The blob oozes in Los Angeles
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 21 (UPI) -- A tar-like blob engulfed the basement of a 99-year-old Los Angeles apartment building, buckled the street and oozed from manholes and cracks, reports said.
"The street looked like it was about to pop. Everybody sort of stepped back and said, 'Whoa,'" fire department Capt. Al Gonzales told The Los Angeles Times. "Then we put two and two together."
It was then authorities remembered that St. James Oil Co. had a petroleum drilling site two blocks away and discovered workers were injecting water at high pressure and temperature to extract leftover crude from old wells.
When the company stopped pumping Monday, the street bulge began to subside.
However, the apartment building has been declared off limits to residents until the stability of its foundation can be inspected.
The Times said about 130 people were affected while the Los Angeles Daily News put the number at about 200.