Daily news April 8, 2016
Porter Ranch air testing is too little, too late: Letters
Re “Indoor air testing for gas leak, chemicals continues” (March 29):
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health should have started proper testing long before residents were told relocation was ending.
Furthermore, the protocol was incomplete as it didn’t include testing for carcinogenic toxins that are more dangerous than methane and mercaptans. This may explain why residents, upon returning to their homes, started experiencing the very symptoms that required many to seek temporary housing.
In addition, a county toxicologist had sent an unethical missive to doctors telling them not bother to find out if their patients’ ailments are due to exposure to benzene and other chemicals.
There are about 180,000 residents living in the affected communities who have been failed by improper oversight by regulatory agencies and this health department.
Southern California Gas Co. has shown itself to be incapable of managing a storage facility of this size. The answer lies in the permanent closing of the Aliso Canyon gas storage facility.
— Patty Glueck, Porter Ranch
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Los Angeles Daily News November 17, 2016
Case against Aliso Canyon facility is open and shut: Letters
From October 2015 to February 2016, a well at the Southern California Gas Co.’s storage facility in Aliso Canyon spewed out carloads of methane on a daily basis. A SoCalGas operations manager testified under oath there has been an average of two leaks per day.
Months later, many residents are still suffering from nosebleeds, severe rashes and respiratory problems. SoCalGas will not release a comprehensive list of all materials used in its wells, even though that list may be a key to what is making us sick.
SoCalGas is suing to avoid paying for an ordered long-term health study. It dropped an ordered cleaning of all homes in the affected area. Furthermore, SoCalGas still hasn’t fully reimbursed residents for expenses incurred due to relocation.
Engineering studies have demonstrated that the facility is not needed to avoid summer and winter brownouts.
In my opinion, the SoCalGas storage facility needs to be permanently shut down.
— Patty Glueck, Porter Ranch The letter writer is a committee member of Save Porter Ranch
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Los Angeles Times February 3,2016
Readers React Fleeing Porter Ranch: It's not as simple and leaving and never coming back
To the editor: Yes, there are some who have chosen to remain in Porter Ranch, but for a variety of reasons. For a person like Roberta Cohen, who was quoted in this article, it's her choice to stay, but it seems petty for her to say others should suck it in and tolerate it because “it's nothing.” ("No, the gas leak hasn't turned Porter Ranch into a ghost town," Jan. 30)
Many have left to protect the health of their family members. If I had a small child, I would have been one of the first to insist on relocation. Remember, there are no studies of the long-term effects of massive amounts of these compounds on our health.
The Southern California Gas Co. has been dishonest about the leak from the beginning. It has no credibility with the residents of the northern San Fernando Valley. It is being forced to provide the rentals and air purifiers.
Many of the wells in the Aliso Canyon storage facility are many decades old; the one that's leaking doesn't have a safety valve. How many more wells don't?
Patty Glueck, Porter Ranch
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To the editor: Cohen appears uninformed on some of the “facts” she gave. In particular, when a family relocates, it doesn't “get money” from So Cal Gas. Relocated families remain responsible for their mortgage, utilities, homeowners insurance and association dues.
The rent payments for the temporary housing are made directly to the landlord, not the relocated residents. People who have relocated to a place with a kitchen do not get money for food. People getting money for food are those who don't have a kitchen and therefore must incur that expense because they are staying in a hotel.
After having to leave your house, you find that certain personal items are missed enough to go back to get them. Others return to make sure their homes have not been burglarized or to pick up mail. Some move things around and put out garbage cans to deter thieves.
Cohen is fortunate that exposure to the gas is not having a negative effect on her health. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for everyone.
Michelle E. Diaz, Northridge