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State Regulators Confirm Aliso Canyon Natural Gas Well is Permanently Sealed
On Mar. 28, state agencies announced the implementation of several actions to strengthen operational safety at Aliso Canyon and all gas storage facilities in the state, while protecting energy reliability within the Los Angeles Basin. Sealing this leaking well is only the first step among several necessary actions moving forward to protect safety, public health and air quality at and around Aliso Canyon and all other gas storage facilities in California.
On Mar. 25, the Department of Conservation launched a site that tracks the progress of Southern California Gas Company's (SoCalGas) testing of the Aliso Canyon storage field and posts all testing results. Test results are submitted by SoCalGas, reviewed by Division staff, and then posted on the page.
Additional Aliso Canyon information – including a description of the tests required and biweekly reports SoCalGas must file on its progress toward completing the safety review – can be found here.
On Feb. 18, state regulators confirmed that the leaking natural gas well at Aliso Canyon has been permanently sealed. The testing process to confirm that the well is sealed was developed in consultation with independent technical experts from the Lawrence Berkeley, Livermore and Sandia National Laboratories. This process and the testing results can be found at
www.conservation.ca.gov.
Recovery Phase – Local Assistance Center
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced that the Los Angeles Emergency Management Department (EMD) will lead recovery efforts for the Porter Ranch community now that the state has confirmed the leaking well at Aliso Canyon has been sealed. A Local Assistance Center in the community will provide a centralized location where residents and businesses can access programs and services from a variety of agencies to help facilitate their return home and to their normal routines.
On-going Air Monitoring & Public Health
Air measurements that have been collected using air flights, on-site observations, and monitors in the nearby communities all confirm that the leaking gas has diminished consistent with successfully controlling the leak. The South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) and California Air Resources Board (CARB) staff have jointly developed a set of criteria to determine when air quality in the surrounding communities of the Aliso Canyon facility has returned to typical conditions – a checklist to determine when the air quality is no longer being impacted by the leak. The air quality criteria are based mainly on measurements of the chemicals in natural gas of concern: methane, hydrogen sulfide, mercaptans, and benzene.
Both agencies will continue to conduct to air quality monitoring in and around Porter Ranch for the foreseeable future with results available in the links posted below.
Independent Expert Scientific Advisory Panel
The Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has convened an independent panel of scientific and medical experts to review public health concerns stemming from the gas leak and evaluate whether additional measures are needed to protect public health beyond those already put in place. OEHHA requested experts in toxicology, epidemiology, exposure science and medicine, to review the available data on exposures, symptoms and toxicity of constituents in the natural gas, and to provide their opinions on whether additional measures are needed to protect public health.
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Expert Panel Information (OEHHA)
Investigations & Inquiries
Investigators from Department of California Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources (DOGGR) and the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), as well as independent investigators, will continue to work at the Standard Sesnon 25 well site to determine the cause of the leak and whether violations of state regulations occurred.
Frequently Asked Questions
Some of these are questions asked before the leak was sealed, however, there are many helpful and informative answers to many important questions.
This page updated on February 18, 2016