Further developments were reported in the California natural gas leak story these past few days. Initial reports from last week appeared to suggest that the level of emissions has come down by as much as 60 percent compared to November levels. However, the latest reports indicate that county officials have now formally expanded the area that is considered affected by the gas leak.
On Jan. 12, it was reported that the California Air Resources Board (CARB) did a preliminary survey and released estimates of the extent of the emissions due to the leak. The estimate it mentioned was at a level 60 percent less than the November levels, and 20 percent less than December levels. This seemed to suggest that the volume of the emissions was reducing. CARB did insist though that it did the survey by air and also mentioned that this was only preliminary data. In order to get more reliable data, a fuller, more detailed and intensive study would need to be done. However, it was only possible to do such a study after the gas leak was fully fixed, according to Financial Content.
Contrary to what such initial reports appeared to suggest, more recent reports coming out of California indicate that on Wednesday, county officials said that the impact zone had now doubled in size, according to CBS News. This brings with it two consequences. The first is that county officials are now monitoring the leak over an area twice the previous size. The second consequence is that more people have now been added to the official list of affected people. This would allow the affected people to consider alternatives that officials are offering those affected, including such things as temporary shelters, according to Headline News.
The Eng family of eight people was among the group of people that chose to move out of their affected neighborhood recently. They said they moved because their children started complaining about tummy aches and bleeding noses. They gathered all their belongings that would fit into suitcases and are now living in a hotel room, according to The Mindanao Examiner.
