Nearly four months of environmental contamination and civic disruption in Porter Ranch, California came close to an end February 11, 2016 when work crews pierced the underground casing of the damaged Aliso Canyon gas well and started injecting it with a mud-like compound.
“The well is no longer leaking,” said Jimmie Cho, senior vice president of gas operations and system integrity for Southern California Gas Co.
The final step is for concrete to be pumped into the well, a process that has begun, and for state regulatory officials to declare that the leak has ceased.
Residents were already beginning to notice one major difference: No more gas odor that has driven so many from their homes.
For the nearly 5,000 households that moved out of Porter Ranch alarmed about health risks from the leak, the news brings mixed relief.
It’s a moment of celebration, said Paula Cracium, president of the Porter Ranch Neighborhood Council, but there still is a lot of work ahead. “It changes from controlling the crisis to now navigating recovery,” Cracium said.
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I am Jeff Clark, founder of Internet Brothers, producer of this blog, and passionate about hiking. I live in Western NC near the Blue Ridge and Great Smoky Mountains. Pisgah and Nantahala National Forests are just out my door, so the content will focus on these areas, but let me know what you would like to see on the site. 
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