While one state official said it doesn't appear that SoCalGas violated any regulations, the filing indicates the company acknowledged its inspection shortcomings and shows that SoCalGas primarily reacted to leaks once they were detected but didn't actively search for corroded pipes on a regular basis. The highly flammable gas is 20 times more potent by weight than carbon dioxide, and contributes significantly to the greenhouse gas effect.

The massive natural gas leak discovered in October at a Southern California Gas Company facility in Aliso Canyon just keeps getting worse. Natural gas is an excellent alternative to coal, a fossil fuel when we are talking about emissions, but in its raw form, is the same climate-destroying gas that 195 countries have been trying so hard to keep out of the atmosphere, according to another Digital Journal story.

In addition to households the company has already paid to temporarily relocate, 500 more families are waiting to be moved, said Stephanie Saporito, spokeswoman for City Councilman Mitchell Englander, whose district includes Porter Ranch.

Now they have to drill another 5,000 feet, where they'll intersect the faulty well, and pump it with mud, water, and cement to stop the leak. Now, it looks like the rupture will continue to spew methane into the atmosphere until February or March, when the construction of a relief well is completed.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, exposure to the chemical mercaptan, which is added to the gas to give it that quintessential (and detectable) sulfurous smell, can cause staggered gait, vomiting, irritation of the respiratory system, wheezing, rapid heart beat, arm and leg rigidity, bluish discoloration of the skin, and irritated eyes and mucous membranes. Here are five things to know about the Southern California methane leak.

Environmentalists have seized on the leak as evidence of an aging fossil fuel energy infrastructure that has led to thousands of smaller gas leaks throughout the system that have gone largely unaddressed.

The Environmental Defense Fund, which released the aerial footage, noted that the leak is one of the biggest in history. But a December 23 aircraft flight through the gas plume hints that the well has leaked at least 145 million pounds of methane since October.

Here's a story you may have missed over the holidays: An enormous methane gas leak in Los Angeles County has forced more than 2,000 residents from their homes in Porter Ranch, California. From there, gas is migrating downward to a depth of about 1,000 feet, then slipping past the bottom end of the 11-inch outer casing and up out of the ground, said Jason Marshall, chief deputy director of the California Department of Conservation. "It is coming out with force, in incredible volumes".

"SoCal Gas did not maintain their facility properly, leading to issues involving the health and safety of residents and the community at large", Matthew McNicholas, a lawyer who represents families displaced by the gas leak, told AFP. "And it is absolutely uncontained", O'Connor said.

"For example, we offer to place residents at hotels as we work with them to explore more suitable temporary accommodations, as necessary".

The rate of release has surprised methane experts for its ferocity and because California is under a legal mandate to reduce carbon emissions to flatten the trajectory of climate change.