Letters to the Editor: Methane gas leak highlights a threat California must act on

To the editor: A methane leak that forced Newport Beach residents to evacuate their homes last week underscores the threat of oil and gas infrastructure collapse (“Methane gas leak causes evacuation on Balboa Peninsula street”. October 23). This is a problem that California needs to take seriously.

Californians face a major threat from wells like the one in Newport Beach, which was reportedly plugged nearly 100 years ago — before today’s standards for sealing wells were in place.

But even more urgently, California must deal with it Almost 90,000 Oil and gas wells that all need to be cleaned up. More than a third are already idle, many of which have not been produced in a decade or more. These wells can leak methane and dangerous toxins Hydrogen sulfide and benzene that poisons communities and the environment.

California lawmakers and regulators need to act urgently and ensure these idle wells are plugged to modern standards.

Fortunately, there’s a relatively simple solution: make operators fasten their idle wells. These wells brought them a lot of profit during production, and the money to clean them up should be their responsibility.

Cooper Cass, Los Angeles
This author is a staff attorney at the Center for Biodiversity Climate Law Institute.