CRIMINAL AND CIVIL CHARGES FILED AGAINST SEMPRA’S SOCALGAS OVER SAN ALISO GAS LEAK 2.5K
Total Views: 24 By Miriam Raftery Updated February 3, 2016 with SoCalGas response. February 2, 2016 (San Diego)—Los Angeles District Attorney Jackie Lacy today announced filing of four misdemeanor criminal charges against Sempra Energy’s Southern California Gas (SoCalGas) over the leak at its San Aliso underground natural gas facility. The leak has pumped 80,000 metric tons of methane into the air, sickening residents of nearby Porter Ranch and causing thousands to relocate. In addition, California Attorney General Kamala Harris today announced a civil suit filed by California against SoCalGas, which provides gas to most southern California counties. The new suits, along with suits filed by residents, add to the financial toll that SoCalGas and potentially, Sempra ratepayers may ultimately be forced to cover. “We are reviewing these lawsuits and will defend ourselves vigorously through the judicial process,” So Cal Gas spokesperson Kristine Lloyd told East County Magazine. “Our focus continues to be on working hard to stop the gas leak, mitigate the odors associated with the leak as quickly as safety allows, and to address our neighbors’ concerns. We don’t have any additional information to share at this time on these legal cases.” The civil suit, filed on behalf of the California Air Resource Board, alleges that the company violated state health and safety laws by failing to promptly control the natural gas release and report it to authorities. The suit also cites the environmental damage caused by the leak, undermining the state’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to slow the pace of climate change. “While we recognize that neither the criminal charges nor the civil lawsuits will offer the residents of Los Angeles County a complete solution, it is important that Southern California Gas Co. be held responsible for its criminal actions,” District Attorney Lacey said. “We will do everything we can as prosecutors to help ensure that the Aliso Canyon facility is brought into compliance. I believe we can best serve our community using the sanctions available through a criminal conviction to prevent similar public health threats in the future.” The criminal complaint charges the company with four misdemeanor counts: three counts of failing to report the release of hazardous materials from Oct. 23 to Oct. 26, 2015, and one count of discharging air contaminants, beginning on Oct. 23, 2015, to the present. If convicted, the company could be fined up to $25,000 a day for each day that it failed to notify the California Office of Emergency Services. The company also could be fined up to $1,000 per day for air pollution violations. Arraignment is set for February 17. The civil suit filed by the state of California seeks an injunction, civil penalties, and restitution for damages. The state’s suit alleges claims of public nuisance, health and safety code violations for emitting air contaminants and failing to report hazardous material discharges, as well as violations of California’s Unfair Competition Law and impairment of the state’s natural resources. As of January 8, 2016, 11 weeks after the leak was discovered, an estimated two million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (two percent of statewide greenhouse gas emissions for the same period) were emitted—a total that continues to mount as the leak continues. “The impact of this unprecedented gas leak is devastating to families in our state, our environment, and our efforts to combat global warming. Southern California Gas Company must be held accountable,” said Attorney General Harris. “This gas leak has caused significant damage to the Porter Ranch community as well as our statewide efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and slow the impacts of climate change. My office will continue to lead this cross-jurisdictional enforcement action to ensure justice and relief for Californians and our environment.” “This action recognizes the impacts of this ongoing leak on our climate and ensures there’s accountability,” said California Air Resources Board Chair Mary Nichols. The Attorney General’s filing complements ongoing actions of the numerous government agencies that are coordinating efforts related to the gas leak. In addition to the Air Resources Board, these agencies include the California Energy Commission, the California Public Utilities Commission, the Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources, the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board, the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment and the South Coast Air Quality Management District. Also included are the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 9 and Los Angeles County. SoCalGas has indicated it is drilling an 8,500 foot deep relief well in hopes of plugging the leak by later this month, if all goes well, according to a recent press release. Lloyd told ECM, ” In addition to working around the clock to stop the leak, we are cooperating with ongoing regulatory reviews of our Aliso Canyon gas storage operations including responding to data requests about our operations.” Printer-friendly version
2.5K viewsMETHANE LEAK AT ALISO CANYON COULD BE STOPPED BY LATE FEB.: COMPANY HALTS PROPOSAL TO BURN OFF GAS AND ANNOUNCES PLAN TO CLOSE WELL AFTER SEALING IT 3
