On Saturday, state regulators made the decision to delay their plans to capture and burn the leaking natural gas that has sickened and caused the relocation of thousands of residents in Porter Ranch.
For almost three months, Southern California Gas Company’s (SoCalGas) Aliso Canyon storage site has been emitting noxious and foul-smelling gas into nearby communities. At least seven attempts at sealing the well have failed, creating a greater risk of a blowout, which could be catastrophic.
But there is a lot more to this gas leak than just getting the well capped, which could still take months, and that is only if everything goes well with the gas company’s plans. Now that state politicians and the media have gotten involved, a number of questions have been raised.
Gas leak a political football?
First, and perhaps the most interesting issue to come out of this crisis is the number of politicians that have decided to make natural gas drilling a political football within the state. There are at least four Senate bills under consideration in the California Legislature.
Senate Bill 875 is calling for a moratorium on new gas injections in the Aliso Canyon area until state agencies deem the site is safe. The bill specifically mentions inspection of the many 1950s wells at the site.
Senate Bill 876 specifies that SoCalGas, the polluters, and not the public, is responsible for all mitigating costs, including environmental, cost of housing, and other costs related to the emergency. The costs are to be paid out of the company’s profits and not charged back to the public through any rate increases, called double-rating.
Senate Bill 877 deals with preventing future disasters like the porter Ranch gas leak. It calls for strengthening the current laws governing the regulation of gas storage facilities. The bill calls for increased inspections, as well as additional health and safety measures.
Senate Bill 878 addresses long-term climate pollution reduction. It is supposed to set state targets for the reduction of short-term pollutants such as methane at 50 percent at gas storage facilities by the year 2050. The legislation will also hold polluters accountable for meeting state targets.
The Southern Coast Air Quality Management District has proposed that SoCalGas’ Aliso Canyon facility, the largest west of the Mississippi, be shut down permanently. The facility includes 115 wells, many of them 50 years or more old. SoCalGas lawyer Robert Wyman said over the weekend the company would oppose the order, setting up the parties for a day in court.
Wyman said “the reservoir is the largest of the company’s four area storage facilities and said the company cannot deliver economical and reliable gas to customers without it,” according to the LA Times.
I suppose “better late than never” could be said of the legislation being proposed now. This can also be said of the governors somewhat belated response to the incident, as well. It wasn’t until families were being relocated to other areas because they were getting sick that state officials acted. Now it has come down to which politician can garner the most publicity for his or her interest in the plight of the people.
Just how much gas is being released?
Natural gas is made up of mostly methane (about 80 percent), which is 87 times more potent in terms of global warming than carbon dioxide over a period of 20 years. Methane gas does break down in the atmosphere over time, to about 34 times the potency of CO2 over 100 years. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) puts methane’s potency at 25 times that of CO2 for the same length of time.
Since the leak was detected on October 23, 2015, the leak has been emitting methane at a rate ranging from 36,000 to 58,000 kilograms per hour, according to the California Air Resources Board. This adds up to about 62,000 metric tons of methane that have been emitted into the atmosphere since Dec. 16. This is about four times what has been lost nationwide since 2010 in other gas line incidents.
Many people are not aware of the figures, but since 2010, there have been over 700 incidents reported to the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. The amount of natural gas released from the nation’s natural gas gathering and transmission systems came to 12.8 billion cubic feet.
An additional 36 million cubic feet escaped during incidents at distribution centers that pipe the gas into homes and businesses. To put the amounts into perspective, enough natural gas escaped to heat 170,000 homes for a year.
Natural gas incidents, as they are called, can be expensive, in human lives affected and in the economic costs. The over 700 incidents cost the lives of 70 people and injured over 300 more. The cost in gas and property losses amounted to over $700 million.
This article is Part 1 in a series that takes a deeper look into the methane gas leak in Porter Ranch, California.
