http://abc7.com/news/metals-found-in-dust-samples-from-porter-ranch-homes-near-gas-leak/1336701/
PORTER RANCH GAS LEAK
Health officials find metals in dust samples from Porter Ranch homes near gas leak
By Darsha Philips
Friday, May 13, 2016 12:05PM
PORTER RANCH, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health will release a full report Friday on the air and dust samples taken from homes near the Aliso Canyon gas storage facility in Porter Ranch.
Thousands of residents have not returned to their homes despite the massive gas leak being capped. In October, a well leaked thousands of tons of gases daily until it was shut off in mid-February. Over the course of 16 weeks, an estimated 107,000 tons of methane flowed out of the well.
The estimated cost of the well blowout has doubled to more than $665 million, according to Sempra Energy, which owns Southern California Gas Co.
Residents were allowed to go back to their homes a few weeks after the flow stopped, but homeowners still complained of getting skin rashes, headaches and nosebleeds. Health officials tested air and dust samples in 111 homes near the leak.
"When we look at the dust samples, we found metals present that really shouldn't be there," said Jeffrey Gunzenhauser with the county health department. "They could, at certain levels, cause symptoms similar to those that were reported by people. We think they should be cleaned, and if the levels were higher they could pose a hazard to people."
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http://abc7.com/news/porter-ranch-residents-skeptical-as-tests-say-homes-safe-for-return/1338404/
Porter Ranch residents skeptical as tests say homes safe for return
By Leo Stallworth
Friday, May 13, 2016 09:58PM
PORTER RANCH, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Homes in Porter Ranch that were evacuated because of the Southern California Gas Co. leak are safe for residents to return to according to new test results, county health officials said Friday.
Some homes do have a trace amount of metals in the dust that could cause some of the symptoms residents have complained about, such as nosebleeds, rashes, and skin irritation, officials said.
However, they add the amount found was well below levels that would be considered a health risk.
"Our testing protocol looked at 250 different chemicals so that's a very long list of everything we thought could possibly express itself here in the community," said Jeffrey Gunzenhauser with the Los Angeles County Department of Health. "When we looked at the indoor air sampling of all of the homes there were no results that were at a health level of concern."
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http://www.scpr.org/news/2016/05/13/60609/porter-ranch-faq-what-s-in-the-dust-from-the-gas-w/
Porter Ranch FAQ: What's in the dust from the gas well blowout
Sharon McNary May 13, 05:31 PM
Air quality technicians hired by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health have tested the air and dust in 100 Porter Ranch homes and found what they describe as low levels of a number of metals that should not be in the homes.
Despite the low levels, public health officials say certain metals may be the reason for the nosebleeds, headaches, nausea and other symptoms residents have complained about in the nearly three months since crews capped the natural gas leak at the Aliso Canyon Storage Facility adjacent to the community.
Here are answers to some of the questions raised by the tests.
Which metals were found?
County health officials say a number of metals were discovered, but they focused on five that showed up most frequently in their salt forms: barium, manganese, vanadium, aluminum and iron. The metals did not turn up in the tests of a control group of 11 homes located outside the zone affected by the gas well blowout.
Are officials certain that these metals are behind the headaches, nausea and other symptoms Porter Ranch residents are still reporting?
No. Cyrus Rangan, the head of Public Health's bureau of toxicology and environmental assessment, says "we're not saying we've found the canary [in the coal mine], so to speak." He says these metals "have the potential to cause some of these symptoms," but he cannot say that they are "definitely causing all the symptoms."
Rangan notes that the county's tests were only spot checks of 100 homes, so there could be higher concentrations of these metals in other parts of the homes.
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REPORT:
http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/media/docs/PublicHealthAssessment.pdf
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