Doctors Urge California Residents "Leave Now...While You Can" As Gas Leak Fears Grow

Tyler Durden's picture




 

Submitted by Claire Bernish via TheAntiMedia.org,

California Governor Jerry Brown finally declared a state of emergency on Wednesday, concerning the ongoing, currently unstoppable methane gas leak spewing from Aliso Canyon that has created a nightmare for residents of Porter Ranch.

“I will tell you, this goes well beyond Porter Ranch. We’ve had complaints from as far as Chatsworth, Northridge, and Granada Hills,” emphasized Los Angeles City Councilman Mitchell Englander during a Porter Ranch town hall meeting on December 28. “Apparently this plume of toxic chemicals and whatever it might be, doesn’t know zip codes […] This is the equivalent of the BP oil spill on land, in a populated community.

Aliso Canyon sits less than two and a half miles from Porter Ranch and less than 30 miles from the city of Los Angeles — the second most populous city in the United States — whose outlying total statistical area includes nearly 18 million residents, as of 2013.

Brown has been widely criticized for lack of decisive action on the leak, which is erupting from its underground storage area with all the force “of a volcano.” Under Wednesday’s declaration, “all state agencies will utilize state personnel, equipment, and facilities to ensure a continuous and thorough state response to this incident.”

Porter Ranch residents have been evacuating the area for some time, though SoCalGas’ rather maladroit handling of the relocation procedure has been a nightmare — and the cause for a mounting number of lawsuits, including one from the L.A. city attorney’s office.

Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer filed a civil lawsuit last month concerning the massive methane leak’s impact on area residents’ health and damage to the environment — which alleged failure by SoCalGas to prevent the leak and further exacerbation of “the effects of that failure by allowing acute odor and health problems faced by the community to persist for more than a month, to say nothing about the indefinite time it will persist into the future.”

Pediatrician Dr. Richard Kang gave an ominous warning during the Porter Ranch meeting, saying, “Unfortunately, the only real way to get away from the symptoms is… you have to relocate — you have to get away from the environment.” Health complaints include severe headaches, nosebleeds, respiratory issues including increasing cases of asthma, and a number of other issues.

SoCalGas, in the meantime, stated they were “providing air filters for people’s homes,” but though “the odor added to the leaking gas can cause symptoms for some, the gas is not toxic and county health officials have said the leak does not pose a long-term health risk.

But, as the Los Angeles Daily News reported on December 25, Los Angeles County health officials said prolonged exposure to trace chemicals, some of which are known carcinogens, can cause long-term health effects.” Nevertheless, they also “cautioned that levels examined so far here are not believed to be associated with long-term health problems.”

“The gas company says, ‘This is just the smell you’re reacting to, it’s just temporary, it’s not a problem, it’s not serious’ — these people aren’t stupid,” said attorney Rex Paris. “How could somebody possibly say that? We have children whose noses are bleeding every day, we have people who suffer from chronic headaches [and] are nauseous every, single day. How does that not become a serious issue? Why are they saying something nobody here believes? […] They’re trying to convince everybody that it’s all in our heads. It’s a trick.”

In fact, as Erin Brockovich pointed out, “no one really knows the long-term side effects of benzene and radon, the carcinogens that are commonly found in natural gas.”

Additionally, area house pets seem particularly vulnerable — possibly acting the part of unwitting canaries — as veterinarian Dr. David Smith described in the town hall meeting. Noting he has seen dozens of sickened animals, Smith said, “I’ve seen dogs, cats, birds, pocket pets… the primary symptoms I’ve seen are gastrointestinal vomiting […]These are not things you should be inhaling. He added, “We have seen dermatological issues as well, some very unusual bacterial infections in dogs,” including one case in which a dog had such an infection on its face, and “the client developed almost the exact same kind of symptoms soon after that […] their physician thinks it’s related [to exposure from the gas leak] and so I tend to think these correlations are real.”

Though the declaration of emergency states “the Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources shall continue its prohibition against Southern California Gas Company injecting any gas into the Aliso Canyon Storage Facility,” it does not make that moratorium dependent on stoppage of the leak; rather, only “until a comprehensive review, utilizing independent experts […] is completed.”

Physician Dr. Brooks Michaels, addressing the town hall meeting, gave the sternest advice to those still in the area surrounding the unprecedented leak:

“If you have a chance to leave, if you’re able to leave… if you have a chance to relocate, do it now. I’m telling you, it’s really critical.”

Understandably, Brown’s state of emergency seems almost too little, too late for many.

You can watch the Porter Ranch town hall meeting here:

4.846155
Your rating: None Average: 4.8 (39 votes)
 

- advertisements -

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.
Fri, 01/08/2016 - 14:42 | 7018253 Handful of Dust
Fri, 01/08/2016 - 10:35 | 7016947 Fish Gone Bad
Fish Gone Bad's picture

(Oops... see below)

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 10:44 | 7017037 The Saint
The Saint's picture

Someone strike a match.  Maybe we can eliminate an entire county or two of voting liberals.

