Porter Ranch Area Residents Testify and Rally about SoCalGas Misconduct

Porter Ranch Area Residents Testify and Rally about SoCalGas Misconduct

by Dan Bacher

In the latest event exposing the oil and gas industry's disregard for the environment and human health, dozens of residents of Porter Ranch and surrounding neighborhoods in the San Fernando Valley will testify Tuesday morning, November 24, at 9:30 am at the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors meeting to demand a full investigation by all appropriate agencies into the SoCalGas well leak in the Aliso Canyon.

The location of the hearing is Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration, Board Hearing Room 381B, 500 West Temple Street, Los Angeles. Residents will hold a press conference after the hearing.

Over 200 residents rallied on Monday evening – one month after the start of the gas leak at Aliso Canyon Storage Field - at the corner of Tampa Ave. and Rinaldi St. in Northridge to demand a full investigation of the SoCalGas well leak and the misconduct of the SoCalGas Company in responding to the leak.

Parents with their children held signs, wore gas masks and displayed a large banner that says “Investigate SoCalGas!”

"Virtually everybody in a vehicle passing honked their horns in support of our protest," said Walker Foley of Food & Water Watch. "I've never seen so much support from people driving by during any other protest I've been to. There were several times during our rally that we couldn't hear our own speakers because so many people were honking."

Matt Matuka, Save Porter Ranch organizer, spoke at the rally, along with many local residents and their children. The children shared stories of how the school wouldn't allow them to outside to play because of the health risk while many locals said they were interested in finding out how they could relocate their families from the area impacted by the leak, according to Foley.

Videos of the event are available at: https://www.facebook.com/anitra.wetzel/posts/10153369989727675 or https://www.facebook.com/FoodWaterWatchCalifornia/videos/780465998748243/

"Residents are upset that SoCalGas initially lied about the source of the leak, and then misled the public about the health risks to the community," said Alexandra Nagy of Food and Water Watch. "In addition to the investigation, in light of recent reports that the leak has resulted in staggering emissions of methane and carbon dioxide – two potent greenhouse gases – residents also recommend shutting down the aged Aliso Canyon Storage Facility."

"When the leak started on Friday October 23, 2015, residents called 911 and the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) to report the strong odors," she explained. "The Los Angeles Fire Department and SCAQMD confirmed that a 40-year-old gas injection well, SS25, was leaking due to a well casing failure."

However, she said SoCalGas took over three days to "come clean" about the leak. When residents called the SoCalGas hotline, staff told residents that the leak was coming from routine maintenance and normal gas releases at the Storage Facility. "Residents were mortified that the biggest operator in the Aliso Canyon would mislead residents," said Nagy.

Residents immediately got in touch with the community group Save Porter Ranch to report numerous health problems such as headaches, dizziness, vomiting, shortness of breath and more. Save Porter Ranch organized rallies and actions in the community to call attention to the health issues while SoCalGas denied any health problems associated with the leak at multiple events and in multiple interviews with the press.

Save Porter Ranch found that mercaptan was the odorant used to make natural gas detectable to the human nose and exposure to mercaptan would cause all the symptoms residents reported, according to Nagy.

"Despite SoCalGas’s denial that the leak could cause health problems, last week, state regulators with the California Department of Conservation Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources, issued an emergency order to require SoCalGas to 'come up with a plan'to fix the leak, citing threats to health, property and natural resources," said Nagy

The following day, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health issued an order confirming the health symptoms experienced by residents are a result of the mercaptan in the natural gas. Health officials ordered SoCalGas to provide free assistance to relocate residents, according to Nagy.

On Friday, the California Air Resources Board reported that between October 23 and November 20, the leak released enough methane to account for one-quarter of the state’s total, and an amount of carbon dioxide equivalent to driving 160,000 cars for a year!

The oil and gas industry, lead by the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA), is the largest and most powerful corporate lobby in Sacramento - and has captured California's regulatory apparatus. The state and federal agencies have largely failed in their jobs of protecting the environment and human health from the enormous harm caused by fracking wastewater disposal and disasters like this year's Refugio Oil Spill and the current SoCalGas well leak, due to this regulatory capture.

In the first nine months of 2015, oil interests spent a total $17.7 million, putting the industry on pace to exceed its own $20 million spending record from 2014, according to a new report by the American Lung Association in California that analyzes the new lobbying figures. Spending in 2015 already exceeds the $10 million the industry spent in 2010, the year Prop 23 was on the ballot.

Save Porter Ranch champions a safe, clean and healthy environment for their communities though community empowerment and engagement.

Food & Water Watch champions healthy food and clean water for all. They stand up to corporations that put profits before people, and advocate for a democracy that improves people’s lives and protects our environment. http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org

Contacts:
Alexandra Nagy, 818-633-0865, anagy [at] fwwatch.org
Matt Pakucko, 818-464-5844, matt [at] SavePorterRanch.com