Save Porter Ranch

Aliso Canyon was the site of the nation’s largest-ever uncontrolled natural gas leak in 2015 and Porter Ranch residents are still experiencing health issues six years after the blowout.

Porter Ranch residents and advocates against the Aliso Canyon Gas Storage Facility Jane Fowler, left, and Loraine Lundquist raise their fists and hold signs in front of the facility’s entrance in Porter Ranch, Calif., on Tuesday, Feb 23, 2021.

After sneaking backstage while attending the 2019 California Democratic Convention in San Francisco, Porter Ranch resident and Aliso Canyon protester Jane Fowler was able to approach Gov. Gavin Newsom about shutting down the Aliso Canyon gas storage facility.

“We have got to get that thing shut down,” said Newsom in a video recorded by the Food and Water Watch. “I’m working on it.”

Newsom also mentioned in the video that shutting down the gas facility was “at the top of our agenda.”

Contrary to his statements, the Aliso Canyon gas storage facility has not been shut down. Gas withdrawals from the facility are up by 4755% since Newsom was elected, according to data collected from the California Public Utilities Commission by the Food and Water Watch.

The Aliso Canyon Storage Facility was discovered in the 1930's and the mountain has been extracted since. Chris Torres/The Sundial

“I feel like my life has been taken from me,” Fowler said. “When you’re not feeling well everyday or five days a week or two days a week and you don’t know which day it’s going to be, it affects your life.”

- Jane Fowler, Porter Ranch resident and Aliso Canyon protester Jane Fowler

Jane Fowler believes the gas leak contributed to the death of her pitbull, Missy. After the gas leak, Fowler had to clean a black, oily substance from Missy's coating on multiple occasions. SoCalGas failed to disclose crude oil was released during the gas leak despite knowing that its gas reservoir contained crude oil.

Loraine Lundquist, a climate activist, sustainability lecturer at CSUN and former candidate for Los Angeles City Council District 12, became an advocate for the facility’s closure after she witnessed her students experiencing symptoms of nosebleeds, nausea and dizziness during the gas leak in 2015.

“There are other trace chemicals within natural gas itself, but this gas that is stored at Aliso Canyon is stored in a depleted oil field. Oil has a lot of cancer-causing chemicals that have problematic health effects, such as benzene.”

- Loraine Lundquist, physicist, climate activist and sustainability lecturer at California State University Northridge

On Oct. 23, 2015, gas spewed out of the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility and released nearly 100,000 tonnes of natural gas into the air along with toxic chemicals, forcing thousands of San Fernando Valley residents out of their homes before the leak was capped four months later.

Fowler, along with many other Porter Ranch residents, reported having headaches, bloody noses, nausea and rashes. Residents also claimed to experience a “brain fog,” a term used for certain symptoms that can affect your ability to think clearly. According to San Francisco Neuropsychology, people suffering from brain fog may experience problems with attention, concentration, speech, memory, organization and other cognitive skills.

A member of the nonprofit organization Save Porter Ranch holds a sign that reads "SHUT. IT. ALL. DOWN." during the "Rally to Shut Aliso Down" protest in Porter Ranch, Calif., on Tuesday, Sept. 28, 2021.

In Sept. 2021, Southern California Gas Company and its parent company, Sempra Energy, agreed to pay $1.8 billion to settle claims from more than 35,000 plaintiffs affected by the gas leak. A settlement has not yet been reached because it requires 97% of the plaintiffs to accept it in order for it to be finalized.

Matt Pakucko, the president of the nonprofit organization Save Porter Ranch, said each of the plaintiffs would receive around $28,000 after attorney fees and expenses.

“Does $28,000 cover [the medical expenses] for the rest of our lives being health monitored because of the ongoing issues? It doesn’t even come close.”

- Matt Pakucko, the president of the nonprofit organization Save Porter Ranch

When Newsom was elected in 2018, SoCalGas lobbied and succeeded in justifying “looser regulations,” according to Alexandra Nagy, California director for the national grassroots advocate organization Food & Water Watch and Food and Water Action.

Compared Governor Brown, in Newsom's first two years, there's a 3,000% difference in gas withdrawals.

“It’s just a huge slap in the face to this whole process and effort of getting the facility shut down. Not only have they allowed withdrawals to expand, but they’re going to increase the size of the field too.”

- Alex Nagy, California Director of the Food & Water Watch and Food & Water Action

A half dozen teachers from Castlebay Lane Elementary, located a mile from the Aliso Canyon gas facility, have died from cancer since 2007, according to CBS Los Angeles.

“My daughter’s kindergarten teacher died of bladder cancer that went to her bones,” Fowler said. “Her second grade teacher died of multiple myeloma.”

Six teachers from Castlebay Lane Charter School (bottom left) have died from cancer since 2007. The elementary school is located a mile away from the oil facility.

SoCalGas said the Aliso Canyon gas storage facility is important to the community and that shutting it down would result in “electricity outages, natural gas shortages, and potentially high prices for electric and natural gas use,” according to their facility fact sheet.

Lundquist believes that SoCalGas is not taking multiple factors into account with that statement. She said by looking at the overall picture in terms of community safety and climate change, having this facility will not save money by any means.

“The cheapest thing that we can possibly do is shut down all of our fossil fuel infrastructure, especially facilities like [Aliso Canyon] that have clearly shown to be unsafe, and shift over as fast as we can to cleaner technologies."

- Loraine Lundquist

Protesters give comments to the media while holding a banner demanding Gov. Gavin Newsom to shut down the Aliso Canyon gas storage facility in Porter Ranch, Calif., on Tuesday, Sept. 28, 2021.

“I know at 61 you can do anything, but I’m also a 61-year-old that has been physically, mentally, emotionally, psychologically and neurologically harmed"

- Jane Fowler, Porter Ranch resident and Aliso Canyon protester Jane Fowler

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