Total Views: 44 By Miriam Raftery January 19, 2016 (Los Angeles) – Southern California Gas (SoCalGas) announced yesterday that its relief well drilling to stop the massive Aliso Canyon natural gas leak north of Los Angeles is “proceeding ahead of schedule and the company expects to stop the leak by late February, if not sooner.” The relief well drilling began December 4th and must reach a depth of 8,500 feet. “Once the well is sealed, it will be taken out of service permanently,” a SoCalGas press release states. In addition, the company announced it has abandoned its earlier proposal for a gas capture system to burn off leaking gas because of safety concerns expressed by its engineers. State regulators had also expressed concerns that the plan could potentially result in a fire. Jimmie Cho, senior vice president of gas operations for SoCalGas, a subsidiary of Sempra Energy in San Diego, said the company has had a team of experts working around the clock. “Our top priority remains the safety of those working on the site and of the nearby community. We are focsed on stopping the leak as quickly and safely as possible, mitigating the environmental impact, and supporting the community,” he said. A leaking underground gas storage site in the urban area has pumped over 85,000 metric tons of methane into the air since the leak was detected October 23rd, amounting to 1% of the state’s greenhouse gas emissions according to SoCalGas, though some other experts have estimated the impact on climate change to be substantial. According to the Environmental Defense Fund, each day of the leak spews as much climate pollutant into the air as 4.5 million to 9 million cars. Last week, the company admitted that an earlier statement indicating only two methane spikes had been measured was inaccurate, and that in fact 14 spikes have occurred in the impacted area. However yesterday the company issued a new statement indicating benzene levels on Friday were consistent with benzene levels for the broader Los Angeles region. Benzene exposure has been linked to blood cancer, among other health problems. The environmental disaster has been called the worst since the Deepwater Horizon oil spill by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, who has indicated there will be “hell to pay” for when asked by KNX radio if criminal charges should be filed against whoever is responsible. Governor Jerry Brown has declared a state of emergency over the leak. The leak has forced evacuation of thousands of families in Porter Ranch. Some political leaders have called for broader evacuations including Northridge, Granada Hills and Chatsworth, where high methane levels have also been measured and some residents have complained of health symptoms experienced by themselves and their pets. SoCalGas, in its latest media release, indicated it is responding to complaints in those areas on a case by case basis. SoCalGas and its parent, Sempra, owner of Southern California Gas & Electric (SDG&E) has been targeted by at least 25 lawsuits filed by residents, the city and county of Los Angeles seeking damages. The legal actions claim negligence, hazardous activity, nuisance and trespass, seeking compensation for physical injuries, emotional harm, and reduced property values. Celebrity attorneys have recently met with concerned residents, including environmental lawyer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (son of the late Senator) and Erin Brockovich, whose successful legal fight against Pacific Gas & Electric over polluting a town led to a $333 million settlement and the Oscar-winning movie, “Erin Brockovich.” Brockovich told residents at a recent townhall meeting, “If you don’t’ have information—and information that is truthful—you cannot protect what’s most valuable and important to you—that is your health and the welfare of your families and your safety.” Sempra has retained the San Diego law firm Latham & Watkins to represent the company. Yet to be resolved is who will pay for the damages caused by the leak. Sempra ratepayers have already been asked to absorb the company’s uninsured losses for some of the 2007 wildfires, as well as costs of Southern California Edison’s errors that led to a radiation leak and shutdown costs of the San Onofre generation stations in a region that already had among the highest electricity rates in the nation. Printer-friendly version
3 viewsMASSIVE METHANE LEAK FORCED THOUSANDS TO EVACUATE; GAS SPREADING ACROSS SAN FERNANDO VALLEY; WELLHEAD IS AT RISK OF EXPLOSIVE BLOWOUT 8.7K
