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

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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:

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Fri, 01/08/2016 - 09:27 | 7016544 michigan independant
michigan independant's picture

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.”

Untrue, it causes blood cancer as documents from the twentys already knew this at a governemet and organazed labor collective level. Ask the lawyers to show you. They just murdered them. 

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 09:27 | 7016550 orangegeek
orangegeek's picture

I call bullshit.

 

Landfill sites deal with this (methane exhaust) all day long and have for decades.

 

Landfills run pipes at the base of the pit and at various layers and then fill the pits with trash.  All these buried pipes lead to exhaust vents and where they burn the methane - these "land fill torches" run for years.

 

Califuckheads could do the same, but there's more fuckhead global warming taxes to be raped from the lemmings made by doing it "the bullshit way".

 

Stupid fucks!!

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 09:34 | 7016590 boattrash
boattrash's picture

Have you ever seen a well Blowout @16,000+ PSI? It ain't fucking pretty.

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 09:51 | 7016684 shovelhead
shovelhead's picture

Because there's absolutely no difference between ambient decomposition methane and a berjillion cu' of gas stuffed in a hole under pressure.

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 09:29 | 7016557 o r c k
o r c k's picture

Wait... Radon ?  Who can say "lung cancer cluster".  Just don't worry about it though.

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 09:29 | 7016558 Eahudimac
Eahudimac's picture

Just bomb it. That seems to work for everything else. 

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 09:31 | 7016573 The Count
The Count's picture

After having lived in LA for a couple years back in the late 80's I never understood the allure. The countryside looks terrible. The air is bad. The ocean is freezing. Hollywood is a joke. And yet California remains a magnet.

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 09:39 | 7016615 SilverDOG
SilverDOG's picture

Lemmings is as lemming does, Forest.

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 09:44 | 7016647 oddjob
oddjob's picture

There is a big difference between Watts and Patricks Point. SOCAL sucks large.

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 09:55 | 7016718 DaveyJones
DaveyJones's picture

It's the world class traffic

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 09:59 | 7016746 Baron von Bud
Baron von Bud's picture

That was my impression too. The ocean water was cold with lots of seaweed. But, the weather is nice. If you live in a nice neighborhood I can see the attraction. The beaches and lancscape get better in northern CA.

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 10:13 | 7016824 eyesofpelosi
eyesofpelosi's picture

Cultural propaganda.

Movies, TV, literature, and MUSIC have hyped that place for a very long time.

Other places that have been hyped that actually suck...my personal experience and just an opinion.

Las Vegas
Ann Arbor, MI (Talk about hype)
Seattle
CHICAGO
MIAMI
ATLANTA

I have not been to Texas...but I heard Houston is really annoying.

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 10:22 | 7016878 Hitlery_4_Dictator
Hitlery_4_Dictator's picture

LOL good list, I'll add to that:

Milwaukee

San Diego

Austin

Denver

Boulder

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 10:29 | 7016925 eyesofpelosi
eyesofpelosi's picture

Oh I forgot Denver!
Fuck that trendster fuckheadville, lol!

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 11:36 | 7017313 IridiumRebel
IridiumRebel's picture

Morerer:
Cleveland
Boston
Philly
DC
LA
SF
San Diego
PHX
Basically anything outside the white creamy center of 'Murica.

I remember when my bestie and his uber liberal wife decided to move there just after Fuckedushima...I politely smiled and said good luck. They love it, but it seems forced. I see grumbling about things that affect their kids. I think when they are in school(preschool now)!the full weight of a shitty decision will set in. I live in Cincinnati by way of NY. We love it. Our house would be 1 million plus in either NY or LA and surrounded by graffitied shit buildings and undesirables. They can have it.

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 19:52 | 7019706 conscious being
conscious being's picture

How's the chilli? I had to go work there for a week a long time ago. I was dying. Then The Stones came to town and somebody had an extra ticket. Lots of Kentucky grass, but none of it blue.

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 10:44 | 7017038 FreeNewEnergy
FreeNewEnergy's picture

Morer:

Baltimore

Orlando

Rochester, NY

Places I like:

Anywhere there are no cars or people.

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 12:03 | 7017492 The Count
The Count's picture

I lived in Miami before south beach became trendy. I bought a small apt right off Collins for $30k. There were cool places but everything was under the radar. Best club ever was Menage on Brickel Ave. Once they let the marielitos in everything changed.

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 12:30 | 7017590 Buster Cherry
Buster Cherry's picture

We recently traded a pervert lesbian mayor that thought transsexuals should be able to use mens or womens restrooms depending on what their gender du jour was in for a nigger that in spite of the citizenry voting overwhelmingly against it, plans to resurrect the plan.

Also, we have a feral ghetto bitch congressperson called Sheila Jackson Lee (aka "SheeJack) that can't wait to find a TV camera in order to embarrass us all.

 

https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 10:28 | 7016915 markitect
markitect's picture

I love visiting California, especially the wine regions, Napa, Sanoma, Santa Ynez...but enjoy my big city living too much to ever move there.  Thats one thing about America they havent destroyed yet, theres a place for every lifestyle.

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 09:32 | 7016575 shovelhead
shovelhead's picture

Don't worry.

Couple of years and all that gas will be gone. Real estate boom to follow.

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 09:34 | 7016594 g speed
g speed's picture

que the coastal earth quake and the next big volcano -----your gov't will protect you---at least thats what the new Jeb Bush campaign slogan is----

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 09:36 | 7016597 Kefeer
Kefeer's picture

Environmental wacko's please come up to the plate we have a great cause you can figuratively and literally "blow out of proportion".  California should really be "Carbon Taxed" to death given all the pollution they produce with their annual wild fires, volcanic activities, and methane drains...

