This past Sunday marked the one year anniversary of the worst natural gas blowout in American history, the Porter Ranch gas leak.
When I learned last year of the leak at the Aliso Canyon SoCal Gas Storage facility, my immediate concern was for our changing climate. At the time I lived in Virginia, and the human impacts of the leak felt far away. The 11,000 people displaced, the 110 days the leak raged on, the two schools that were closed, and the thousands who became sick just registered as numbers to me.
This weekend, I heard the stories behind those numbers.
At a rally to mark the anniversary of the disaster, I met with families who woke to the smell of gas one year ago. Their holidays were spent worrying about the health of their children, pets, parents, and loved ones. They spent a full year fighting for the health of their community and organizing to keep Porter Ranch safe and free from toxins — a fight that’s still continuing.
More than 100 people gathered in a park near the Aliso Canyon facility this Sunday to commemorate the struggles of their community over the past year. We listened to live music and the leaders of Save Porter Ranch and Food and Water Watch before marching to the driveway of the Aliso Canyon Storage facility to hold a memorial.
Photo by Cora Karamitsos / Greenpeace.
During the march, I had the opportunity to speak to one woman whose daughter’s school had to be relocated for months following the leak. She described to me the distress she felt when hearing of her daughter’s friends suffering from rashes and frequent nosebleeds. I can’t imagine having a child suffer from these symptoms and feeling powerless to help them.
At the end of the march, people posted photos of loved ones and pets that were lost as a result of the gas leak on the SoCalGas sign in front of the Aliso Canyon Facility. One photo depicted a woman, about the age of my mom, with blood dripping from her nose. Another photo showed the hair loss of a younger woman. It was eerie seeing the photos of older people and pets that had died in the past year.
Every person at the rally was given a red carnation to set on the drive of the SoCalGas facility. Every day this week, the management for this corporation that has placed thousands of people at risk will be reminded of the blood this community has shed as a result of this disaster.
Photo by Matt Forth / Greenpeace.
But while the past year has been a difficult one for the people of Porter Ranch, this rally was about the strength and spirit of the community.
One woman started to tear up while describing her experience:
“My nerves are shot and fried. I’ve become fearful, afraid to stay in my house. My dog is gone and I miss her. That’s it. My hair is gone, this isn’t my real hair. It’s almost all gone. It’s embarrassing to talk about this. I’ve always been the strong one in my community. I’m tired of being sick.”
In response to her testimony, the crowd chanted, “We’re here for you!”
At its core, the residents of Porter Ranch are focused on protecting one another. One of the speakers even made an appeal to the security guards from SoCalGas to switch careers to solar energy so they could help build a safe, toxic-free future for northern Los Angeles. They are truly neighbors to one another.
Matt Pakucko, president and co-founder of Save Porter Ranch and also a longtime resident of the area, spoke about the similarities between the Aliso Canyon leak and the leak of mercaptan in Eight Mile, Alabama. This community — which has far fewer resources than Porter Ranch — has been dealing with the toxic spill for eight years, an announcement met by boos and chants from the crowd.
In Porter Ranch, Eight Mile, and so many communities around the world, people are standing together to protect their health from the fossil fuel industry. When the people of Porter Ranch rally, they rally to #ShutItALLDown.
Cora Karamitsos is a frontline campaigns fellow with Greenpeace USA, based in Los Angeles.
