The real story behind decades old oil & gas wells I found under Ladera Ranch CA in July is danger from H2S gas and Benzene leaking near Poets Park

Hydrogen sulfide, or H2S, leaks like the one depicted on the show “Landman” are extremely dangerous. Exposure to high levels of the gas can be fatal. The real story behind decades old oil & gas wells I found under Ladera Ranch CA in July 2026 is danger from H2S gas and Benzene leaking near Poets Park. Hydrogen Sulfide Gas H2S Leaking From an Abandoned Oil Well Can Drop You Dead In Your Tracks Without Any Warning. Ladera Ranch CA has two abandoned oil wells deep drilled underground that could be leaking carcinogenic benzene and deadly hydrogen sulfide H2S gas, one oil well is 8,000 feet underground near a kid's playground at Poets Park, the other is at the end of Citrus Lane and it was deep drilled down over 4,000 feet, oil well depths.

Old deep drilled Exxon Mobil oil well near/under what became Poets Park Ladera Ranch was short filled plugged at 351 feet during a re-abandonment in July 2001 due to blockage the drillers could not get past in the over 8,000 feet deep well. DOGGR directive required cement to be squeezed past the blockage on outside of casing down to bottom of oil well to protect the lower 8365 feet, report indicates they did not do this! DMB Ladera LLC kept their dirty little secret covered up for 25 years of the poorly re-capped oil wells, until now.

Deep wells tapping into older, sulfur-rich hydrocarbon formations (often referred to as "sour" zones) frequently experience degradation of their original cement plugs and steel casings over time. This structural failure creates a direct pathway for highly hazardous subsurface H2S gases to migrate thousands of feet back up to the surface. Long-term exposure to benzene vapors can cause cancer. Major health organizations—including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)—classify benzene as a known human carcinogen.

Researchers hypothesize that emissions like benzene and other aromatic hydrocarbons possess clastogenic (chromosome-breaking) properties that might cause DNA damage via oxidative stress from old abandoned crude oil & gas wells plugged & capped (P&A) that contain hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) gas. 

The exact root cause of the genetic swap between chromosome 11 and chromosome 22 (called a translocation) that leads to Ewing Sarcoma is unknown, and it happens completely at random after a person is born. Ewing Sarcoma is not inherited from parents. Oil and gas development (OGD) has been linked to increased pediatric cancer risk, but the literature to date is focused on hematologic malignancies and active wells. The emergence of suspected clusters of cancers such as Ewing sarcoma in children living near OGD and widespread presence of abandoned wells plugged & capped (P&A) in California warrants investigation. 

*Note, "OK, here are your updates, research and prep work LA Times and CA-Post for the Ladera Ranch story". Hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) leaking from old and abandoned oil & gas wells in California is an extremely deadly, toxic gas that can cause severe health damage or death even during short exposures. California tracks and manages deteriorating infrastructure through the Department of Conservation Idle Well Program.

 

Sarasota Private Investigator Bill Warner, True Crime Stories, Bill Warner Investigations Sarasota Fl