Porter Ranch, CA – February 11, 2016 – SoCalGas has announced that they have completed the first stages of the final phase of intercepting and stopping the leak in the Aliso Canyon Storage Field that has scattered 4,400 Porter Ranch households across the city like a diaspora trying to escape 80,000 metric tons of gas, its odorant and their resultant health effects. The next steps call for permanently sealing the well with cement.

“We are so relieved that the Gas Company was able to successfully control the flow of this leak and we look forward to it being certified safe for residents to move home. The community is exhausted after living with these effects for over a hundred days and are excited to be back in their homes,” said Porter Ranch Neighborhood Council President Paula Cracium.

The Porter Ranch Neighborhood Council (PRNC) has been working diligently with City, County and State agencies to address the needs of residents. The PRNC was the first to call County Health to hear about health effects, asked SoCal Gas to be ready to process claims back in November, and contacted the City Attorney and Councilmember Englander to seek relief in a relocation injunction.

All PRNC business has been focused on the gas leak. The Council leaned into the herculean effort of keeping residents informed on the latest developments through eblasts, social media and numerous interviews with the media.

With the flow of gas at the facility stopped and the well on its way to a permanent kill, the PRNC is primarily concerned with ensuring the safety of Porter Ranch. The focus of the PRNC will turn to the questions of how to be sure it is safe to return, what caused the leak, what monitoring is required, how public will the monitoring be, how can the wells be made safe or can they? The effects of this leak are not over as legislation reverberates across the nation. Now comes the hard part, to stay focused on required change in regulation even though people might be feeling better. The PRNC will continue to fight to ensure that the air, the site, and our homes are safe to move back to and will remain safe.

County Health FAQ on Returning Home After the Gas Leak

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