LOS ANGELES, Jan. 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --
Southern California Gas Company Update
SoCalGas Enters
Final Phase in Stopping the Leak
Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas) announces that
operations have entered the fifth and final phase in efforts to
stop the leak at its Aliso Canyon Natural Gas Storage Facility.
Although the completion date is anticipated to be by late February,
or possibly sooner, the drilling operations can still encounter
delays.
"Our team of experts has been working 24 hours a day, 7 days a
week since we started the relief well operations, and we're very
pleased with the progress we've made so far," said Jimmie Cho, SVP of Gas Operations and System
Integrity. "Our top priority remains the safety of those
working on the site and the residents of the community. We have
developed various contingency plans in case we encounter unexpected
developments in the relief well drilling process that could slow
our current progress. Our current schedule to control and
stop the leak in February is consistent with the plan we have
submitted to DOGGR [the State regulating agency, Division of Oil,
Gas and Geothermal Resources]."
The relief well reached a measured depth of about 8,400
feet and is approximately 200 feet away from where it is intended
to intercept the target well. Although close in terms of distance,
the objective of this phase is to close that distance while
precisely aligning the relief well with the target well so the
drill bit is in the best position to drill through and create the
entry point for the pumping attempts. This final phase requires
precision and accuracy which takes time.
Once the drill bit reaches the target well, the crew will
transition from drilling operations to pumping heavy fluids and
drilling mud into the target well to stop the flow of
gas.
Once the flow of gas has been stopped, the crew will pump in
enough cement to displace the fluids and mud and leave an initial
seal of cement that will effectively cut off the target well from
the reservoir, thus stopping the leak at its source. SoCalGas
will work with the DOGGR to confirm the well is sealed.
Once the well has been sealed, gas will no longer be entering
the well from the reservoir, and any remaining odors associated
with the leak are expected to quickly dissipate, allowing residents
to return to their homes.
At that point SoCalGas will begin efforts to conduct a
root-cause analysis in an effort to identify the reason for the
leak. SoCalGas will work with regulatory agencies to ensure
compliance with all regulations.
For information on the Phases of the Relief Well Operations, and
a video, visit:
https://www.alisoupdates.com/what-we-are-doing
Los Angeles County Department of Public Health
Public Health Works to Review Sampling Data and Monitor Health
Effects
At this time, air sampling data continue to indicate that
residents in nearby areas are not at increased risk for long-term
health effects associated with exposure to the chemicals being
released.
The smell from the leak may cause recurrent, short-term symptoms
for persons who live near the Aliso Canyon site. Some individuals
may be more sensitive than others, and the symptoms will generally
go away once the odor exposure has stopped. Symptoms may include
eye, nose and throat irritation, coughing and nasal congestion,
shortness of breath, nausea, stomach discomfort, dizziness, or
headaches. Public Health encourages residents with symptoms to
consider taking advantage of the voluntary relocation
assistance.
Public Health continues to monitor potential health effects and
is implementing an Expanded Air Monitoring Plan. This will increase
the length of time of air samples from 10 minutes to 12-24 hours,
and will also test for more chemicals. Public Health reviews
and analyzes the air sampling data to determine whether results
indicate an increased risk for harmful health effects. Results from
the expanded air monitoring will be posted on Public Health's
website, along with interpretations of these results.
As this incident continues to evolve, the Expanded Air
Monitoring Plan allows for adjustments to sampling frequency and
locations in response to changing environmental conditions and
requests from the community and other agencies. A more
complete picture of potential health risks in the affected
community will be available with the expanded air monitoring
data.
For more information, visit:
http://www.publichealth.lacounty.gov/media/gasleak/
Los Angeles County Fire
Department
LACoFD Strives to Meet Incident
Objectives
The Los Angeles County Fire
Department (LACoFD) has been actively involved with this incident
since notification of the gas leak. With the implementation
of the Unified Command on Friday, January
22, 2016, LACoFD is striving to meet the incident objectives
which include providing for the safety and security of the public
and those involved with the incident and limiting the effects of
the natural gas leak to the community and the environment.
LACoFD also establishes and maintains positive relationships with
the public, regulatory and cooperating agencies and provides timely
and accurate incident information to the public, stakeholders, and
the media. The LACoFD will continue to assess health risks
through environmental data collection and analysis and to monitor
potential community health effects.
About Los Angeles County Department of Public Health
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health is committed to
protecting and improving the health of the nearly 10 million
residents of Los Angeles County.
Through a variety of programs, community partnerships and services,
Public Health oversees environmental health, disease control, and
community and family health. Public Health comprises nearly 4,000
employees and has an annual budget exceeding $900 million. To learn more about the LA County
Department of Public Health and the work they do, visit
PublicHealth.LACounty.gov, and follow Public Health on social media
at twitter.com/LAPublicHealth, facebook.com/LAPublicHealth, and
youtube.com/LAPublicHealth.
