Los Angeles, USA methane pollution scandal continues

This video from Los Angeles in the USA says about itself:

New Infrared Footage Shows Methane Spewing From Porter Ranch Gas Leak

28 December 2015

The description for the video says the methane plumes were made visible by a “specialized infrared camera operated by an Earthworks ITC-certified thermographer.” Rebecca Ferriter reports.

From Sourcewatch in the USA:

As of December 31, 2015, a natural gas leak outside of Los Angeles at Porter Ranch, was releasing 110,000 pounds per hour for at least two months. The leak was described as the worst environmental disaster in the United States since the BP oil spill. The seeping gas was being released from a storage facility in Porter Ranch owned and operated by Sempra Energy‘s Southern California Gas, where experts state the leak was being caused by a well casing failure deep underground.^[1]

On January 6, 2016 Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency in Porter Ranch, California because of the gas leak, which has led to thousands of residents leaving their homes.^[2] The emergency order increased leak containment efforts and demanded that the well’s owner pay for emissions-reducing projects to offset the disaster. On January 11, 2016, California Senators spearheaded by Sen. Fran Pavley announced a legislative package in response to the leak that, if passed, would enact an emergency moratorium on all operations at the storage facility as well as all operations in the Aliso Canyon Oil Field.^[3]

… LA Weekly reported the well had not been inspected since 1976. LA Weekly interviewed Rodger Schwecke, a SoCalGas executive who claimed the valve from the leaking well was removed in 1979. The paper reported that valve was not required by state regulations. The safety valve would have been required at a “critical” well, one within 100 feet of a road or a park, or within 300 feet of a home. But, if in place, it could have been used to stop the leak.^[6]

Doctors Sound Alarm as State of Emergency Declared over CA Gas Leak: Leave Now: here.

This video from Los Angeles in the USA says about itself:

New Infrared Video Shows Gas Continues Spread Through Porter Ranch Neighborhood

16 January 2016

Our infrared FLIR GF320 cameras go undercover in Porter Ranch once again to expose the truth about the SoCalGas blowout and the extent to which natural gas fumes have infiltrated the Porter Ranch community. …

The houses and car-lined streets are being pummeled with gusts of natural gas and other contaminants contained within the plume. Moving images at the 10-second mark of the video reveal just how close some of the Porter Ranch homes are to the Aliso Canyon blowout. Using infrared technology for natural gas detection, the magenta color designates traces of natural gas. You can see, at the top of the screen, gas fumes violently spewing from the well. You’ll notice that the plume shooting from the ground, the source of the breach, is the darkest shade, signifying its high concentration of natural gas. The fumes wafting from the source have completely enveloped the area, showing purple hills in infrared where there is, in fact, an abundance of natural gas collecting in the atmosphere.

Are Porter Ranch children safe? The images beginning at 1:14 reveal an empty playground with abandoned swings swaying to and fro with the inertia of methane-tainted wind gusts. The gas clouds roving overhead in the background offset by the Santa Susana Mountain Range illustrate the vast area that the gas plume now covers.

Homes and hills are lined with thick noxious gases that have sent many Porter Ranch residents fleeing in droves. If you, too, are waiting on a resolution or restitution from the SoCalGas blowout, visit http://porterranchlawsuit.com/ today.

Natural gas leaking from old and poorly maintained pipes in the United States is putting trillions of cubic feet of methane, a long-term greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere every year while utility companies profit on it. Leaks in some pipes have existed for decades, with the knowledge of gas distribution companies. Even in parts of the country that are not experiencing mass utility shutoffs, injuries and deaths occur regularly: here.