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A huge methane gas leak in Los Angeles County in the U.S. state of California, which caused months of protests has forced Governor Jerry Brown to declare a state of emergency to make federal funds available to deal with the incident.
In the press release announcing the state of emergency, Brown’s office said the order has come due to the “prolonged and continuing duration of the Aliso Canyon gas leak.”
The governor's office added it was establishing an incident command structure to coordinate local, state and federal response to the leak and stop it as soon as possible.
IN DEPTH: California's Ongoing Drought Crisis
The steady leak of the gas has also caused the displacement of thousands of families. The leak was first reported in Oct. 23 and has since leaked 62 million of cubic feet of methane into the air on a daily basis, RT said, quoting the Environmental Defense Fund.
The news comes a day after Michigan Governor Rick Snyder declared a state of emergency over contaminated drinking water in the city of Flint,
A month ago, Flint’s mayor also declared the state of emergency saying the city’s water was causing elevated levels of lead in children.
Governor Snyder said Tuesday the contamination happened when the Flint switched from the Detroit water system in 2014 to the Flint River as a water source. The switch caused untreated river water to infiltrate the city’s water infrastructure.
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