About The Los Angeles County
Fire Department
The Los Angeles
County Fire Department is committed to protecting lives, the
environment, and property by providing prompt, skillful, and
cost-effective fire protection and life safety services.
LACoFD's ability to develop new techniques and equipment to
fight fires of all kinds has benefited not only the residents we
serve, but the fire service in general, both nationally and
internationally. LACoFD's Health Hazardous Materials Division
protects the public health and the environment throughout
Los Angeles County from accidental
releases and improper handling, storage, transportation, and
disposal of hazardous materials and wastes through coordinated
efforts of inspections, emergency response, enforcement, and site
mitigation oversight.
About Southern California Gas Company
Southern
California Gas Co. has been delivering clean, safe and reliable
natural gas to its customers for more than 140 years. It is the
nation's largest natural gas distribution utility, providing
service to 21.4 million consumers connected through 5.9 million
meters in more than 500 communities. The company's service
territory encompasses approximately 20,000 square miles throughout
central and Southern California,
from Visalia to the Mexican
border. Southern California Gas Co. is a regulated subsidiary of
Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE), a Fortune 500 energy services holding
company based in San Diego.
This press release contains statements that are not
historical fact and constitute forward-looking statements within
the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. These statements can be identified by words like "believes,"
"expects," "anticipates," "plans," "estimates," "projects,"
"forecasts," "contemplates," "intends," "depends," "should,"
"could," "would," "will," "confident," "may," "potential,"
"possible," "proposed," "target," "pursue," "goals," "outlook,"
"maintain" or similar expressions, or discussions of guidance,
strategies, plans, goals, opportunities, projections, initiatives,
objectives or intentions. Forward-looking statements are not
guarantees of performance. They involve risks, uncertainties and
assumptions. Future results may differ materially from those
expressed in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking
statements are necessarily based upon various assumptions involving
judgments with respect to the future and other risks, including,
among others: local, regional, national and international economic,
competitive, political, legislative and regulatory conditions and
developments; actions and the timing of actions, including
issuances of permits to construct and licenses for operation, by
the California Public Utilities Commission, California State
Legislature, U.S. Department of Energy, Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, California Energy Commission, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, California Air Resources Board, and other
regulatory, governmental and environmental bodies in the United States; the timing and success of
business development efforts and construction, maintenance and
capital projects, including risks in obtaining, maintaining or
extending permits, licenses, certificates and other authorizations
on a timely basis and risks in obtaining adequate and competitive
financing for such projects; energy markets, including the timing
and extent of changes and volatility in commodity prices, and the
impact of any protracted reduction in oil and natural gas prices
from historical averages; the impact on the value of our natural
gas storage assets from low natural gas prices, low volatility of
natural gas prices and the inability to procure favorable long-term
contracts for natural gas storage services; delays in the timing of
costs incurred and the timing of the regulatory agency
authorization to recover such costs in rates from customers;
deviations from regulatory precedent or practice that result in a
reallocation of benefits or burdens among shareholders and
ratepayers; capital markets conditions, including the availability
of credit and the liquidity of our investments; inflation and
interest rates; the availability of electric power and natural gas,
and natural gas pipeline and storage capacity, including
disruptions caused by failures in the North American transmission
grid, pipeline explosions and equipment failures; cybersecurity
threats to the energy grid, natural gas storage and pipeline
infrastructure, the information and systems used to operate our
businesses and the confidentiality of our proprietary information
and the personal information of our customers, terrorist attacks
that threaten system operations and critical infrastructure, and
wars; weather conditions, conservation efforts, natural disasters,
catastrophic accidents, and other events that may disrupt our
operations, damage our facilities and systems, and subject us to
third-party liability for property damage or personal injuries some
of which may or may not be covered by insurance; risks that our
partners or counterparties will be unable or unwilling to fulfill
their contractual commitments; business, regulatory, environmental
and legal decisions and requirements; the inability or
determination not to enter into long-term supply and sales
agreements or long-term firm capacity agreements due to
insufficient market interest, unattractive pricing or other
factors; the resolution of litigation; and other uncertainties, all
of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond our
control. These risks and uncertainties are further discussed in the
reports that the company has filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. These reports are available through the EDGAR system
free-of-charge on the SEC's website, www.sec.gov. Investors should
not rely unduly on any forward-looking statements. These
forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof, and
the company undertakes no obligation to update or revise these
forecasts or projections or other forward-looking statements,
whether as a result of new information, future events or
otherwise.
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SOURCE Southern California Gas Company