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Gas Leak Killing Trees
updated: Aug 22, 2012, 2:45 PM

By Edhat Subscriber

Years ago a natural gas pipe leaked and killed trees and grass in my front yard. A Southern California Gas Company is located just above the estuary end of Goleta Beach. Many of the trees on the bluff top are dead or dying. Half of them look like they were sprayed with white fire retardant. Just like my front yard once did. I tried and tried to call and alert the gas company for 2 days. I couldn't get through. Perhaps one of our reader's knows how and what to do. I believe there is some kind of leakage of gas from the Gas Company spreading across the bluff top. It is getting worse weekly. Save our trees!

Comments in order of when they were received | (reverse order)

COMMENT 311354	2012-08-22 02:49 PM
The trees looked fine the last time I was there. Are you sure it is not natural processes at work? Don't start just blindly blaming local utilities.
COMMENT 311361	2012-08-22 02:59 PM
Strike a Match
COMMENT 311365P	2012-08-22 03:05 PM
Um, what? Natural gas is, well, gas. It gets blown away and dispersed easily. It would have to be a massive, unmistakable leak to cause the trees all along a wind swept cliff to die. Lots of natural processes to explain that.
COMMENT 311378P	2012-08-22 03:20 PM
Those trees are nesting and roosting sites for several bird species...perhaps that is the white you see?
COMMENT 311382	2012-08-22 03:22 PM
would not hurt for the gas company to come out with a "sniffer" to see if there is any detectable gas leak. We had one here at the house and apartments.. 6 cubic feet per hour! We could all have been blown up sky high. Gas leaks do happen...old infrastructure and cracked pipes. Better to check it out that to blow up and kill people!
COMMENT 311413	2012-08-22 04:07 PM
That area is actually a massive underground storage facility for natural gas. If you go towards the ocean on Patterson, past Cottage Hospital, turn right on the road just past the bridge and follow it around. There are a bunch of signs for the Gas Company and things that look like pump stations. It wouldn't surprise me at all if some of the gas was leaking out and killing the vegetation, but the company probably thinks the storage facility is far enough below the surface for this not to occur. This is a good observation and once you find the right people at the gas company I bet they will follow up.
COMMENT 311414	2012-08-22 04:07 PM
Maybe start with a few science courses at city college?
COMMENT 311417	2012-08-22 04:09 PM
My mom had a gas leak in front of her house that was killing all her shrubs. The local gas co (she lives in SD) came out and said they couldn't detect anything. This went on for months, then one day a neighbor was jogging very early on a foggy morning and smelled the gas. He called the gas company and they finally were able to detect the leak. It was a large and noisy repair (they actually were jackhammering the street and sidewalks in front of her house at 3am). Point being, if there is a leak it's not alway easy to determine. It will kill vegetation close to it but I'm not sure how far these trees are from the leak and my mom's shrubs did not have a white coating on them. Do be vigilent, as small gas leaks are difficult to sniff out.
COMMENT 311509P	2012-08-22 06:05 PM
The cormorants who moved there after their usual trees were cut down thanks to their poop hitting parked cars, are responsible for the white branches at Goleta Beach. .
LIMES	2012-08-23 01:55 AM
I have a hunch. The "dying" trees are eucalyptus, aren't they? There is a terrible infestation of insects attacking the eucs in the Foothill Open Space just east of the transfer station. The insects create sugary protective covers called lerps that are attached to the leaves. In a matter of weeks, the foliage of the trees has dropped off. Makes 'em look dead. From Wikipedia: "In biology, a lerp is a structure of crystallized honeydew produced by larvae of psyllid insects as a protective cover." Eucs are among the victims.
COMMENT 311648	2012-08-23 09:13 AM
It's the birds, but the gas company can bail anyway.
COMMENT 311694P	2012-08-23 10:21 AM
Sure it is not a Smart Meter in the area?
COMMENT 311738	2012-08-23 11:23 AM
These are cormorant nesting trees. There was a thread on Edhat recently about these.
COMMENT 312055	2012-08-24 08:57 AM
On a sort of related note, I ride up old san marcos road a few nights a week. For the past few months, I've smelled a strong gas odor just before the switchbacks. Curious if this could be a possible leak and if it should be addressed... Contact PGE/Edison?

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