Aliso Canyon Gas Leak - Incident Update - February 8, 2016

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Feb 08, 2016, 10:03 ET

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 8, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

SoCalGas Operations Update

SoCalGas continues to make progress on relief well number one, reaching a measured depth of 8,600 feet. The closer crews get to the intercept point, the more analysis and precision is required, so the process necessarily slows down. Multiple ranging runs were completed this past week to confirm the position and relationship to the target well. Each of these shorter interval drilling and ranging runs will enhance certainty in positioning the relief well with the intercept point. As we've stated previously, we remain on schedule to stop the leak by late February or sooner. Crews continue to set up rig equipment on relief well number two.

SoCalGas Extends Time for Relocated Residents to Return Home

SoCalGas today announced it reached an agreement with the Los Angeles City Attorney to provide residents who chose to temporarily relocate as a result of the Aliso Canyon natural gas leak more time to transition back to their homes. Get more information here: https://www.alisoupdates.com/acu-return-home-faq

Evaluation of Health Concerns by Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment

OEHHA has evaluated air sample data collected by SoCalGas at several locations in the Porter Ranch neighborhood. http://oehha.ca.gov/public_info/emergency/alisocanyon.html

"OEHHA's evaluation to date has concluded:

The symptoms reported by many Porter Ranch residents can be attributed to odorants in the natural gas. The natural gas odorants have strong odors which can be perceived at concentrations below the levels that can be measured in air samples. These odors can evoke physiological responses (e.g. nausea, headaches) without inducing more serious or longer-lasting health effects, such as eye or respiratory system damage.
Overall, the available air sample data does not indicate that an acute health hazard exists from any of the volatile organic chemicals measured, including benzene, in the Porter Ranch neighborhood as a result of the Aliso Canyon natural gas leak.
Current measured exposures to benzene are below the level of concern for chronic health effects.
Benzene is a cancer-causing chemical. Any increase in cancer risk to people in the area due to benzene emissions from the natural gas leak is likely very small. Nearly all measured benzene concentrations in the Porter Ranch community during the leak are similar to background levels generally found in the Los Angeles area, including at the nearest long-term monitoring station in Burbank."

SoCalGas Recognizes the Impact on the Community

SoCalGas is working every day to address concerns of members of the community, whether they've chosen to take advantage of temporary housing accommodations or have remained in Porter Ranch. SoCalGas has established multiple ways to support residents during this unfortunate situation. We have set up a dedicated website, a Community Resource Center, and dedicated phone lines for claims or temporary relocation assistance.

Relocation Updates

As of Feb. 7, 2016, 1,662 (more than a third) of the residents who chose to relocate have checked out of their temporary accommodations.

Households placed: 4,505
Households in progress: 840
Households checked out: 1,662
Air scrubbers installed in homes: 5300
Weatherization of homes: 5236
Plug-in air filters delivered to homes: 3,060
Plug-in air filters delivered to schools: 1,756

About Southern California Gas Co: Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) has been delivering clean, safe and reliable natural gas to its customers for more than 145 years. It is the nation's largest natural gas distribution utility, providing service to 21.6 million consumers connected through 5.9 million meters in more than 500 communities. The company's service territory encompasses approximately 20,000 square miles throughout central and Southern California, from Visalia to the Mexican border. SoCalGas is a regulated subsidiary of Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE), a Fortune 500 energy services holding company based in San Diego.

This press release contains statements that are not historical fact and constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements can be identified by words like "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "plans," "estimates," "projects," "forecasts," "contemplates," "intends," "depends," "should," "could," "would," "will," "confident," "may," "potential," "possible," "proposed," "target," "pursue," "goals," "outlook," "maintain" or similar expressions, or discussions of guidance, strategies, plans, goals, opportunities, projections, initiatives, objectives or intentions. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of performance. They involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Future results may differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon various assumptions involving judgments with respect to the future and other risks, including, among others: local, regional, national and international economic, competitive, political, legislative and regulatory conditions and developments; actions and the timing of actions, including issuances of permits to construct and licenses for operation, by the California Public Utilities Commission, California State Legislature, U.S. Department of Energy, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, California Energy Commission, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, California Air Resources Board, and other regulatory, governmental and environmental bodies in the United States; the timing and success of business development efforts and construction, maintenance and capital projects, including risks in obtaining, maintaining or extending permits, licenses, certificates and other authorizations on a timely basis and risks in obtaining adequate and competitive financing for such projects; energy markets, including the timing and extent of changes and volatility in commodity prices, and the impact of any protracted reduction in oil and natural gas prices from historical averages; the impact on the value of our natural gas storage assets from low natural gas prices, low volatility of natural gas prices and the inability to procure favorable long-term contracts for natural gas storage services; delays in the timing of costs incurred and the timing of the regulatory agency authorization to recover such costs in rates from customers; deviations from regulatory precedent or practice that result in a reallocation of benefits or burdens among shareholders and ratepayers; capital markets conditions, including the availability of credit and the liquidity of our investments; inflation and interest rates; the availability of electric power and natural gas, and natural gas pipeline and storage capacity, including disruptions caused by failures in the North American transmission grid, pipeline explosions and equipment failures; cybersecurity threats to the energy grid, natural gas storage and pipeline infrastructure, the information and systems used to operate our businesses and the confidentiality of our proprietary information and the personal information of our customers, terrorist attacks that threaten system operations and critical infrastructure, and wars; weather conditions, conservation efforts, natural disasters, catastrophic accidents, and other events that may disrupt our operations, damage our facilities and systems, and subject us to third-party liability for property damage or personal injuries some of which may or may not be covered by insurance; risks that our partners or counterparties will be unable or unwilling to fulfill their contractual commitments; business, regulatory, environmental and legal decisions and requirements; the inability or determination not to enter into long-term supply and sales agreements or long-term firm capacity agreements due to insufficient market interest, unattractive pricing or other factors; the resolution of litigation; and other uncertainties, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond our control. These risks and uncertainties are further discussed in the reports that the company has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These reports are available through the EDGAR system free-of-charge on the SEC's website, www.sec.gov. Investors should not rely unduly on any forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof, and the company undertakes no obligation to update or revise these forecasts or projections or other forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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SOURCE Southern California Gas Company