EHR WAS BORN OUT OF…

 

Environmental Health Research was born out of the worst methane gas and poly-toxin blowout in the history of the United States. On October 23, 2015, the Porter Ranch and neighboring communities were showered with toxic chemicals and heavy metals for almost four months until the storage well was plugged by the SoCalGas company on February 18, 2016. A rupture on the well casing and lack of a well safety valve contributed to the unprecedented disaster.

Thousands of residents were forced to relocate from their homes in attempt to escape the dizziness, nausea, nosebleeds, headaches, and many other symptoms brought on by the onslaught of toxins. The health impacts of the blowout did not dissipate after the well was plugged in 2016. For many, symptoms grew worse from the chronic exposure to outdoor and indoor contaminants from the blowout. SoCal Gas and the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health insisted that the chemical exposure from the blowout did not pose any long-term health risks without conducting a health study at the time or allowing enough time to pass to confirm how the toxins affected residents long-term. The Los Angeles Department of Public Health oversees the $25 million health study, and after many years, the community still has not seen a patient-centric health study come to pass.

Photo by Hannah Benet

As former members of the Community Advisory Group and residents of the same affected community, we have spent countless hours researching, engaging with health experts, helping educate and receiving feedback from the community. We hear the cries of the community, and EHR was created in response. In order to best determine how the human body is affected by such toxins, the study must patient-centric.

  • Craig Galanti

    A 30-year resident of Porter Ranch, CA, where he raised a family while leading business teams as a senior executive at The Walt Disney Company, GE/NBC Universal Studios, and 20th Century Fox. After 20 years of corporate life, Craig launched his own business consulting practice including clients such as Nintendo, ActiVision and SONOS among many others. A native Californian, he earned his MBA from USC in Marketing and Finance. All of Craig’s free time is spent with his wife and three sons. He has worked tenaciously for 4+ years to ensure his family and community receive the best possible health study, this community-centric, science-driven and without political agenda. Craig looks forward to working in good faith with all parties to achieve these goals.

    Porter Ranch Neighborhood Council Representative

  • Andrew Krowne

    A lifelong resident of the north San Fernando Valley, accounting and tax professional with a successful Porter Ranch firm, husband and father of 5, turned activist and inventor. Outside of the CAG, spent three years as Treasurer of the Porter Ranch Neighborhood Council, worked with multiple community and environmental groups and invented the Environmental Health Tracker (EHT), the only app available to geotrack and crowd-source symptom data. For five year the Aliso Canyon Blowout and its aftermath have become my life’s work through volunteerism and activism.

    Northridge West Neighborhood Council Representative

  • Brian Allen

    More than forty years of financial and business management in both large and small businesses with more than thirty years of that time spent as a CFO. In addition to financial responsibility, Brian was involved in all areas of operations from accounting to marketing and administration to warehousing. He has operated his own consulting business for over 10 years and established a number of charters for small Non-profits.

    Brian currently serves on the Granada Hills North Neighborhood Council and lends his expertise to various organizations within the Neighborhood Council System in Los Angeles.

    While now retired, Brian spends most of his time trying to help improve the City, with input on its $10+ billion budget and the services it provides. Along with addressing the City’s budget, he contributes much time out of concern for the local community and the health of its citizens due to a local gas blowout disaster.

    Granada Hills North Neighborhood Council Representative