LA doctor sounds alarm over effects of Aliso Canyon gas leak

Feb. 06--A Porter Ranch physician says a pattern of health symptoms has emerged among the almost 50 patients he's followed since last year's Aliso Canyon natural gas leak and he hopes other doctors in the area as well as outside researchers will collaborate with him on a long-term study.

Dr. Jeffrey Nordella said he's seeing abnormal pulmonary functions among some of those patients, and low red blood cell counts in others. He's reviewed the files of residents whose family members died and said he's seen a rare case of anemia that can be connected to toxic exposure. He said his study, while small, should be shared.

"This whole study is just scratching the surface, but I want to use this as a foundation to say let's all stop," he said. "Let's get these high-level professionals in here that are not biased."

Nordella's plea for collaboration comes at a time when state regulators are preparing to say whether the Aliso Canyon gas field that spewed the largest methane leak in the nation may be safe enough to refill with natural gas. Just a few days ago, hundreds of angry residents packed back-to-back public hearings in Woodland Hills to call for putting a halt to immediately reopening the Southern California Gas. Co facility.

--RELATED STORY: Public hearing on Aliso Canyon gas field cut short as tempers flare

They say they first want to know the cause of the four-month leak. They also would like to shut down the 3,600-acre gas field just north of Porter Ranch forever.

Nordella said he believes it's also important to understand the health impacts the leak had on residents before natural gas is allowed to be injected back in those wells. Different patients were exposed to different levels for different times, he said, and it won't be clear how people are affected unless researchers follow them for at least three to five years.

Health study stuck

More than a year after a massive natural gas leak above Porter Ranch sickened thousands of people, forcing them to temporarily leave their homes in the northwestern San Fernando Valley, no deep health study has been started to answer their lingering questions. Since the 100,000 metric tons of methane that spewed from one of 115 aged wells is unprecedented, no one can point to past studies or research on the health effects of such an exposure.

Officials with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health said such a study is stuck in legal limbo and it's unclear if or when it might be resolved.

--RELATED STORY: Aliso Canyon 1 year later: Health study stuck in limbo amid cancer fears

The South Coast Air Quality Management District issued a nuisance abatement order last year against SoCalGas. The order included a provision that the utility fund a comprehensive health study because of so many reports of headaches, nosebleeds and vomiting during the leak. After the leak was controlled on Feb. 11 and capped on Feb. 18, health complaints continued from residents who moved back.

SoCalGas officials have said they agreed to fund the "reasonable costs" of such a study under the Stipulated Abatement Order and committed to fund up to $400,000 to complete one. And they have said the AQMD has not provided SoCalGas with a proposed health study plan.

But officials with the AQMD said what SoCalGas is proposing isn't quite a health study. The two sides have reached an impasse, resulting in a civil lawsuit. Any study at all now remains in legal limbo.

Angelo Bellomo, the Los Angeles County deputy director for health protection, said he would be interested in looking at Nordella's findings and agrees that collaboration is necessary. But he also said the Public Health Department can't do a long-term study on its own.

"The study is vital from our perspective because it will help address the health needs and concerns of the community," Bellomo said, adding that having answers will help residents move forward.

"A study of this magnitude requires several agencies at the state and local level," he said. "We have identified what the general scope of such a study would entail. We would like any information that's generated out there that professionals would (find) helpful. We would like to have that information."

Bellomo said the Public Health Department is committed to seeing such a study.

"We are going to fight to make sure this occurs," he said. "The goal is not have a study. The goal is to have a study that brings meaningful information to address the concerns."

Nordella said a flood of patients with sore throats, congestion, headaches and rashes were turning up at his Porter Ranch urgent care facility in October of 2015, and he couldn't quite understand what was happening.

There was no widespread announcement that a massive natural gas leak had been occurring in nearby Aliso Canyon and no immediate countywide instructions for physicians in the San Fernando Valley on what they should be doing.

But as news began to spread that a ruptured well was releasing thousands of metric tons of methane into the air, as more than 8,000 families relocated and two elementary schools were shut down and thousands of residents complained of nosebleeds, nausea and headaches, Nordella realized there was nothing in the literature that is known about the chemicals that were being released and how they affect the human body.

When SoCalGas conducted air tests in 2015 and last year, results showed elevated levels of benzene, a documented carcinogen. Hydrogen sulphide also was present.

AQMD officials said in their report at the time that the benzene and other toxic chemicals found increased the cancer risk for Porter Ranch residents, though they posed no greater health danger than the typical Southern California air, the report concluded.

One file Nordella has reviewed is of a child from Porter Ranch who has a rare case of aplastic anemia, which can be caused by exposure to toxic chemicals. Since the illness has such a low incidence rate per 1 million people, the doctor is concerned there could be more cases in the San Fernando Valley.

Nordella, who cares for patients in the San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys, said he's knows the battle residents of Porter Ranch are confronting. He fought a 10-year legal battle against insurance giant Anthem Blue Cross, which he chronicles in a recent book called "Denied."

He said his call for a collaborative study has nothing to do with notoriety or lawyers or involving state regulators or SoCalGas. It has more to do with finding truth in the science.

"There might be people who have the same symptomatology," he said. "This is not a dollar-and-cents thing for me."

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