The mayor of Los Angeles demanded accountability Friday for an ongoing leak at a Southern California Gas Co. facility but said the “first responsibility” is to cap the well, which has been spewing natural gas for more than two months.
California Gov. Jerry Brown has declared a state of emergency over the gas leak near Porter Ranch, which has forced thousands of households to relocate and prompted widespread complaints of headaches, nausea and other ailments.
Garcetti said the leak at the Aliso Canyon Natural Gas Storage Facility, operated by Southern California Gas Company, “has been traumatizing for our Porter Ranch residents.”
He described it as a “disaster on the scale of what we saw with Deepwater Horizon,” referencing the 2010 BP spill that sent millions of barrels of oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico.
The mayor said “there will be hell to pay for this,” with the City Attorney Mike Feuer suing and several class action lawsuits filed.