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 10:47 | 7017055 SelfGov
SelfGov's picture

Like Climate Change :)

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 11:39 | 7017371 flyingpigg
flyingpigg's picture

The Gas is all Natural so what's the issue? 

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 11:47 | 7017411 GUS100CORRINA
GUS100CORRINA's picture

Just to clarify one point about this discussion ... CO2 is not polution and will be readily absorved by plant life. In fact plants may actually be a short term tactical solution to this man-made event (mess).

 

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 12:46 | 7017708 Bloppy
Bloppy's picture

Get the fuk out of LA-LA land, wasn't that clear 30 years ago? What is wrong with these people?

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 14:04 | 7018046 HardAssets
HardAssets's picture

'Leave now ... while you can ! '

The new California state motto

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 14:54 | 7018329 Down to Earth T...
Down to Earth Thinking's picture

let the giant circle jerk begin in Kawleefornya once again ! what a fucking joke that place is, good riddens one day for many reasons.

Sat, 01/09/2016 - 12:58 | 7022177 MrNosey
MrNosey's picture

It could be worse they could be living in Russia......

http://beforeitsnews.com/healthcare/2016/01/crazy-russian-doctor-kills-p...

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 09:02 | 7016432 ToSoft4Truth
ToSoft4Truth's picture

 

Who's in the ZH California office? Fly a lighted flare by drone into the gas cloud.

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 10:34 | 7016959 Fish Gone Bad
Fish Gone Bad's picture

With all the pyros in California, I am surprised everything is not on fire.  Even arsonists are stupid in California.

Sat, 01/09/2016 - 14:09 | 7022134 GoinFawr
GoinFawr's picture

Kids, don't eat weird berries you find in the woods.

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 12:10 | 7017538 css1971
css1971's picture

Remember to attach camera.

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 09:02 | 7016435 TeamDepends
TeamDepends's picture

Great, more lefty refugees headed our way.

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 09:17 | 7016495 imaginalis
imaginalis's picture

See if you can trap one in the woods and make him squeal like a pig.

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 09:33 | 7016586 TeamDepends
TeamDepends's picture

You got a purdy mouth, boy.

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 09:42 | 7016628 Gazooks
Gazooks's picture

Denny,

 

..is that you?

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 09:59 | 7016750 TeamDepends
TeamDepends's picture

Now let's you just drop them pants.

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 09:22 | 7016520 lunaticfringe
lunaticfringe's picture

Every night in Montana, we close the gates and lock them. In the morning, we tell the Californians to leave. Sometimes we give them some trail mix or a granola bar to soften the blow.

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 10:20 | 7016870 swmnguy
swmnguy's picture

So what are you doing all night long, locked inside with  the Californians?

Something's missing from your story.

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 19:35 | 7019624 stormsailor
stormsailor's picture

he said to soften the blow

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 11:36 | 7017352 l8apex
l8apex's picture

I think a few slipped through.  Maybe it's time for some guard dogs.

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 09:24 | 7016525 yogibear
yogibear's picture

"more lefty refugees headed our way."

LOL, tranformed Colorado into California #2.

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 09:39 | 7016613 Buster Cherry
Buster Cherry's picture

Transformed Austin into a California colony.

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 09:43 | 7016642 TeamDepends
TeamDepends's picture

And yet another word is born on ZH, "Calony". Cheers, whose round is this!?!?

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 14:45 | 7018275 Raging Debate
Raging Debate's picture

Yogi - Haha yep. We can all smoke some great weed here but you cant over there. The hypcricy is beyond fantasy.

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 10:11 | 7016808 yrad
yrad's picture

Dont come to Texas, you fuckers already ruined Austin.

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 10:18 | 7016856 1000 splendid suns
1000 splendid suns's picture

And Seattle, and Portland, and Salt Lake...

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 10:35 | 7016965 Casey Jones
Casey Jones's picture

The problem is too many people, not where they come from. This was known 50 years ago when the book Population Bomb was published. But humans being the adept procreators that we are, and selfish to the max, couldn't see the writing on the wall. Even China with their 1 kid policy couldn't slow the curve, which is now basically a straight up vertical line. Quit whining about Californians corrupting your precious Northwest, cause none of that is going to matter soon. Make right with your friends and family, enjoy what time you have left, because the whole damn charade is about to flame out.

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 10:40 | 7017004 Buckaroo Banzai
Buckaroo Banzai's picture

Too MANY people?? Hardly. The world could easily hold 100x more humans.

The problem isn't quantity, it's QUALITY.

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 10:42 | 7017022 Hitlery_4_Dictator
Hitlery_4_Dictator's picture

Lefty CA morons just can't understand that there are quality people out there, the've never met one. 

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 14:51 | 7018281 Handful of Dust
Handful of Dust's picture

Austin turned into a cesspool between the 30,000 Katrina imports and the hundreds of thousands of Californians. Assaults and kockout punches there are now as common as in Chicago and LA. In fact, they call Austin, 'Little LA."

