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 Allison 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. The SoCal gas company was forced to admit their mistake on October 23rd, 2015, and soon after litigation was brought against them by the people of Porter Ranch for failing to prevent this disaster and for failing to notify the residents as soon as the company was aware of the problem. Another very large part of this controversy is the company's inability to stop the leak all together. Even now, months after the leak started, the company had failed to find a viable solution to the gas that is billowing out as we speak. They are attempting to build a relief well, yet because of the antiquated piping and the remote location, the timeline being given to the residents, who have since relocated, is very tentative. California officials have been working to prevent this from ever happening again, and governor Jerry Brown has declared a state of emergency until things have been worked out.
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