By Jane Sin
In the month of October, complaints about a rotten-egg smell, nausea, headaches, and irregular nosebleeds reached the South Coast Air Quality Management District. After further investigation, the leak was discovered on October 23 by a crew at the gas company’s Aliso Canyon Northridge storage facility and was reported to the county five days later.
On January 6, Governor Jerry Brown issued a state of emergency as the leak has left a carbon footprint larger than the Deepwater Horizon leak in the Gulf of Mexico. Damage to the climate and citizens is imminent as astronomical amounts of methane have been released into the atmosphere.
With the impending health and environmental threat, company spokesman Javier Mendoza told City News Service that the gas company “is already working with customers to offer relocation and other forms of assistance and will continue to do so.”
More than 2,000 people have been temporarily relocated out of the Porter Ranch area and into paid hotels or houses. Also, more than double that amount have applied to move in response to the leak.
The company agreed to pay for all gas expenses and will pay $45 per person for a daily meals.
Not only are families in Porter Ranch affected, but two schools in the local area were relocated during the month of January. Although not affected as a school, students at Granada Hills Charter High School (GHCHS) are among the many families who had to be relocated due to the gas leak.
“It makes my whole schedule change because I was one of the families that had to move all the way to Downtown. Aside from the fact that I have to visit my house every other day for fresh clothes, I have a zero period so I have to wake up earlier than I already had to and it’s affecting my school life and athletics,” senior Brendon Jung said.
The Porter Ranch Gas leak has been a major change for many families and their lifestyles and we hope it will be fixed as soon as possible. The Socal Gas company states that the leak should be fixed by late February and apologizes for all the trouble that has been caused.
The Plaid Press 