Austin multi-purpose air purifiers were designated to protect the citizens of Porter Ranch and surrounding areas as SOCAL worked 24/7 to plug a gas leak that erupted on October 23, 2015 spewing 1200 tons of methane into the atmosphere every day.
Although the gas leak emittted an offensive odor it is not believed to pose any long term health problems. However, a segment of the population with chemical sensitivities did experience symptoms which will for the most part be temporary.
SOCAL has undertook an extensive review of air purifiers along with the California Environmental air quality board in order to address the problem.
The selection of Austin as the provider of their multi-purpose air purifiers to protect the citizens in Porter Ranch from any negative effects came as no surprise.
Austin has been the go to provider for environmental emergencies since 1990 when they supplied air purifiers during the gulf war to contend with burning oil wells in Kuwait. In 2001 Austin was called upon to provide air purifiers to the Red Cross, FEMA and the EPA to cope with the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. In 2003 Austin was designated by the United States Government to manufacture custom emergency air purifiers for the citizens of Anniston, Alabama as the largest concentration of chemical weapons in the world were destroyed under the Geneva SALT ll agreement.