Disaster spreading in Rancho Palos Verdes: Gas will be shut off to 54 more homes as land shifts

Southern California Gas Co. is shutting off natural gas service to 54 more Rancho Palos Verdes homes because of additional land movement in the area.

The utility on Thursday announced service would be suspended indefinitely for 29 homes in the western Seaview neighborhood and 25 homes in the Portuguese Bend Beach Club area starting about 3 p.m. Friday.

The decision followed a sudden gas line break on Exultant Drive in Seaview on Aug. 30, as well as new geological hazard surveys, SoCalGas said in a statement .

Land movement has also impacted the gas line on Palos Verdes Drive South, which serves the Portuguese Bend Beach Club community.

In both cases, SoCalGas determined it was no longer possible to safely continue service.

“At this time, SoCalGas does not know when it will be safe to restore service to these communities,” the utility's statement said.

A complete list of affected streets is available online .

Emergency disaster relief may also be available to customers affected by the shutoffs. More information can be found on the SoCalGas website .

Residents whose service has been turned off should not attempt to restore service themselves or connect alternative fuels like propane to their natural gas meters, because it is dangerous.

The Portuguese Bend neighborhood continues to be the only one in Rancho Palos Verdes that is under a city-issued evacuation warning. No such advisories are in place for Seaview or Portuguese Bend Beach Club.

The gas service shutoffs are the latest hardship dealt to residents of Rancho Palos Verdes' rolling hillsides. In late July, SoCalGas shut off gas for 135 homes in the Portuguese Bend neighborhood, citing worsening land movement in the area.

And over Labor Day weekend, Southern California Edison shut off power to more than 200 homes in Portuguese Bend and Seaview — a decision designed to reduce the risk that the shifting earth could spark a wildfire if power lines remained electrified, officials said.

City officials said residents in these neighborhoods can choose to remain in their homes without gas or electricity, and many have done so. But authorities continue to warn that residents should be prepared if their homes become subject to a shutoff amid the ongoing land movement.

During a special City Council meeting earlier this week, Edison officials said they are considering shutting off power to the Portuguese Bend Beach Club area as well, but couldn’t definitively say whether that will occur. The decision will be based primarily on whether land movement conditions change.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times .