The methane and natural gases threatening homes, streets and businesses in northeast Santa Monica subsided this weekend, and residents are now allowed to return to their homes.
SoCalGas first received reports that a subcontractor had damaged one of the city’s largest natural gas mains near the intersection of Stanford Street and Lipton Avenue around noon Thursday. The foul smell of flammable gases prompted a large response of state and local officials, some of whom said they had worked through the night to prevent the situation from worsening.
On Friday, the smell and sounds of natural gas pouring into the neighborhood prompted the evacuation of residents, but those left behind were stuck in the dark, without power, searching for information.
Despite living a few feet from an electrical transformer that could spark the gas that roared as it flew from the main, Carrie Sedor mentioned last week that she wasn’t too concerned about the situation.
“They hit the big one right here that apparently feeds all of Santa Monica, this guy said. And they don’t want to shut down all of Santa Monica, so that’s why they’re doing it in increments,” Sedor said, detailing how she has seen hundreds of workers out at the scene in the last few days.
Over the weekend, Sedor captured pictures of half a hundred workers maneuvering large cranes and pipes on her street in an effort to cap the ruptured gas line. On Monday, traffic was allowed to once again pass through the neighborhood where she walked and detailed the remnants of the work.
Black metal plates scatter the street and cover the different excavation sites. The far-right lane on Wilshire was still closed for a small stretch near the neighborhood while a SoCalGas worker shoveled dirt at the intersection of Stanford Street and Wilshire Boulevard. But Sedor said it’s hard to believe the now-tranquil street was rumbling with activity just a few hours ago.
“It was a mess down here. You could smell gas, we were talking about the street lifting and now it’s quiet,” Sedor said. “There were a few different groups of people in all their different outfits. I saw them come around and they all huddled like they were saying, ‘OK, we’re going to do this.’ And then some big pieces of material started coming in… and they started just working through the night. My husband sent me a shot of some stuff at two in the morning and we have videos of all that stuff happening.”
By the time Sunday morning had arrived, workers were patching holes, visiting homes to fix old stoves and conducting other safety checks in the area.
“I was like wow they’ve been working,” Sedor said, noting she was asked if she wanted to leave like her neighbors, but the Sedor family opted to stay since it was one of five houses that had electricity.
“They said, ‘If you made it this far, it’s going to be okay and it’s getting better,’” Sedor said, “so we just believed.”
SoCalGas officials said Monday afternoon that repairs are complete, service has been restored to all customers.
“We were one of the lucky ones,” Sedor said, adding, “I don’t think anybody should be afraid, but it does seem like nobody knows what’s going on down there. So, that’s a discomfort; the fact that we don’t really know what’s going on underneath the street.”
Brennon@smdp.com
