Cracium said residents were growing increasingly concerned about what happens next.
“For us, we believe everyone is working really hard to fix this leak, but we really do need to know that the day after [it’s fixed], we are safe,” Cracium said.
‘I felt he was engaged and definitely there to find out what was happening in the community.’ — Paula Cracium, president of the Porter Ranch Neighborhood Council on Gov. Jerry Brown’s visit