Manufactured Gas in California, 1852–1940: Basis for Remedial Action

Abstract

California was a relatively late entry (1852) in the manufactured gas industry. However, its gas entrepreneurs showed considerable invention and enterprise in establishing more than 250 separate gas plants, this in a total geographic environment approximating a whole nation of separate-operating and now environmentally endangering, conditions. Virtually all of the many gas generation processes and patent variations were employed in the state, and a wide variety of geologic conditions have created an even wider variety of fate and transport conditions related to their tar and other residuals. A complex development of holding companies and other management forms also need interpretation as to the level of operational understanding present at the many former manufactured gas plants and other coal tar sites. As with all locations worldwide, a close understanding of the conditions surrounding technical operation and waste management options is essential to correct planning for environmental remediation.