Total Views: 52 Leak at So Cal Gas facility exposes nationwide problem of aging gas infrastructure at hundreds of sites By Miriam Raftery January 17, 2016 (Los Angeles)—The news sounds like the plot of a disaster thriller movie, but it’s real. The worst environmental disaster since the BP oil spill, a methane gas leak that began Oct. 23 at a storage well in Aliso Canyon in northern Los Angeles has pumped over 85,000 metric tons of methane into the air. According to the Environmental Defense Fund, each day of the leak spews as much climate pollutant into the air as 4.5 million to 9 million cars. The leak at the site operated by Southern California Gas (a Sempra Energy company that also supplies San Diego’s gas) is endangering health and safety of residents as well as contaminating the environment and pumping a powerful climate pollutant into the atmosphere. But it may soon get a lot worse. A Los Angeles Times investigation reveals that efforts to plug the leak by drilling relief wells has been halted—after a backwash from those efforts caused a crater 80 feet long, 30 feet wide and 25 feet deep, leaving the wellhead itself exposed and now at risk of a catastrophic blowout. Access to control valves have been cut off by the crater. The consequences of a blowout sparking an explosive fire with highly flammable methane across miles of suburban communities is chilling. “It’s a mega-leak,” one of the biggest ever recorded,” Timothy O’Conner, oil and gas director for the Environmental Defense Fund in California has stated. “The plume is about 1,000 feet high and several miles long.” Methane has 94 times more climate warming power than carbon dioxide, and EDF has warned that even a small methane leak “greatly accelerates the rate of climactic change.” A single spark near the highly flammable methane plume could ignite a massive explosion and fire. The risk is so great that cell phones and watches are banned from the site—and a fix, best case scenario, is still weeks away. Sempra Energy reportedly told the Times it “would not speculate” on current conditions at the site. But physical sciences professor Gene Nelson of Cuesta College told the Times, “If the wellhead fails, the thing is just going to be full blast.” Racing against time, the utility has proposed to capture about half of the still-leaking gas and burn it off. But now the California Public Utilities Commission has called a halt to that plan for now, unless fire officials and regulatory officials can agree it’s safe. Regulators, no doubt mindful of the deadly San Bruno natural gas explosion that leveled a city block, have noted that burning the gas could potentially cause a catastrophic explosion and fire. The leak has slowed 60 percent since its inception nearly three months ago, but the amount of methane still spewing forth remains alarming for residents, environmentalists and public health officials. 10,000 residents of nearby Porter Ranch have evacuated and been forced to relocated. But new test results consulted by Massachusetts-based consultants in recent days week found high levels of methane in Northridge, Granada Hills and Chatsworth. In some cases, levels ranged from double to an astounding 67 times higher than normal, ECO Watch reported on January 15th. Northridge, it’s worth noting, is where the devastating 6.7 earthquake was centered in 1994. Should a major earthquake or brush fire occur in the vicinity of the worst methane leak in world history, the scale of the damage could be unthinkable. The methane contamination has spread “all the way across” the San Fernando Valley, Gas Safety’s Bob Ackley, one of the consultants who took measurements, stated. Residents in these communities, like the displaced Porter Ranch residents, have complained of illness including vomiting, headaches, nose bleeds, eye irritation and breathing problems, but thus far So Cal Gas has not responded to residents’ pleas for relocation outside of Porter Ranch. Los Angeles City Councilman Mitchell Englander has urged So Cal Gas to relocate his constituents in these areas. Two schools have been shut down, many businesses and property values impacted, and now L.A. Supervisor Michael Antonovich has said he will ask Supervisors on Tuesday to halt new residential developments slated in much of the northern San Fernando Valley. “It’s just like in hell,” Matt Pakucko, co-founder of the citizens group Save Porter Ranch, stated in an interview with Amy Goodman on the Democracy Now! Radio show. “I don’t know what’s going to happen day to day. I don’t know if I can work. I don’t know if I can breathe. When I feel sick, am I getting a cold or am I like dying from this crap?” He added that bills are stacking up, unpaid, due to missing work because of the crisis. Governor Jerry Brown declared a state emergency on January 6 due to the Aliso Canyon/Porter Ranch gas leak. But many contend that’s too little, too late. Some cynically note that Brown’s sister, Kathleen Brown, is a director on Sempra Energy’s board. California's Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein have both asked for federal help to halt the devastasting leak. Michael Conley with Scientific Aviation conducted research flights over the leak in early November, calculating that about a million kilograms of methane were being released per day. He told ECM, “During my first flights, the readings were so high I was concerned that my instruments were roken. To put this in perspective, this is nearly one quarter of the methane emissions for the entire State of California, just from this one leak.” He praised the State for having a pre-existing contract with his rapid respone team that enabled the specially outfitted planes to conduct prompt measurements with equipment not available to ground crews—planes that might have taken months to deploy if not for the contract in place with California’s Energy Department. Besides methane, residents exposed to the methane leak face concerns about benzene, toluene and xylene that they could also be
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