The unreasonable waste of natural gas by the act, omission, sufferance, or insistence of the lessor, lessee or operator of any land containing oil or gas, or both, whether before or after the removal of gasoline from the gas, is opposed to the public interest and is unlawful. The blowing, release, or escape of gas into the air shall be prima facie evidence of unreasonable waste.
(Enacted by Stats. 1939, Ch. 93.)