Another local house exploded

[ACORN]

Years ago walking the woods deer hunting I heard a loud whooshing sound. I followed it to about a 3-4” pipeline lying on the surface with a hole rotted through it, leaking gas. I mentioned it to a local that said it’s been leaking for years.

 

[Shibadog]

Depending on location and ownership a single home tap or well can and should be equipped with an odorant system. Ours were a wick in the pipeline with a gallon reservoir that was filled annually.

Agree-when there’s no odor the risk goes way up, A “gas detector is a good idea as well.

 

[fiasconva]

Thanks for the info. I guess it's not common around here because the water table is so low and any drilling would get you water.

 

[mtgianni]

There are or used to be parts of Eastern MT that it was a good idea to vent ever water well to prevent a gas build up.

 

[charlie sherrill]

Several years ago when was a Law Enforcement Investigator I was interviewing an arsonist we had arrested. The perp had been in the business for a long time and had several different methods for destroying homes and businesses. Most were insurance scams. One of his favorite methods was if the house or building had gas heat he would light a candle at one end of the building and turn on the gas at the other end. By the time the gas built up enough to reach the candle there would be a nice KABOOM! Most of the time the arson investigators would miss the cause of the fire and/or explosion.

 

[steelslaver]

There are or used to be parts of Eastern MT that it was a good idea to vent ever water well to prevent a gas build up.

My one brother lives near Ashland and his water has some gas in it. Not much, but it taste better if you let it sit in an open container for a while

 

[ACORN]

Here’s a pic of Versailles Pa. From the 20s.
Like I said above, every once in a while one of these old capped wells will spring a leak.
It causes some excitement.

 

[llowry61]

Back when I lived in southern Ohio, many rural residents had their own gas wells. That area had lots of relatively shallow underground sandstone gas deposits. One of our family friends had a small farm and heated his home and several outbuildings with gas from his own well, had been doing it for many years. I remember he had a steel drum to catch condensate. I haven't thought about that for a very long time.

Most don't think of Ohio as being a major energy producer, but there is actually a significant amount of oil and gas production from the eastern half of the state. Ohio is actually self-sufficient in gas production.

Back in the 80's and 90's when we road enduros in district 11 of southern Ohio we encountered many miles of orange gas line that was just partially buried or sections that for some reason were above ground. If you hit those plastic lines at the wrong angle your front tire would wash out and down you went.

Some folks I knew who owned property down there would have lines run from the wells. Even after the wells were no longer profitable there was usually enough gas left for the home to have effectively an endless supply of natural gas. It is my understanding that once the well was abandoned by the gas company the owner was responsible for capping the well at whatever point it ran dry.

 

[MelvinWalker]

I had never heard of a gas well until I saw this on the news. Excuse my ignorance but what the heck is a gas well?

These were all over the area I used to live in Tennessee. Many times, they were there from prior gas explorations and then the price went too low, and the well was simply capped off.

I knew a guy that heated his house and shop from his gas well. It seems like the pressure came out way too high from the casing, so he had a pressure reducer installed. They used to be considered a good sale item if you house went on the market with one on your property.

 

[THE PILGRIM]

Back in the day, a Buddy of mine up in N Louisiana had an afterschool job of logging some Gas Wells.
It was a small group of wells which were owned by a Texas Co.
He got the job with his Dads help.
The condensate which is a liquid is separated from the Gas at the well.
Natural Gas is compressed shortly after it leaves the well and liquid don’t compress!
So Curt would pour the condensate into his Ford.
He said it was hard to start but ran ok.
Usually he added some gasoline.
Kind of sounds like the E85 discussion!

 

[LVSteve]

Back in the day, a Buddy of mine up in N Louisiana had an afterschool job of logging some Gas Wells.
It was a small group of wells which were owned by a Texas Co.
He got the job with his Dads help.
The condensate which is a liquid is separated from the Gas at the well.
Natural Gas is compressed shortly after it leaves the well and liquid don’t compress!
So Curt would pour the condensate into his Ford.
He said it was hard to start but ran ok.
Usually he added some gasoline.
Kind of sounds like the E85 discussion!

CNG additions were a fad for a while in the UK after the price of gas went stupid in the 70s. They worked, but then the natural gas companies got greedy (or were told to hike their prices) and the CNG conversion became less viable unless you did huge miles.

 

[mtgianni]

My one brother lives near Ashland and his water has some gas in it. Not much, but it taste better if you let it sit in an open container for a while

There was a house explosion around Scobey 30+ years ago that had a jet pump and an unvented well.

 

[mtgianni]

Back in the day, a Buddy of mine up in N Louisiana had an afterschool job of logging some Gas Wells.
It was a small group of wells which were owned by a Texas Co.
He got the job with his Dads help.
The condensate which is a liquid is separated from the Gas at the well.
Natural Gas is compressed shortly after it leaves the well and liquid don’t compress!
So Curt would pour the condensate into his Ford.
He said it was hard to start but ran ok.
Usually he added some gasoline.
Kind of sounds like the E85 discussion!

Drip gas ran vehicles OK before electronic ignition came along. It is a liquid that accompanies the gas and run through a seperator or just into a tank off the pipeline.

 

[mtgianni]

These were all over the area I used to live in Tennessee. Many times, they were there from prior gas explorations and then the price went too low, and the well was simply capped off.

I knew a guy that heated his house and shop from his gas well. It seems like the pressure came out way too high from the casing, so he had a pressure reducer installed. They used to be considered a good sale item if you house went on the market with one on your property.

Natural gas appliances are designed to run on 1/4 psi. Wells can either get to hundreds of lbs or in the low teens if they're not as productive.