A California natural gas leak detected back in October still has not been completely plugged and, though the amount of escaping methane has been reduced, Southern California Gas Co. officials say several months will be needed to complete the job.
The gas company detected the leak at its storage facility in Aliso Canyon on Oct. 23, said
NPR, and it could be three or four months to stop it completely.
"We have assembled a world-class team of experts, and we are working as quickly as safety will allow to stop the leak," SoCalGas said on its
website. "In addition, we are in regular communication with L.A. City and County Fire and Hazmat Departments, the L.A. County Department of Health, the California Division of Oil, Gas & Geothermal Resources, and the South Coast Air Quality Management District."
Los Angeles officials are claiming SoCalGas didn't inform residents about the Aliso Canyon leak in a timely manner, reported
KPCC.
The SoCalGas has continued to come under fire by Councilman Mitchell Englander, who said his constituents in the Porter Ranch area started to complain about the gas leak a couple of days before they heard from the gas company on Oct. 26.
The City of Los Angeles is suing the company and Los Angeles county may join as well.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and county Supervisor Michael Antonovich complained about the company's delayed response to their offices, noted, KPCC.
"It's wholly unacceptable to have a pollution source of this magnitude going for upwards of six months, which is what the projections are," Tim O'Conner, the director of California Oil and Gas at the Environmental Defense Fund, told NPR.
"Everybody is throwing everything they can at it to try to stop it, but it's obviously not been fast enough for the people of Porter Ranch or the climate of the planet."
The SoCalGas website said the company is providing free, temporary housing accommodations for those wishing to relocate in the affected area while attempts to stop the leak continued.
According to a California Air Resource Board
report released last week, the Aliso Canyon leak is spilling 36,000 kilograms of methane into air per hour as of Dec. 12, down from 58,000 kilogram on Nov. 28.
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