Pockets of Methane Gas Identified in 6 Areas of Southland

A state study prompted by an explosion last year in a Westside clothing store has identified potentially hazardous concentrations of methane gas in six areas in Los Angeles and Orange counties, officials announced Tuesday.

The study identified pockets of methane gas scattered through an area from just north of Chinatown west across the Hollywood Freeway and in the Fairfax area, as well as in the cities of Santa Fe Springs, Huntington Beach, Newport Beach and Brea.

“Each of these communities face at least some danger of a tragedy similar to the one which hit the Fairfax community in my district last year,” state Sen. David Roberti (D-Los Angeles), who introduced the legislation calling for the $350,000 study, said at a press conference in Los Angeles.

The report will be provided to city officials “so they can study their options and alternatives,” Roberti said.

Roberti called for the study after a March, 1985, methane gas explosion and fire at the Ross Dress for Less store. The explosion, which injured 21 people, occurred when gas ignited after leaking from the ground into an unventilated room.

State officials described the study as a valuable tool in planning specific measures to mitigate the potential danger of methane gas explosions. But the general areas of possible hazard were not a surprise because areas selected for study all have a history of natural oil or gas seepage and are near abandoned oil and gas wells.

“Originally the project was set by the state to see if any of the thousands of abandoned (oil and gas) wells were leaking,” Fleet Rust, president of GeoScience Analytical Inc. of Simi Valley, contractor for the study, said in an interview. “We didn’t find any leaking wells.”

The study did find certain locations with unexpectedly high levels of methane gas produced by decaying organic materials.

Roberti suggested that local officials could use information in the report to warn residents and businesses in affected areas to be sure that basements are well ventilated or else to install methane monitoring equipment.

Roberti said he saw nothing in the report that would indicate any additional problems in determining a route for the Metro Rail project, which has been rerouted to avoid areas of underground methane gas in the Fairfax District.

Rust said cities mentioned in the study already knew of potential problems and that some of them “were real eager to have the state finance the study, rather than having to finance it themselves.”

Joe Cobarrubias, a geologist in the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety, said that he already has maps “that show where people have been reporting gas and oil seepages for years” and that he could not predict whether the city would take any action.