Community members, advocates and UCLA researchers will gather Sunday for a town hall marking the 10-year anniversary of the Aliso Canyon blowout, the nation’s largest methane leak — a disaster that forced thousands to evacuate and continues to raise health and safety safety concerns across the San Fernando Valley.
The town hall, hosted by community groups including Save Porter Ranch, Food & Water Watch and Aliso Moms Alliance, will feature updates from researchers behind an ongoing UCLA study assessing the health impacts of the blowout. Advocates said the event will serve both as a moment of reflection, and a renewed call to shut down the underground gas storage site.
“ Now that we’re seeing the findings coming out from the UCLA Aliso Health Study, we thought that it would be extremely important for community members to have more information,” Andrea Vega, Southern California Senior Organizer for Food & Water Watch, said Thursday. “ And then of course … just continuing to call for a closure of Aliso Canyon.”
The town hall comes two days after the Oct. 23 anniversary of the blowout, which released more than 109,000 metric tons of methane for nearly four months and drew national attention to Southern California Gas Company’s underground storage facility located in the hills above Porter Ranch.
Researchers from UCLA are expected to present findings from their continuing health assessment of the disaster’s impacts. Their recently published peer-reviewed study analyzed more than 1 million birth records from 2010 to 2019 and identified 666 cases involving pregnant women living within a 6.2-mile radius of the facility. Among those exposed, the study found a significantly higher rate of babies born with low birth weight, a key indicator of potential long-term developmental risks.
Residents will also be encouraged to use the new Porter Ranch Community Air Monitoring Project mobile app — a tool developed in partnership with Argos Scientific, UCLA and the South Coast Air Quality Management District — to help track air quality trends and report suspected gas leaks. The desktop version has been in use since 2017, but the new app is expected to make access easier for the broader community, Vega said. The app is available for download in both the Apple App Store and Google Play.
Ahead of the town hall, several survivors shared how the blowout continues to affect their lives.
“It’s shocking that this facility is still in existence, given the health, seismic, and fire risks it presents for the 1.8 million residents of the San Fernando Valley,” said Patty Glueck, a Porter Ranch resident and co-founder of the Aliso Moms Alliance.
Helen Attai, another community member, said: “This 10-year anniversary brings overwhelming emotions and painful memories and a bad case of PTSD. The experience has taken a real toll. I cannot believe that this monstrous facility is still open so close to so many homes, schools, shopping centers, and medical offices.”
Who: Survivors of Aliso Canyon blowout, Save Porter Ranch, Aliso Moms Alliance, researchers working on a recent UCLA health study on effects of gas blowout
What: Aliso Canyon 10-year Anniversary Town Hall
When: Sunday, Oct. 26, 3 pm
Where: Vineyard at Porter Ranch, 20065 Rinaldi St., Northridge, CA, 91326