A Los Angeles methane leak first detected on October 23 and finally plugged earlier this month is now ranked as largest known accidental methane release in U.S. history. Caused by a ruptured underground pipeline at the Aliso Canyon storage field, a total of 97,100 tons – or 5 billion cubic feet (142 million cubic meters) – of methane has now been released into the environment (doubling the methane emissions of the entire Los Angeles metropolitan area), causing many people to fall ill and prompting the temporary relocation of more than 6,600 households. This event will have huge environmental impacts. In terms of its heat-trapping greenhouse potential, the volume of leaked methane was equivalent to putting 572,000 passenger cars on the road for a year, or to the annual energy-sector methane emissions of a "medium-sized European Union country". This leak remains a potential threat as well, since the emissions were less than five percent of its total storage capacity. SoCal Gas, the company responsible for the incident, despite being sued by local, state and regional authorities, as well as dozens of residents, pleads not guilty of the incident.
http://newsdaily.com/2016/02/california-methane-leak-was-biggest-ever-in-u-s-scientists-say/
http://newsdaily.com/2016/02/california-methane-leak-was-biggest-ever-in-u-s-scientists-say/