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 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.
