A group of Porter Ranch-area residents gathered in downtown Los Angeles Thursday night, part of a string of protests demanding that leaders shut down the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility.
The fact that there’s a protest isn’t really a new thing. They’ve happened frequently in the four years since the largest natural gas leak in the nation’s history happened there in October 2015, spewing more than 100,000 metric tons of methane into the air, forcing thousands to flee their homes. But it comes as firefighters work to douse the remnants of the destructive Saddleridge fire, which consumed more than 8,000 acres in its path from Sylmar to the Porter Ranch area.
On Monday, Southern California Gas Co. crews alerted firefighters about flames burning in a roughly 4-foot-by-4-foot patch of soil on the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility property in Porter Ranch. Fire officials said the small blaze did not pose any risks to the public or the storage facility.
That pesky, mysterious flame was extinguished on Tuesday afternoon, according to SoCalGas. The utility said it believes the fire was from old crude oil activity, but won’t know for certain until the state’s Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources and the Air Quality Management District conducts its own tests, according to reports.
SoCalGas officials stressed there was no damage to any equipment at the storage facility and no sign of any leaks. The small fire did not “pose a risk to public safety and there are no impacts to SoCalGas operations at the facility,” according to the Gas Co.
Videos of what appeared to be fires within the sewer system at the Porter Ranch Town Center alarmed some residents who thought the flames might be connected to the extinguished Aliso Canyon flame. Investigators believe there is no connection and have not witnessed any active underground fire threats in the area, according to the LAFD’s Nicholas Prange.
Investigators were trying to determine what chemical was fueling the fire as it burned in a patch of dirt on the property. L.A. county fire fighters and the South Coast Air Quality Management District were “analyzing samples to determine what chemicals were involved in the flames,” officials said in a statement.
SoCalGas, which owns the facility, said Tuesday that natural gas was not detected around the blaze.
Still, four years after the leak, advocates of a shutdown say the fire only adds urgency to the need for a closure of the site, which SoCal Gas officials said is vital supplying the natural gas that provides energy for much of the region.
Advocates of the shutdown said the fire was “alarming,” pointing to scenarioes in which they said an explosion at the facility could threaten the area.
Porter Ranch-area residents and members of Sunrise Movement Los Angeles and Food & Water Action protested outside the Westin Bonaventure Hotel to call on Gov. Gavin Newsom to issue an executive order shutting down the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility. Newsom was expected to one of the honorees at a 36th anniversary dinner being held at the hotel by Asian Americans Advancing Justice Los Angeles.
“The current Saddleridge fire underscores the catastrophic danger the Aliso Canyon storage facility poses to the San Fernando Valley and greater Los Angeles community,” according to a statement from Food & Water Watch. “We call on Governor Newsom to immediately order state agencies to close down the Aliso Canyon facility. It’s time for him to choose the safety of families over fossil fuels.”
Former Gov. Jerry Brown envisioned closing the facility within 10 years. It’s unclear though where Newsom stands on that plan.
City News Service contributed to this story.
