Natural gas leak leads to evacuation

A natural gas leak in Orange County, California, US, has prompted residents in the area to be evacuated. The leak from a well site began on Wednesday (June 25th) morning and residents were still waiting to return to their homes yesterday (Thursday June 26th) as work to contain the leak continued. It is thought that the leak could take several more days to contain.

The leak was reportedly caused when workers at an oil well site hit a pocket of natural gas. This resulted in sand, water and gas spilling from the ground. The Orange County Sheriff's Office was informed of the leak at a site off Gulf Road in Orangefield on Wednesday morning by a representative from an oil well company. The site was attended by deputies and the Bridge City Volunteer Fire Department. Measurements were taken to see how much gas was in the air and it was found that there were not measurable amounts of gas around the residential areas at the time.

Unfortunately, the weather conditions meant the gas was not dissipating from the air at an optimal rate while the leak continued. With the amount of gas in the air building up and the oil well company unable to control the leak, a special response team had to be brought in from Texas. The team recommended that residents in the area be evacuated as a precaution.

Power in the area has also been disconnected by Entergy as an added precaution. Currently no further evacuations are needed; however, plans are in place in case the evacuated area needs to be expanded. This is to ensure the safety of both residents and workers in the vicinity of the well.

Equipment arrived at the site the next day so that workers could start capping the natural gas well. An incident command post has also been set up on the site, with representatives from Bridge City Fire and Rescue, Orange County Sheriff's Office, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the Texas Railroad Commission.