As reported by the Los Angeles Times:
A leaking natural gas well that has displaced thousands of residents in Porter Ranch lacked a working safety valve, sparking new questions about how the facility was maintained.
Attorneys for residents suing Southern California Gas Co. said the company failed to replace the safety valve when it was removed in 1979.
The safety valve may not have prevented the leak, but it would have stopped the continued release of fumes pouring into the community, attorney Brian Panish said in an interview Sunday.
SoCal Gas spokeswoman Melissa Bailey confirmed in an email to The Times that the well did not have …