Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
California is experiencing the largest natural gas leak ever—& engineers haven't been able to stop
Chris Hayes reported on this tonight
netminnow Retweeted
NOVA ?@novapbs 1h1 hour ago
California is experiencing the largest natural gas leak ever—& engineers haven't been able to stop it. http://bit.ly/1JF9uoU via @Gizmodo
A California Gas Leak Is the Biggest Environmental Disaster Since the BP Oil Spill
Alissa Walker
Today 6:20pmFiled to: porter ranch gas leak85.1K
A California Gas Leak Is the Biggest Environmental Disaster Since the BP Oil Spill
12
The largest natural gas leak ever recorded is jeopardizing health and causing evacuations for thousands of Southern California residents. And two months into it, scientists and engineers still can’t figure out a way to contain the seeping gas.
It is easily the worst environmental disaster since BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010 And tellingly, some experts who stopped that leak are working to contain this one.
On October 23 the Southern California Gas Company discovered a leak in its natural gas storage facility in Porter Ranch, a neighborhood about 25 miles northwest from downtown Los Angeles. Engineers don’t know what caused it, but believe that a well casing failed deep below the surface. It will take at least several more months to find the source and repair the leak, which requires careful drilling far from the tank itself to avoid igniting the gas and causing an explosion.
A California Gas Leak Is the Biggest Environmental Disaster Since the BP Oil Spill
A relief well is being connected to the leaking well in the hopes that all the gas can be diverted there while engineers try to seal the leak. (Dean Musgrove/Los Angeles Daily News via AP, Pool)
For two months the leak has been spewing natural gas into the atmosphere at up to 110,000 pounds per hour. Why is it such a big deal? Although natural gas is a better energy source than coal when it comes to emissions, in its raw form this is the same climate-destroying gas that 195 countries have been trying so hard to keep out of the atmosphere, according to a report by the Environmental Defense Fund, which is tracking the amount of gas leaked in real time:........................
6 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
