LOS ANGELES, May 15, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- On Friday, May 13, the Los Angeles County Department
of Public Health (DPH) released the results of its Indoor
Environmental Testing Protocol in the Porter Ranch area. DPH also issued a
directive to Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas) to offer
and implement, at its own cost, a comprehensive cleaning protocol.
In response, SoCalGas issued the following statement:
"The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (DPH) has
acknowledged that no barrier exists for residents to return home,
and it is safe for residents to be home in Porter Ranch and the surrounding
community. The Department of Public Health's data clearly
indicate that there are no levels of concern of any of the
approximately 250 substances the agency tested for in the homes,
including metals such as barium, none of which was detected at any
level of health concern.
"DPH previewed its findings the night before at the May 12th Porter
Ranch Neighborhood Council's Community Advisory Committee
meeting, where DPH stated its desire to 'assure everyone that the
levels detected, even of metals, are in fact, very low' and that
the answer to the question of whether it is safe to return home is
yes, 'people can safely move back into their homes.'
"This data finally provides residents with the additional
support they have been looking for: There is no risk to public
health related to the leak that was permanently sealed months
ago. It is long past the time for the residents who chose to
remain relocated to exit the relocation program, and for the
community as a whole to return to normal.
"DPH recommends that residents clean their homes with soap and
water, and vacuum out of an abundance of caution to address dust
that may have accumulated while residents were away. DPH also
stated that cleaning 'is not a barrier to move back
in.' SoCalGas is reviewing a DPH directive regarding
the funding of a comprehensive cleaning protocol for all homes in
the Porter Ranch area. At
this time, in light of the data confirming that it is safe to
return home, SoCalGas is not offering cleaning to additional
residents.
"We continue to work to support the transition back to
normalcy. Over the past several months, our dedicated
employees, many of whom live in Porter
Ranch, have served more than 30,000 resident visits at our
Community Resource Center, provided temporary housing for 8,000
families, processed more than 41,000 reimbursements totaling
$76 million, installed 38,000 air
filtration systems, and cleaned public parks, playgrounds, and
schools.
"We continue to work quickly to process reimbursements, and we
will deliver on our promise to mitigate the greenhouse gas
emissions from the leak."
About Southern California Gas Co: Southern California Gas
Co. (SoCalGas) has been delivering clean, safe and reliable
natural gas to its customers for more than 145 years. It is the
nation's largest natural gas distribution utility, providing
service to 21.6 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. SoCalGas 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,"
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are not guarantees of performance. They involve risks,
uncertainties and assumptions. Future results may differ materially
from those expressed in the forward-looking
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Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon various
assumptions involving judgments with respect to the future and
other risks, including, among others: local, regional, and national
economic, competitive, political, legislative, legal, and
regulatory conditions, decisions, and developments; actions and the
timing of actions, including general rate case decisions, new
regulations, issuances of permits to construct, operate and
maintain facilities and equipment and to use land, franchise
agreements, and licenses for operation, by the California Public
Utilities Commission, California State Legislature, U.S. Department
of Energy, California Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal
Resources, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, California Energy
Commission, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Pipeline and
Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, California Air Resources
Board, South Coast Air Quality Management District, cities and
counties, 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
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and other authorizations on a timely basis and risks in obtaining
adequate and competitive financing for such projects; the
resolution of civil and criminal litigation and regulatory
investigations; deviations from regulatory precedent or practice
that result in a reallocation of benefits or burdens among
shareholders and ratepayers and delays in regulatory agency
authorization to recover costs in rates from customers; 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, moratoriums on
the ability to withdraw natural gas from or inject natural gas into
storage facilities, pipeline explosions and equipment failures;
energy markets; the timing and extent of changes and volatility in
commodity prices; 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; risks that our partners
or counterparties will be unable (due to liquidity issues,
bankruptcy or otherwise) or unwilling to fulfill their contractual
commitments; capital markets conditions, including the availability
of credit and the liquidity of our investments, and inflation and
interest rates; 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 and employees; terrorist attacks that threaten system
operations and critical infrastructure; wars; weather conditions,
natural disasters, catastrophic accidents, equipment failures and
other events that may disrupt our operations, damage our facilities
and systems, cause the release of greenhouse gasses and harmful
emissions, and subject us to third-party liability for property
damage or personal injuries, fines and penalties, some of which may
not be covered by insurance or may be disputed by insurers; 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; 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