California Gas Leak Called The Biggest Disaster Since BP

Source: Grist.org

A methane leak in Southern California could be the worst environmental disaster since the BP oil spill, Gizmodo reports.

The leak was discovered outside Los Angeles in late October, at a natural gas storage site owned by Southern California Gas Co. It has been bleeding methane at a rate of up to 110,000 pounds per hour for the past two months.

That much methane in the atmosphere is climate catastrophe: According to the EPA, methane “is more efficient at trapping radiation than CO2. Pound for pound, the comparative impact of CH4 [methane] on climate change is more than 25 times greater than CO2 over a 100-year period.” To date, the leak has emitted nearly 74,000 metric tons of methane, or the equivalent of burning 700,000,000 gallons of gasoline.

The source of the leak, according to Southern California Gas Co., is an underground storage container near the upscale Porter Ranch neighborhood hood in Los Angeles. Residents there have “suffered headaches, nosebleeds, nausea and other symptoms from the escaping gas,” reports the AP. Southern California Gas has paid to relocate over 2,000 displaced residents, with 3,000 more in the process of moving. Two schools have also been temporarily closed in response to health concerns.

The company estimates the leak won’t be stopped until next spring.



Read more: http://grist.org/article/california-gas-leak-called-the-biggest-disaster-since-bp/

---

Massive Methane Leak Displaces Thousands in Southern California

Utility officials in Southern California say they have determined the underground location of a pipe leak that has spewed natural gas into the air since late October — but it could be months before they are able to fix the rupture that has driven up the state's methane emissions and chased thousands of families from their homes.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has called the leak an "environmental disaster," and the Los Angeles Unified School District shuttered two area schools for the rest of the year.

Politicians and environmentalists in California are particularly sensitive to the toll the leak may take on the environment, especially after Gov. Jerry Brown doubled down earlier this year on the state's efforts to slash greenhouse gas emissions.

The massive underground leak at a storage facility north of Los Angeles was reported by the Southern California Gas Co. on Oct. 23, and since then has emitted more than 72,000 metric tons of methane, according to the Environmental Defense Fund, which released an aerial video in conjunction with the nonprofit Earthworks that used an infrared camera to make the gas visible.

"Methane is in a category of greenhouse gases known as short-lived climate pollutants," California's Air Resources Board says on its website. "These types of gases remain in the atmosphere for a much shorter period of time than longer-lived climate pollutants, such as carbon dioxide (CO2); but when measured in terms of how they heat the atmosphere, their impacts can be tens, hundreds, or even thousands of times greater than that of carbon dioxide."

more...

http://www.cnbc.com/2015/12/29/massive-methane-leak-displaces-thousands-in-southern-california.html