California Residents Vent Frustrations Over Gas Leak

California residents sickened and forced to evacuate their homes because of the biggest methane gas leak in state history will have a chance Friday to voice frustrations and demand answers from top officials at a community meeting.

Neither the state nor the utility have been able to stop the leak that has affected thousands of residents since it was detected on Oct. 23 at an underground natural gas storage field in Porter Ranch in northern Los Angeles.

Environmental activists such as Erin Brockovich have called it the worst leak in the United States since the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

"We expect the community to be vocal and to express their frustration," said Brad Alexander, spokesman for the governor's Office of Emergency Services.

Southern California Gas Co, one of the country's biggest gas utilities and a division of San Diego-based Sempra Energy (SRE) , has said the leak was caused by a broken injection-well pipe several hundred feet beneath the surface of the 3,600-acre field. The company aims to complete a relief well to stop the leak by late March.

The meeting will mark the highest level delegation of California officials to the Porter Ranch area since Governor Jerry Brown visited the site on Jan. 4, prompting him to declare a state of emergency.

The delegation on Friday evening is expected to include the director of California's Environmental Protection Agency, the head of the governor's office of emergency services and the state's top regulators for oil and gas and for air pollution, Alexander said.

Southern California Gas Co could not be reached for comment.

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Sara Catania and Lisa Shumaker)