 

------Two dead in shootout at Downtown Austin Omni Hotel

AUSTIN (KXAN) — A gunman who shot and killed a bystander at a busy Downtown Austin hotel was shot and killed by Austin police officers, according to police.

 

Less than an hour before the downtown shooting, Austin police officers were also involved in a deadly shooting on Golden Quail Drive on the city’s northside.

 

http://kxan.com/2015/07/05/police-investigating-two-officer-involved-shootings/

 

 

------Four people shot on 6th Street Sunday morning

 

http://www.cbs19.tv/story/19084369/four-people-shot-on-6th-street-sunday-morning

 

I don't know of a town in the USA anymore that was as nice as Austin used to be.

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 15:02 | 7018369 Down to Earth T...
Down to Earth Thinking's picture

multiculturalism come home to roost, Hey ? You forgot the illegal aliens ? and of those shootngs how many of the perps were of color ? just curious of such a minor detail ? and were drugs involved as some sort of motive ?

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 10:50 | 7017077 SelfGov
SelfGov's picture

Yeah having, "space," for 100x more humans might not be a problem.

But try feeding 700,000,000,000 people.

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 11:55 | 7017458 centerline
centerline's picture

exactly.  it is resourses.  useful land, water, etc. 

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 15:03 | 7018373 Down to Earth T...
Down to Earth Thinking's picture

good point and how could you possibly supply everybody with enough weed ?

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 11:23 | 7017275 MayIMommaDogFac...
MayIMommaDogFace2theBananaPatch's picture

Population Bomb was written Paul Ehrlich (aka Paul Scarelich) -- this guy has been making extremely dire predictions for 40 years.  

He is ALWAYS 100% certain about his predictions -- but he is never correct.

For some reason he still manages to receive respect and to get all sort of people to listen to him.

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 11:57 | 7017468 centerline
centerline's picture

timing is a bitch, but exponential functions always end the same way.  ZH has been pointing this out in the financial realm for a very long time.  anyone who isn't up to speed regarding human population should just google a global population chart with respect to time.  Draw conclusions from there.

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 15:09 | 7018407 Down to Earth T...
Down to Earth Thinking's picture

When I was a very young pup, I went to a speech at my college by Paul and thought he was a very smart guy. I grew up and realized we all live in massive illusions and lies. Now I see supposed science for what it is, another form of religion for poltical purpsoses these days, just another of the many control mechanisms created by the controllers.  

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 15:36 | 7018565 centerline
centerline's picture

carefully there D... all good lies are based on underlying truths - usually twisted and warped.  Your posts ring the same as throwing the proverbial baby out with the bath water.

 

 

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 14:48 | 7018291 Raging Debate
Raging Debate's picture

What the fuck is up with all the Malthusians here lately? Your stinking up the joint. Another suicide pact subscriber...

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 15:42 | 7018583 centerline
centerline's picture

Mathusian or neo-mathusian does not equate to doomer.  Rather a recognition that there are in fact real limits.  Redistribution and technology help avoid more immediate problems - but those strategies have limits as well.

FYI - the original arguments against Malthus were communist and socialist.

Sat, 01/09/2016 - 12:56 | 7022159 GoinFawr
GoinFawr's picture

Malthusians are like poets, and most folks hate poetry.

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 14:51 | 7018308 dexter_morgan
dexter_morgan's picture

then off yourself and help the cause

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 10:18 | 7016857 Hitlery_4_Dictator
Hitlery_4_Dictator's picture

Fuck Austin....Travis County is done. The funny thing is it's NOW WORSE than CA. It has higher proerty taxes, worse traffic, higher crime, higher home prices, more hispters, more cops (total police state), high population density. HAHA, I think it's funny to see them in a worse spot now. I love it!

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 10:26 | 7016904 Casey Jones
Casey Jones's picture

Quit blaming California for the shit in Austin. Most people who live in California came from somewhere else originally anyway. These regional differences are all being erased by easy transportation, cheap gas, foundering economies. There's nowhere to hide in this god forsaken country. The population bomb is exploding. Too many rats in the cage. The shit is only just beginning to hit the fan.

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 10:48 | 7016928 Hitlery_4_Dictator
Hitlery_4_Dictator's picture

Fuck CA....it attracts a special kind of stupid. I'll agree that CA attracted morons from around the country - they failed to make it there and now they are going to fail again here in TX. Message to CA retards nad transplants, we won't make it easy for you here in TX. Go to Denver, they like pot over there, and are also anti-gun. You God-less CA people need to just stay put.

 

Here's some advice "Casey Jones" go down to San Fran, check out the Dead's old house, smoke some pot and just stay put. "Tune out, Drop out, stay put." LOL

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 10:49 | 7017073 malek
malek's picture

 Most people who live in California came from somewhere else originally anyway.

The worst "Californians" are the ones that came here as young adults, to the "promised land." 95% of those will never be mentally able to admit that most of the promises were/are lies, as that would turn their lives into a massive defeat.
On the other hand the ones who grew up here recognize at least some of the bullshit going on.

Do NOT follow this link or you will be banned from the site!