Published in Medium.com on October 15, 2020
The Sit In at the SoCalGas gate for the 4th Anniversary of the Aliso Blowout Photo by Jon Teboe
In the early hours of October 23, 2015, a seven-inch crack developed in a well at the Aliso Canyon gas storage facility in the northern San Fernando Valley. Over the next four months, this well became the epicenter of the largest gas disaster in U.S. history, causing a plume that can be seen from space, uprooting more than 8000 families, and creating a potential health crisis among almost two-million residents of the Valley.
Even after well SS-25 was sealed off, after discharging 109,000 metric tons of methane into the Los Angeles basin, there continues to be many leaks and daily emissions of polytoxins. In addition, since Governor Newsom took office in 2019, there’s been a 3,000 per cent increase in usage of the wells, an action that resulted in more health complaints from local residents.
Five years after the onset of the blowout, residents of the affected area will be joined by environmental activists in a week-long commemoration to call attention to the continued operation of the SoCalGas facility that is a health and seismic risk. Governor Gavin Newsom will be called upon to stop the withdrawals, and follow through on his campaign promise to shut down the facility by signing an executive order.
Some of the groups planning to take part in this week of action include Save Porter Ranch, Food & Water Watch, Food & Water Action, the Aliso Moms Alliance, the Sunrise Movement, Extinction Rebellion, the Sierra Club, and many other organizations.
Deirdre Bolona addressing sit in participants on October 24, 2019 - photo by Hannah Benet
Among the scheduled activities will be a car caravan and a COVID-compliant rally outside the Fair Oaks home of Governor Newson on Tuesday, October 20, starting at 11am. As part of this event, a special project entitled Aliso Stories, will be unveiled. This exhibit, credited by Porter Ranch resident and award-winning photojournalist Hannah Benet, features several residents from the Porter Ranch community, which directly abuts the gas storage facility. Their stories and portraits demonstrate the human side of this environmental disaster. If you would like to participate in Tuesday’s event, please fill out this form: fwaction.us/2SGRN5r.
There will also be a number of tweet storms and other social media campaigns throughout the week culminating in a special webinar featuring community leaders, experts, and elected officials discussing the campaign to shut Aliso down! To get access info for the webinar, please sign up here: fwaction.us/36Kn4Nc.
To become part of the social media effort, you can email anagy@fwwatch.org for a social media toolkit and you can also check out the hashtag #ShutAlisoDown on Twitter.