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Porter Ranch, Saddleridge fire. Fire coming from manholes. #CaliforniaFires Video: Matt Dejoy

An underground natural gas pipeline rupture that caused the largest methane leak ever in California has been permanently capped, paving the way for thousands of displaced Los Angeles residents to return home, state regulators said on Thursday. The leak, which began in October, was confirmed by a series of independent laboratory tests to have been successfully sealed as of Wednesday night, officials said. The leak originated from a broken injection-well pipe deep beneath the surface of the 3,600-acre (1,457-hectare) Aliso Canyon natural gas storage field, owned by Southern California Gas Co. State officials said the uncontrolled release of 80,000 tonnes...

A gas leak deep under Los Angeles has been spewing 1.6 million lbs. of methane each day, with no immediate end in sight. The months-long leak in Porter Ranch is already the worst in California's history, and environmental advocates fear it could have a long-term impact on the climate. While methane does not stay in the atmosphere for as long as carbon dioxide, it traps radiation more effectively, making it a significant contributor to global warming.

California Governor Jerry Brown finally declared a state of emergency on Wednesday, concerning the ongoing, currently unstoppable methane gas leak spewing from Aliso Canyon that has created a nightmare for residents of Porter Ranch. “I will tell you, this goes well beyond Porter Ranch. We’ve had complaints from as far as Chatsworth, Northridge, and Granada Hills,” emphasized Los Angeles City Councilman Mitchell Englander during a Porter Ranch town hall meeting on December 28. “Apparently this plume of toxic chemicals and whatever it might be, doesn’t know zip codes […] This is the equivalent of the BP oil spill on land,...

Since initially reporting on California's Alison Canyon gas leak, more details have emerged on the scale (and potential for no solution) of the problem as the infamous Erin Brockovich writes, "the enormity of the Aliso Canyon gas leak cannot be overstated. Gas is escaping through a ruptured pipe more than 8,000 feet underground, and it shows no signs of stopping," as according to the California Air Resources Board, methane - a greenhouse gas 72 times more impactful in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide - has been escaping from the Aliso Canyon site with force equivalent “to a volcanic eruption”...

Aerial crews responded Monday to a wildfire on a mountain above a Porter Ranch neighborhood. The fire was reported just before 10:50 a.m. on the top of Oat Mountain. The area is just north of the 118 Freeway near Porter Ranch. Aerial units were dispatched to the location. Helicopters scooped water from a nearby golf course.