Homeowners Demand Answers In Ongoing Rancho Cucamonga Gas Leak

RANCHO CUCAMONGA (CBSLA.com) – An ongoing gas leak in a Rancho Cucamonga neighborhood that the Southern California Gas Company claims has been fixed has neighbors crying foul.

Homeowners want to know exactly how long the leak has been going on and whether the process to pump out the remaining gas might be putting them at further risk.

"We had it going in our front yard, our back yard, and on the side, all at once, all day long, 24 hours a day they've been doing it," resident Trudy Usatorres said Friday of the cleanup effort being conducted by SoCalGas crews.

The Inland Valley Daily Bulletin reported this week that the leak was first noticed May 8 in the 6200 block of Jadeite Avenue in the Alta Loma neighborhood.

A SoCalGas spokesperson told CBS2 Friday they have already repaired the leak. However, there were trace amounts of natural gas in the soil, which will take time to remove. SoCalGas said the natural gas is nontoxic, which is why it didn't see a need to evacuate anyone because of this leak.

The spokesperson said crews are working as quickly as possible to finish the cleanup, but the gas company doesn't know exactly how long that will take.

Usatorres thinks the gas in the soil is the reason so many trees and bushes in the neighborhood have been dying over the last few months.

"I'm glad to know what caused it now, it wasn't my brown thumb," Usatorres said.

She's concerned the leak has caused any other problems.

"Makes us start thinking back to things we've had happen, like the nose bleed, my daughter's had some bleeding problems, but they don't know what caused it," Usatorres said.

Resident Adriana Cuiler is also concerned. Last month, doctors did some tests on her 5-year-old daughter and found high levels of toxins and chemicals.

"It didn't make any sense to me, just because she's on such a clean diet. And all we do is we're home, we go to school, we're at the library," Cuiler said.

She wants to know if the gas leak might have polluted their air or water.

"We don't know what it's doing to her, let us alone us, as a family, everyone on this block," Cuiler said.

She's glad that the South Coast Air Quality Management District is taking samples and running some tests. But she says she won't breathe easier until these crews completely finish their cleanup.

"I'm a bit scared now, especially when it's right out my back door, literally, inches from my back door," Cuiler said.