 

I wonder who is making a power-play to buy the assets of SoCal?  Chinese or T. B. Pickens?

 

 

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 09:38 | 7016604 Lost in translation
Lost in translation's picture

How far away in miles does one have to be to be considered "safe?"

We have an office 50 miles east of there.

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 09:44 | 7016643 Monetas
Monetas's picture

Downwind 50 miles .... upwind 1 mile .... all things considered ?

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 09:48 | 7016663 NoWayJose
NoWayJose's picture

Hope they have a good healthcare plan!

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 09:50 | 7016680 unplugged
unplugged's picture

A:  55 miles

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 10:28 | 7016920 PrimalScream
PrimalScream's picture

If you are directly east of Porter Ranch, talk to neighborhood doctors and see if their patients are reporting any of the symptoms in the article.  See if kids are experiencing those problems.  You can small gas, it has a distinctive odor.  That odor is an extra chemical added by the gas company so the human nose can detect gas leaks.   

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 11:07 | 7017186 Lost in translation
Lost in translation's picture

Understood.  Many thanks!

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 10:04 | 7016630 kenny500c
kenny500c's picture

Allow a private company to control the site, they can build a natural gas power plant.

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 09:42 | 7016631 kenny500c
kenny500c's picture

Allow a private company to control the site, they can build a natural gas power plant.

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 10:26 | 7016907 MEFOBILLS
MEFOBILLS's picture

Southern California Gas is a private company.  It is regulated by California Public Utilities Comission.

The U.S. is in final stages of Oligarchy, and regulatory capture is a feature of America's decline.

Revolving doors between regulators and industry give industry control. Effectively government is industry and private banks. 

In other words, he who has the money is in control.  Industry makes the money and then greases government regulators.  Fees captured return back to revolving door.

If you want less of something, then you have to starve it of money.  

If you want more of something (say - safety) then you need to channel money toward that "something."

So, how much of the taxpayer's money is California going to invest in relocating a population.  How much of the taxpayers money is California going to spend to help SoCal Gas?  It's not likely Government in california has many degrees of freedom for reacting to problems this large.

Is the Gas company going to go bankrupt first?  

No way will the Gas compnay spend itself into bankruptcy unless it is forced to by regulators - and that won't happen due to capture.

All money is law.  U.S. needs a fourth branch of government that issues new money, preferably into states.

The founding father's screwed up by not creating firewalls outside of treasury, to then contain the money power.

Any corruption can be discovered with accountants, whose pay is guaranteed and who agree to full disclosure.

 

 

Sat, 01/09/2016 - 13:01 | 7022181 GoinFawr
GoinFawr's picture

Then it sounds like this is an excellent opportunity for SCG to capitalize on the privatization of 'breathable air'

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 09:42 | 7016632 Monetas
Monetas's picture

Coal wouldn't do this, Mr. Pussident Obama ?

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 09:43 | 7016640 StackShinyStuff
StackShinyStuff's picture

This whole thing stinks!

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 09:46 | 7016657 Chuckster
Chuckster's picture

Jerry Brown? ......sssssshit!

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 09:47 | 7016660 NoWayJose
NoWayJose's picture

It used to be that every "crisis" would impact "women and children" the most.

Now that women cannot be mentioned as being 'weak', I see that the liberal press is now saying the adverse effects are toward "children and pets".

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 09:47 | 7016661 CheapBastard
CheapBastard's picture

So what's the worth of those $800,000 houses now?

 

Roughly, that is.

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 09:50 | 7016672 Monetas
Monetas's picture

Pretty cool Pastor ?

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 09:53 | 7016699 youngman
youngman's picture

They better pass that no smoking ordinance and fast....

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 09:56 | 7016725 Wahooo
Wahooo's picture

Can't they just blow it up?

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 09:57 | 7016731 A Lunatic
A Lunatic's picture

If you can smell it you are breathing it. If you are breathing it, it is a health risk. No brainers really........

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 10:42 | 7017021 Catullus
Catullus's picture

Yes. No brain indeed

What exactly are you breathing? Methane? The stuff that's lighter than air and miles above the earth?

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 10:01 | 7016757 Vlad the Inhaler
Vlad the Inhaler's picture

Maybe we can fix this if we move into the Porter Ranch city hall for a while.  Bring lots of pizza!

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 10:10 | 7016801 Who was that ma...
Who was that masked man's picture

Better put the entire city of Los Angelese on Craigslist for best offer fast while there still IS a City of Los Angelese.

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 10:11 | 7016809 yogafan
yogafan's picture

It's obviously a 'fake' methane leak created just so scientists can justify their inflated budgets.  There's no proof this is man made.

Sat, 01/09/2016 - 13:56 | 7022395 MEAN BUSINESS
MEAN BUSINESS's picture

fer sure fer sure, there have always been methane leaks and there always will be ; )

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 10:12 | 7016816 Quebecguy
Quebecguy's picture

I wonder what a review of the permitting process would reveal. This should have been examined BEFORE the facility was built. 30 miles from L.A.? An ounce of prevention is worth a pound (in this case metric tons) of cure. Fuck you, corporate America, and Capitalism, too. We've had enough.

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 10:13 | 7016820 Mr. President
Mr. President's picture

Am I missing something in the real I'm impact chart above?

It's going up at a rate of about '80 gal of gas' per uptick, and that is equivalent of $1 in each uptick?

What am I missing here? Thanks.

Fri, 01/08/2016 - 10:14 | 7016827 Able Ape
Able Ape's picture

This is 'Merika - "What If" scenarios are for pussies...

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