SoCalGas to shut off gas to Rancho Palos Verdes’ Portuguese Bend area Monday

More than 130 homes will lose natural gas service in the Portuguese Bend area of the Palos Verdes Peninsula beginning around 9 a.m. on Monday, July 29, amid concerns over continued land movement.

According to a press release from the Southern California Gas Company on Saturday, July 27, the “dynamic situation requires we take immediate action,” but SoCalGas had “not identified any natural gas leaks” in the Portuguese Bend neighborhood.

“Unfortunately, the neighborhood continues to experience significant new land movement damaging roads, homes. and further threatening the safety of SoCalGas’ infrastructure,” according to the SoCalGas release. “The significant strain on SoCalGas’ infrastructure caused by this recent land movement requires that we discontinue service at this time to protect the safety of the Portuguese Bend Community.”

In a phone interview Saturday, Oscar Martinez, social media community advisor for SoCalGas, said SoCalGas had teams surveying the land recently and they had not “seen any betterment of the situation based on what we’ve seen geologically.”

“It’s one of those things where it’s unpredictable and we can’t determine if there’s a point where it’s going to get better or it’s going to stabilize,” Martinez said. “So the decision was made.”

Martinez said they came to that conclusion on Friday and “we started reaching out to the government officials there at the city as well as the HOAs.”

In a text, Kent Attridge, president and city liaison for the Portuguese Bend Community Association (PBCA) in Rancho Palos Verdes, said the shutoff of natural gas will impact “our entire community of around 140 homes, claiming safety concerns about a potential break in the main gas line entering the community above Wayfarers Chapel.”

“Both the PBCA and the City are looking into ways we can force SCG to postpone this shutoff and have them explore either fixing the current line or installing a new line in a location less susceptible to land movement,” said Attridge in the text. “We believe that providing notice on a Friday night for a shutdown on Monday morning is totally unacceptable.”

Attridge added: “We have many elderly residents that rely on gas for their cooking and hot water whose health is now threatened by SCG’s decision. Our members need tome to covert to propane or other alternatives if SCG refuses to continue gas service.”

He said “many are already threatening legal action.”

Martinez said “there hasn’t been any conversation about any extension,”  so for now they are “still aiming for a Monday morning shutoff.”

Gordon Leon, another resident, said three properties on Vanderlip already have had their gas shut off, including his.

Leon was unaware Saturday that the entire neighborhood will be without gas on Monday.

“We are trying to figure out how to cook and “heat the house without it,” Leon said.

“It is complicated by the electricity being cut off at some of the same houses,” Leon added. “It seems like every day there is a new problem to solve.”

Leon said Southern California Edison also gave him three days before shut down.

“This is completely unreasonable,” Leon said. “The gas and electric companies should bear some liability for the cost of interrupting service.”

There are 20 streets impacted, according to the press release.

Streets include Palos Verdes Drive South, which sees continual upheaval from land movement —  so much so, it was banned by the city to two-wheel vehicles, including motorcycles and bicycles, for at least six months.

Also, an area on PV Drive South between Narcissa and Peppertree drives, mentioned in the press release as two of the impacted streets, faced temporary closure due to dangerous cracks and fissures.

Such historic sites as Wayfarers Chapel in Rancho Palos Verdes had to be dismantled for its protection and more than 10 miles of popular trails have had to be closed following two winters of historic rain.

In recent months, SoCalGas could not restore natural gas service for residents along Vanderlip Drive, which included the historic Villa Narcissa. That was before Southern California Edison shut off power to Villa Narcissa earlier this month.

In the SoCalGas press release, they say they have worked “diligently” to protect the public in recent months by relocating 600 feet of pipeline because of land movement, installing new valves for quick shut off in case of an emergency, and “accelerated leak inspections intervals throughout the neighborhood.”

SoCalGas, in the press release, said “do not attempt to restore service or to connect alternative fuels like CNG or propane to your natural gas meter. Doing so is unsafe.”