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Hawthorne well continues to leak methane gas

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City of Hawthorne. (32815)
City of Hawthorne.

HAWTHORNE, Calif. — Thirty-seven Hawthorne families evacuated from homes near a methane-spewing well were being kept away again today, as well-control specialists worked to stop the flow of flammable gas and find a permanent way to control emissions.

County fire Inspector Anthony Akins said it may be several more days before residents can return home. Seeping methane was detected around the wellhead today, after an attempt was made Tuesday to plug the well with a proprietary slurry of mud and gel.

And that leak prompted well owner Golden State Water Co. to ask specialists with the well-control company Boots and Coots International to install a blowout preventer, or pressure relief valve, that will be custom fabricated.

“You can’t just order this from a Home Depot,” Akins said. “It has several components and fabrication has to occur at the scene.”

After the blowout preventer is made, some testing will have to take place before residents are allowed back home, he said.

A welder was at well off Imperial Highway between Inglewood and Firmona Avenues this afternoon, he said.

The out-of-use well, once used for drinking water, started gushing water and methane Thursday evening. Because methane is flammable — even explosive in some mixtures with air — and can replace oxygen in the bloodstream, firefighters evacuated nearby homes.

Akins said the water company has been helping pay for temporarily relocating evacuated residents, who were allowed to get essentials from their homes on Sunday.

Tuesday’s attempted fix held for several hours, but apparently started seeping out again last night or this morning, Akins said.

Methane, the largest component of natural gas, occurs in pockets under much of Southern California’s flatlands. A stench detected along the coast March 3 was attributed to a natural release of methane under Santa Monica Bay that bubbled to the surface.

When collected by pipelines, odorless methane is scented with an additive, then piped into businesses and homes as “natural gas.”

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