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OC oil well leak threatening homes
An abandoned oil well in Newport Beach has sparked a local emergency.
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. - An abandoned oil well leak in a Newport Beach neighborhood has sparked a local emergency, and could even lead to homes being torn down.
What we know:
From SkyFOX, aerial footage showed a 110-foot-tall oil rig set up in the middle of a Balboa Peninsula neighborhood. The drilling is an effort to reach and seal an old oil well that dates back to the 1920s. The well had been dormant for decades until October, when it began spewing methane gas followed by thick black crude oil.
Two nearby homes were red tagged and deemed unsafe to live in after oil seeped directly into the properties.
Residents say the nonstop drilling is loud, but the threat from the aging well is even more concerning. Officials are attempting to prevent additional leakage into surrounding homes or into the water in the nearby channel.
"I think it's very sad for the people whose houses have been impacted. My understanding is they've lived here for decades and suddenly in October they smell methane, and now they've got oil oozing, and it's just super sad for them and sad for the neighbors in the immediate vicinity. They're drilling down, I think, 800ft. And it's really it's kind of just a hum," said neighbor Keri Kaiser.
The city said pumping will go on 24/7 for the next nine days as they plan to clean out the well and seal it with a special type of concrete.
The Source: Information for this story came from the City of Newport Beach.