Global InformationAliso Canyon gas leak information
 Aliso Canyon relief well being drilled on December 14, 2015 | |
| Duration | October 23, 2015 – February 18, 2016 |
|---|---|
| Location | Aliso Canyon Oil Field, Porter Ranch, Los Angeles, California |
| Coordinates | 34°18′54″N 118°33′51″W / 34.31500°N 118.56417°W |
| Also known as | Porter Ranch gas leak / blowout |
| Type | Gas leak / blowout |
The Aliso Canyon gas leak (also called Porter Ranch gas leak[1] and Porter Ranch gas blowout[2]) was a massive methane leak in the Santa Susana Mountains near the neighborhood of Porter Ranch in the city of Los Angeles, California. Discovered on October 23, 2015,[3] gas was escaping from a well within the Aliso Canyon underground storage facility.[4] This second-largest gas storage facility of its kind in the United States belongs to the Southern California Gas Company (SoCal Gas), a subsidiary of Sempra Energy. On January 6, 2016, Governor Jerry Brown issued a state of emergency.[5] On February 11, the gas company reported that it had the leak under control.[6] On February 18, state officials announced that the leak was permanently plugged.
An estimated 97,100 tonnes (95,600 long tons; 107,000 short tons) of methane and 7,300 tonnes (7,200 long tons; 8,000 short tons) of ethane were released into the atmosphere.[7] The initial effect of the release increased the estimated 5.3 Gt of methane in the Earth's atmosphere by about 0.002%, diminishing to half that in 6–8 years.
It was widely reported to have been the worst single natural gas leak in U.S. history in terms of its environmental impact.[8][9][10]
The entire rest of the South Coast Air Basin combined, with a population of about 18 million people, emits approximately 413,000 tonnes of methane and 23,000 tonnes of ethane annually.[11] The Aliso gas leak's carbon footprint could be larger than the Deepwater Horizon leak in the Gulf of Mexico.[12]
In comparison, a remote sensing satellite found that the Raspadskaya coal mine is releasing 762,120 metric tons, or 832,200 short tons, of methane every year, with no remediation planned.[13]
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
wilcoxwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Matt Ferner, Lydia O'Connor (8 January 2016) Here's What It's Like To Live Next To California's Gas Blowout Catastrophe
- ^ Sharon McNary (10 February 2016) Sorting out Porter Ranch facts vs. rumors
- ^ Abram S (December 19, 2015). "Two months in, Porter Ranch gas leak compared to BP Gulf oil spill". Los Angeles Daily News. Retrieved December 27, 2015.
- ^ Tony Barboza (January 6, 2016). "Brown declares state of emergency at Porter Ranch amid massive gas leak". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 7, 2016.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
socalgaswas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Conley et al., Methane emissions from the 2015 Aliso Canyon blowout in Los Angeles, CA. In: Science (2016), doi:10.1126/science.aaf2348.
- ^ "Porter Ranch gas leak permanently capped, officials say". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 18, 2016.
- ^ Matt McGrath (February 26, 2016). "California methane leak 'largest in US history'". BBC. Retrieved February 26, 2016.
- ^ "The Massive Methane Blowout In Aliso Canyon Was The Largest in U.S. History". ThinkProgress. Retrieved February 26, 2016.
- ^ Wunch, Debra; Toon, Geoffrey C.; Hedelius, Jacob K.; Vizenor, Nicholas; Roehl, Coleen M.; Saad, Katherine M.; Blavier, Jean-François L.; Blake, Donald R.; Wennberg, Paul O. (2016). "Quantifying the loss of processed natural gas within California's South Coast Air Basin using long-term measurements of ethane and methane". Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. 16 (22): 14091–14105. Bibcode:2016ACP....1614091W. doi:10.5194/acp-16-14091-2016. ISSN 1680-7324.
- ^ Tim Walker (January 2, 2016). "California methane gas leak 'more damaging than Deepwater Horizon disaster'". The Independent. Archived from the original on January 4, 2016. Retrieved July 6, 2017.
- ^ Fountain, Henry (June 14, 2022). "One Site, 95 Tons of Methane an Hour". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 15, 2022.