Last week, we told you about The Gas Company scaring residents of Wonder valley by releasing gas from pipes. When we asked Southern California Gas for more information they were free with the “what” but cagey about the why. David Haldane has more…
Imagine a complex network of natural gas lines gushing beneath the streets of Southern California. One of them runs from Desert Hot Springs along Highway 62 to Twentynine Palms, then veers north eventually ending near Lake Havasu on the Arizona border.
It was along that line, in Wonder Valley, that residents got the scare of their lives recently after what some described as a loud roar accompanied by a dirty plume jetting into the sky.
It turned out to be a planned venting in advance of scheduled maintenance. But it also inspired enough 9-1-1 calls to raise a question: what’s that pipeline for and why’s it in the desert?
So Cal Gas officials apparently are better at explaining what than why. The pipeline, they say, helps deliver natural gas to 20 million customers statewide. And an army of 5,000 trained employees is standing by should a mishap occur.
They’ve even added a secret weapon: that distinctive odor to help detect leaks.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GAS COMPANY CAGEY ON NATURAL GAS PIPELINE
