Responding firefighters in Porter Ranch gas leak file suit

A negligence lawsuit filed by firefighters who responded to the 2015 Southern California Gas Company leak at Porter Ranch claims the utility, with the aid of Los Angeles County, knowingly misled responders about the discharged toxins.

The Los Angeles County Superior Court complaint comes three years after a ruptured gas well caused mass evacuations of the Porter Ranch neighborhood and reports of headaches, dizziness, rashes and a slew of other ailments by residents.

Now responding firefighters claim similar problems in their lawsuit filed on Monday -- further alleging SoCalGas knew the leak exposed them to benzene, formaldehyde and carbon monoxide but maintained they were not harmed. The lawsuit also said the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health told firefighters they weren't in danger because the agency didn't question information provided by SoCalGas. Ames v. Southern California Gas Company, 18STCV00854 (L.A. Super., Ct., filed Oct. 12, 20018).

"SoCalGas had no compunction to lie about the dangers involved," said R. Rex Parris of the Parris Law Firm, who filed the lawsuit along with Panish Shea & Boyle LLP and Morgan & Morgan.

Melissa Bailey, a spokeswoman for SoCalGas, said there were no longterm health risks from the gas leak.

"As the attorneys for the first responders well know, thousands of air, soil and dust samples were tested during the leak and for months afterwards by multiple public health agencies. All the data collected and analyzed by public health officials have shown that there was and is no longterm risk to public health or safety from the gas leak," Bailey wrote in an email.

The lawsuit cites 13 causes of action, including negligence, fraudulent concealment, private and public nuisance.

In the days following the October 2015 leak, Porter Ranch firefighters at Station 28 said they responded in the community and at the storage facility without protective gear due to no prior warning from SoCalGas about the risk for toxic chemical exposure. For over four months, according to the suit, the company could not stop gas from emitting, leading to over 100 metric tons of methane cloaking the neighborhood in an oily mist.

Panish

After firefighters expressed their concerns to SoCalGas, the utility dispatched the county on its behalf to assure firefighters that "natural gas is not toxic," according to the suit. The county reportedly told them the odor only caused short-term irritation. Parris said many of the symptoms continue today, however.

"Could [the public health department] have done their own investigation as they should have? Yes, but they relied on the gas company," said Parris.

In August of this year, SoCalGas said natural gas is distributed with formaldehyde and carbon monoxide, issuing a legally required warning stating natural gas has chemicals that are known in the state to cause cancer.

"By withholding this vital information, SoCalGas failed to protect the community and the people protecting us," the lawsuit states.

Litigation in response to the incident has ballooned to 38,000 plaintiffs involving 160 law firms. Settled matters include a $4 million plea deal with Los Angeles County, ending criminal charges related to the delay of reporting the leak. And this summer the state of California ended its civil lawsuit for $119.5 million.

Bellwether cases are on track to be tried as soon as the spring, according to Parris.

One of those plaintiffs could be a child alleging the development of leukemia as a result of exposure to the leak.

"Our experts are telling us this type of leukemia is known to be caused by benzene," Parris said. "Children respond much faster to it."