California Methane Leak Is the Biggest Accidental Methane Emission In US History

California's methane leak was the biggest in the U.S. history. The Aliso Canyon has spewed a total of 97,100 tons or 5 billion cubic feet of methane into the surrounding from the time it was detected until it was plugged.

Scientists said that California's methane leak is equivalent to the yearly greenhouse gas emissions of about 600,000 cars.  It is the largest accidental methane leakage in the nation's account. The severity of the leakage made lots of people sick, and resulted to temporary relocation of over 6,600 households at the Porter Ranch community, according to Reuters. Experts have found that the damaged pipeline caused release of 60 tons of gas per hour. The amount doubles methane emissions in the entire Los Angeles.  

"Our finding means that the Aliso Canyon leak was the largest accidental release of methane in the history of the U.S.," Tom Ryerson, a scientist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration , and co-lead of the study, said in a NOAA statement about the research.

The ruptured pipeline was detected on Oct. 23. It is among the 115 wells linked to the large underground natural gas storage facility which is the fifth biggest in the U.S., BBC claims.  Researchers believe that the California's methane leak is severe as the warming effect is greater than the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. The Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas) made seven attempts to close the damaged pipelines before they were able to unplug it earlier this month.

"In terms of the methane release, Aliso Canyon is by far largest," said lead author of the study, Dr Stephen Conley, from the University of California, Davis. "It had the largest climate impact, it beats the BP oil spill."

The analysis of the researchers on California's methane leak revealed that high levels of potentially injurious chemicals including benzene, toluene and xylenes were released during the incident. The scientists said that long time exposure to these chemicals would be detrimental for one's health.  The study was published in the Science Journal.

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California methane leak, methane, natural gas leakage, Aliso Canyon, Los Angeles methane emission

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