Special Report: Porter Ranch Gas Leak Pt. 1

On Oct. 23, 2015, workers at a SoCalGas facility in the hills north of Los Angeles detected a leak. One of the 115 natural gas wells at the Aliso Canyon underground reservoir had developed a leak and was spewing methane gas into the atmosphere. It would become one of the biggest environmental disasters the region has ever faced. It happened at Aliso Canyon, near Porter Ranch. Natural gas is made up mostly of methane, a greenhouse gas that traps heat in the Earth's atmosphere.

The next day SoCalGas started trying to plug the leak. When conventional methods failed, they began drilling a relief well thousands of feet below the ground to intercept the leak and plug the well with concrete. It would take more than three months to reach the damaged well. Over that time, more than six thousand Porter Ranch residents fled their homes for temporary housing. They complained that the invisible gas caused headaches, nose bleeds and other health problems. The city shut two Porter Ranch schools. Several businesses closed. Residents, political leaders and environmentalists demanded answers from SoCalGas and government regulators as to how and why the leak occurred.

TIMELINE: Porter Ranch Gas Leak

In early February, SoCalGas engineers finally reached the broken pipe and began plugging the leak. Over the 112 days, the amount of greenhouse gas emitted from the leaking well was equivalent to adding 4.5 million cars to the road during the same amount of time.

DISCUSSION: What does the gas leak near Porter Ranch say about our energy future?

In part one of this special report, SoCal Connected's Derrick Shore explores the crisis through the stories of residents, government officials, scientists, environmentalists and SoCalGas officials. What went wrong? Who was impacted? What is the environmental damage? Could a similar disaster happen again?

Featuring Interviews With:

• Sam Kojaoghlanian, Porter Ranch resident
• Anna Kojaoghlanian, Porter Ranch resident
• Gillian Wright, SoCalGas vice president
• Gabriel Khanlian, Porter Ranch resident and activist
• Maureen Capra, Porter Ranch homeowner
• Stephen Conley, UC Davis atmospheric scientist
• Kelly Hill, resident
• Assemblymember Mike Gatto
• Jimmie Cho, SoCalGas senior vice president