Draft of Project 1

350.org "Porter Ranch, CA, USA" 12/12/2015 via flickr.com
Public Domain Dedication License

This is the draft of my script (it doesn't include any sound effects or music I intend to input into the podcast):

It all started with a leak. Not a large leak, not even a noticeable one. That is, until October, when some evening workers from the SoCal gas company working in Aliso Canyon saw a small leak in one of the older wells. Now, it had been a long day, and these hard workers really wanted to go home. So they decided to leave it for the morning. Except, that leak grew, and grew, and grew until in the morning, it was an unstoppable force. The methane, an invisible but toxic and smelly gas, was now billowing out, following the path into the Porter Ranch community a few miles south of the wells.

Soon residents began complaining of a smell, an awful smell, accompanied by terrible headaches and nose bleeds. SoCalGas had failed to use precautionary measures to prevent such a leak from happening, as well as failed to notify the residents of their activities in the canyon, and now the community is fighting back against the corporation.

Aliso Canyon is just like any other canyon; big, dry, and dusty. Well, except that it is sitting on one of the nation's largest natural gas deposit and holds at least 115 wells, some of which are 40 to 50 years old. The canyon sits approximately 2 miles north of Porter Ranch, and most of the wells sit northwest of the neighborhood. SoCalGas had been tapping into the pocket of methane that was sitting beneath the canyon and the community for over four decades, yet the members of the Porter Ranch community had no clue of the figurative "gold mine" they were sitting on.

This affluent community was considered to be, according to a 2008 L.A. Times article, a "calm outpost of Los Angles" where people could get away from the hustle and bustle of the big city. The population density of this tight-knit community was relatively low, while the number of white picket fences is relatively high. Each neighbor has their role in the community, be it working at the local charter school or at the branch of the L.A. library, yet each family, usually of three members, had their home. It wasn't until the leak in early October that trouble began to brew.

The SoCal Gas Company isn't the face of all evil. Most of the people working for this company are just trying to make a living and feed their families, and persecuting them is going after the little guy. However, like most traditional energy companies, the way SoCal gets the gas is outdated and environmentally disastrous. They seem to care mostly about profit and not necessarily the people that they have to squash to get at it. The legality of their actions is at times questionable, although their acting CEO and President Dennis Arriola has been involved with many charitable organizations as well as other environmentally friendly energy companies. The face of their organization, their website, is dedicated to showing the friendly side of the company, the side that provides natural gas energy at half the cost of their competitors. The sad fact is, they failed to notify the residents of Porter Ranch before the leak became a large problem.
On October 23rd, 2015, the SoCalGas company released an official announcement of a leak in one of their natural gas wells, well after the leak had started, and soon after residents began to complain of illness. They began drilling relief wells in attempts to shut off the leak, but to no avail. The relocation of the Porter Ranch community needed to begin immediately, and the company released an official statement that " [They] understand that each family’s situation is unique and every individual reacts differently to the odorant used in our natural gas. To that end, our temporary relocation specialists take a careful case-by-case approach for each request, attempting to the best of our ability, to meet each request with sensitivity and excellent customer service." Yet in recent developments, it has been implied that SoCalGas has been rather "difficult" in providing assistance to those who are required to move. Although they have announced the official budget for moving each family, their estimates are not the most accurate, according to some residents. Needless to say, in between their bouts of itching and vomiting, they were angry, and wanted retribution.

In fact, the residents of the Porter Ranch community are so unhappy with the SoCalGas company's actions, that they have chosen to bring litigation against the natural gas company. Backed by a multitude of law firms, including Morgan and Morgan, Panish Shea and Boyle, Kennedy and Madonna, LLP, and R. Rex Parish, the residents are suing the company for failure to implement preventative measures as well as for failure to notify them of the leak sooner. These people are angry. As one member, Roybn Shapiro, said, "Everyone wanted to live in Porter Ranch, and now who is going to live there?" Their homes have been contaminated and taken away. The community even has the support from famous environmental activist Erin Brocovich. Brocovich had her own fight against the energy company P&E, back in 1993. Her story was so important to the fight against pollution that a biography was made about her in 2000. In a Times article written earlier this year, Brocovich states "We're all taught in Kindergarten, if you smell gas, you run, right? But [residents] were being told it can't hurt you..." SoCalGas elected to lie to the community at Porter Ranch rather than admit fault.

California Governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency on January 6th of this year after months of silence on this issue. Governor Brown has had a previous affiliation with SoCal before; his sister Kathleen Brown is on the board of directors for the company. It is safe to say that his connection to the company was close. The reason Brown had finally declared a state of emergency was, as he stated in an official press release, "[the] prolonged and continuing duration of this natural gas leak and the request by the residents and local officials". The truth is that the California governor wanted to give the company carte blanche in fixing the problem. When he realized he could ignore the wishes of his constituents no more, he finally gave in. This declaration, however, puts the problem of the leaking well in the hands of the government, and the current timeline dictates it will take at least until March to cap the well.

In reality, this well is not only the problem of the residents of Porter Ranch, but also of the rest of the world. As of right now, this well has leaked almost 95,000 metric tons of methane, a very common green house gas. This incident, nicknamed the "BP spill on land", will cause a jump in global warming if not taken care of soon. While the rest of the nation is worried about the crazy shenanigans of presidential candidate Donald Trump or about the Powerball, the members of the Porter Ranch community are worried about the future of the planet.

There are a few stumbles in the dialog and I don't know if I should change the music for each segment. Do you think that I should add an interview? I wasn't sure. I linked the podcast here. It takes a few seconds to get started.