Fire and lateral spread caused by the 1994 Northridge earthquake. The ground in the lateral spread slid to the right, riding on liquefied sediment, and opened the fissure. Extension across the fissure stretched and broke the natural gas pipeline, causing the fire. U.S. Geological Survey. Photograph by M.J. Rymer | CC BY 2.0
Long Beach, California
Porter Ranch residents in Southern California, like the rest of Los Angeles, are sitting on a ticking time bomb.
The Aliso Canyon storage facility, site of the massive natural gas leak in October 2015 that displaced over 8,300 homes and spewed 97,100 tonnes of methane into the atmosphere, could have another catastrophic leak – a leak up to 1,000 times greater than 2015 – when the area is hit with a major earthquake.
That’s the grave warning James Mansdorfer, a former Southern California Gas Co. storage wells and reservoirs manager, laid out in a letter to Department of Conservation’s Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources (DOGGR) at a recent LA county court proceeding. Last week California regulators approved refilling the battered storage tank with natural gas. The county, citing Mansdorfer’s concerns, asked a judge to block SoCalGas from re-injecting the well. The refilling is moving forward, ignoring objections from the county, environmentalists and other concerned citizens.
“My belief is that there is potential for catastrophic loss of life, and in light of SoCalGas refusal to openly address this risk, my…