Emergency Plan to Ease Methane Threat in Fairfax Area Gains

A key committee of the Los Angeles City Council has approved emergency measures to try to prevent another dangerous buildup of underground gas at a methane-plagued intersection in the Fairfax District.

“We know where the gas will migrate, and we know how strong the pressure is. The only thing we don’t know is when it will blow again,” said Joseph W. Cobarrubias, a city geologist who briefed the committee recently on his investigation of the latest gas scare at the corner of 3rd Street and Ogden Drive.

The intersection has been the site of two major gas leaks in recent years, including the 1985 explosion and fire that injured 24 people in the Ross Dress for Less store.

The latest incident occurred in February, 1989, when methane appeared in nearly explosive concentrations in the basement of a K mart store on the south side of 3rd Street. The same day, a fountain of gas, water and mud also popped up through a crack in a parking lot near the Gilmore Bank on the north side of the street.

After hearing the report of a task force headed by Cobarrubias, the Budget and Finance Committee agreed to adopt his recommendations and instructed him to prepare to implement them. Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky, the committee chairman, said it was a “foregone conclusion” that the City Council would approve the task force’s recommendations.

“Are we talking here about a dangerous situation, potentially?” Yaroslavsky asked during the geologist’s presentation.

“Yes,” Cobarrubias said.

“Very dangerous?”

“Yes. . . . As soon as it hits a crack in a foundation, it can spread and fill an entire room.”

“That’s pretty scary. . . . Are you telling me then that somebody’s pilot light or lit cigar could cause it to explode?”

“Yes, or a light switch.”

Cobarrubias said nearby residential areas are not at risk, because lawns and gardens allow methane seeping from the ground to dissipate harmlessly.

But he said that the acres of asphalt and concrete in the commercial district along 3rd Street act as a cap that prevents the methane from dissipating.

“Nature’s been doing this for a million years, and it’s been safe until man plunked down this pavement,” Cobarrubias said.

The intersection of 3rd and Ogden sits atop a pocket of compressed sand about 42 feet below the surface, where the gas accumulates at unusually high pressures--from 20 to 27 pounds per square inch, compared with four pounds per square inch for the rest of the Fairfax area, according to Cobarrubias.

The source of the gas is the subject of a pending lawsuit filed by victims of the 1985 Ross fire. Their attorneys blame the operators of a nearby oil field, but Cobarrubias said his task force found no evidence to justify that claim.

Regardless of the source, the task force was more concerned with preventing another explosion and recommended a variety of measures. The committee adopted them in principle and indicated that the necessary money would be made available.

Among the recommendations are the installation of venting wells on a 500-foot-long swatch of private property extending from 3rd Street; the installation of trenches and vents beneath the intersection, and additional inspectors to enforce requirements for gas detectors and other safety devices in commercial buildings.

The wells on the private property could cost about $60,000, which would be split among the various owners of the Farmers Market, the Town and Country Shopping Center and the Park La Brea Shopping Center.

The city’s costs would amount to about $70,000, but officials said that state funds are expected to cover most of that.