Director of Long Beach Gas and Oil Chris Garner sent the Post the following statement in regard to the strong odor in the air the night of September 11, the cause of which has yet to be determined.

Long Beach Gas and Oil (LBGO) received approximately 40 calls that night between the hours of 10:30 and 11:30 PM from concerned residents reporting an outside odor outside the smell of natural gas. LBGO sent a field representative to investigate with special electronic equipment that can quickly determine if there is natural gas in the air. The result was negative, meaning that the odor was not caused by any leakage from LBGO’s natural gas pipeline system.

When such area odors periodically occur and LBGO begins receiving odor complaints, LBGO’s procedure is as follows:

1) LBGO has at least one system control operator on duty 24/7 to both answer after hour emergency phone calls as wells as to monitor the LBGO’s gas system pressure. When receiving area odor complaints, the system control operator will immediately check the pipeline system pressure to determine if there has been a sudden drop in pressure anywhere on the system which would indicate a major pipeline leak. In virtually all cases of area odor reports, no pressure drop has occurred indicating no major leak on the LBGO gas system.

2) The system control operator will then dispatch LBGO field personnel to the location(s) to investigate using electronic “gas sniffers” to determine if the odor is caused by a smaller leakage of natural gas,.

3) LBGO’s system control operator will also reach out to the City’s contractor that manages the offshore oil islands to ask if they experienced any unusual activity that may have caused the odor.

4) Except in very rare instances, the area odor is not caused by a natural gas leak on the LBGO gas pipeline system. Therefore, LBGO informs any subsequent callers of that determination and advises them to call the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) to report the odor as the SCAQMD is the agency that is responsible for determining the cause of unusual area odors. LBGO notifies the SCAQMD after determining it is not natural gas. LBGO also places a message on its phone system informing callers of the situation, giving SCAQMD’s number and other information.

LBGO has a very “tight” pipeline system that is excellently maintained and monitored, making the system unlikely to experience a major gas leak. Regardless, the safety of our customers is our top priority and, therefore, Long Beach and Signal Hill residents are always encouraged to immediately call LBGO’s emergency line at 570-2140 to report any suspected natural gas odors or leaks so that we can immediately investigate and make any repairs if necessary.

Overnight Stench in Long Beach Possibly Due to Oil Burn-Off

9/12/14 1:41PM | Smell something strange Thursday night in Long Beach? That may have been burn-off from the oil islands who received about 20 calls for an “unknown odor” throughout the night.

This resulted in four calls to service for an odor investigation, but fire officials still aren’t certain about the source of the odor, said LBFD spokesman Brian Fisk.

The South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) said it received a total of 12 odor complaints last night.

“We dispatched a standby, after-hours inspector who arrived in the Belmont Shore area around 11 p.m.,” said SCAQMD spokesman Sam Atwood. “He did not detect any odors in that area nor along the length of Ocean Avenue. Due to the late hour, several of the complainants were not available to meet with our inspector. However he did meet with one complainant who described the odor as smelling like natural gas.”

Atood said SCAQMD will have standby inspectors on call after hours as well as on weekends to respond to additional complaints.

Long Beach residents took to Facebook to discuss the odor.

“On 1st near Gaviota, there’s a strong smell of smoke in the air. It actually woke me up,” said Reuben Miguelito Mercado. “I don’t actually see any [smoke or] flames.”

Shannon Allen added that the smokey smell her family to evacuate their home months ago.

“Got the same line [from officials]: burn off,” she wrote. “I don’t believe them. It was nauseating and scary. It came on suddenly and was overwhelming. It was stronger inside the house and everyone in the neighborhood was outside and concerned.”