Los Angeles, California has been suffering from a natural gas leak since October 23rd. About 2.5 million pounds of methane leaked each day, about the same amount 2.2 million cows release. 2,500 people fled their homes once they began to suffer nose bleeds, headaches and vomiting. The leak is still not under control and the area has economically plummeted. The leak isn’t bad enough to be life threatening, rather it is just physically unpleasant, so it is not getting nearly the attention of Flint. As of January 24th the leak has released the equivalent 2.1 metric tons of CO2 into the atmosphere.
California’s government is now requiring SoCalGas and other utilities to conduct daily inspections of all wellheads and other steps that can help prevent future problems such as this. They are also working to create stronger legislation to require better safety regulations.
The moral of the story is leaks like this one (though maybe not so extreme) can occur anywhere in the U.S. and we need to ensure safety regulations and daily checks are being required in order to prevent this. As we look to elect a new president of the United States we need to keep these environmental disasters in mind. It’s not only a health problem but also a contributor to climate change.
You can find more information concerning the matter here