Dozens of Coachella homes without gas, solution still weeks away

Dozens of residents of the Castro Mobile Home Park in Coachella have had to adapt to a heavily-takeout reliant diet over the past several weeks, but they aren’t treating themselves. They’re eating out (and cooking on electric stoves) because their natural gas has halted entirely, and the fix doesn’t seem to be as close as one might hope.

“I spent 2 weeks buying street food for all 3 meals, practically,” said Maria, a resident of the park. “But already a lot of money was spent only on this and I decided it was better to buy this little electric stove. This is helping me a lot but the truth is that I need the gas.”

The issue stems from a problem that popped up in May; according to Southern California Gas, someone backed up over the main meter for the park, and while repairs were being made, a whole slew of leaks was discovered. The utility was shut off, but the timeline for the gas’ return remained hazy.

“The system needs to be replaced,” said Bill Warr of Pipeline Utilities, the company contracted to repair the gas lines. “It’s as old as the park and, you know, 40, 50 years old. that is about the useful life of a steel pipe.”

But who is to blame? The owner of the park told KESQ & CBS Local 2 that the gas company was to blame, while the gas company reflected the blame right back at the owner.

Watch KESQ News Channel 3 at 6 p.m. and CBS Local 2 at 6:30 for Katie Widner’s full story.