Beach Cities : Pleasant Surprise Greets Officials in Gas Inquiry
Potentially explosive pockets of methane gas in Newport Beach and Huntington Beach are being caused by decaying organic materials and not abandoned oil wells, according to a draft report jointly commissioned by both cities.
The cost of eliminating these gases will be far less than initially believed, according to the study released Tuesday by Geoscience Analytical Inc. of Simi Valley, because the problem can be solved by building inexpensive vents rather than boring costly deep wells to bring the gas to the surface.
“The problem is not as serious as we thought,” said Joe Devlin, Newport Beach’s utilities director, who noted that it may cost the city no more than $4,000 to construct needed vents.
Newport Beach and Huntington Beach officials said they did not know when the report would be put in final form or when drilling might begin.
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