Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by The_Baron on April 21, 2010 at 7:12

They do still use mercaptan. it is not unusual to have a gathering line with no smell added.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by The_Baron on April 21, 2010 at 7:30

In any case, this well was still being drilled, there would be no odor added at this time. If the gas is coming from this well, or a nearby well it would be subsurface and there would be no opportunity to add scent.

It is entirly possible the water had gas in it all along......

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Mac Davis on April 21, 2010 at 10:03

There will definitely be NO added odor in any gas in the well water from drilling operations. Even if there is odor added to the gas at the well before it goes into the pipeline, it seems really unlikely that a gas line close to the surface will somehow manage to push gas down into the underground aquifer.

I bought a combination CO2/explosive gas detector at Home Depot or Lowes. It's probably a good thing, and I wanted a CO2 detector anyway. I'm not sure I'd put a lot of faith in it. I guess you'd want one in each bathroom, or in any other rooms with running water. They seem to run around $60.

I wonder if methane leaks from wells tend to have an "oil stink" odor to them?

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Lorissa Gail on April 21, 2010 at 10:19

In 1980 at Daisetta, Texas school was closed in May for the rest of the year due to a gas leak from saltdome gas storage. A local welding shop had noticed that when sparks would hit the concrete area flames would flair from a crack in the floor. At school, while preparing BBQ for a banquet a drain flaired. Thinking it was a school gas leak the fire marshall etc. closed the school and started checking pipes.....They quickly discovered it was a community wide problem. Schools and churches were not allowed to assemble ...all drains, sewers, etc were opened to air...Big vacuum pumps were brought in and placed in various areas to suck up gas. One was in our front yard! Officials went from house to house checking gas levels. When they entered our bathrooms and our neighbor's bathrooms the beepers started sounding. We NEVER smelled anything! We moved!
On an added note, Daisetta was the site of a hugh sinkhole last year...swallowing up buildings and equipment. I do not think they ever reported the cause of this sinkhole.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by The_Baron on April 21, 2010 at 10:28

Don't you mean CO detector?

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Lorissa Gail on April 21, 2010 at 12:40

If they use a CO detecter to find natural gas then yes. They were afraid we would blow up! It was natural gas that leaked from the salt dome under the town of Daisetta. The salt dome that an O/G company used to STORE natural gas. Our house as well as our neighbors were " all electric" and we had no natural gas lines in or under our homes yet our soil required pumping to remove this gas. We were allowed no gatherings of people, and the drains and sewers in town were all opened (no covers) to keep from having a buildup of gas resulting in an explosion. All outdoor burning was banned. (and no candles in the bathroom! : )

Remember in 1980 there was NO internet and we were at the mercy of "Officials" for information. The information we gleaned was VERY marginal as you can guess . Thank you Go Haynesvile Shale for being a site where those of us who have very limited knowledge in the O/G field can find info!

But , this was just to answer that there was no smell at all to warn us of the danger we were in!

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Mac Davis on April 21, 2010 at 21:40

OOPS, that's a CO detector. CO, Carbon Monoxide, not Carbon Dioxide, CO2.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Keith Mauck (Site Publisher) on April 21, 2010 at 4:44

From the Wall Street Journal.

"Exco immediately notified local authorities, who began evacuating residents early Monday morning. Subsequent tests found high levels of gas in dozens of local water wells, in some cases at levels that could lead to an explosion. "We didn't want people to have [gas] build up in their house and all of a sudden they have an explosive situation," said Otis Randle, regional director for the state Department of Environmental Quality, which conducted the tests.

Methane, the primary component of natural gas, can dissolve in water or can travel as a gas through the same porous rock that holds water tapped by drinking wells.

The evacuation was voluntary, but residents who stay behind can't use their water. Exco is paying for evacuatedresidents' hotel rooms. Mr. Randle said the water contamination hasn't been definitively linked to Exco's drilling operations, although it appears to be centered around the well site."

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Kat Bloomfield on April 22, 2010 at 1:16

now, that's a mess. And remember how we were shot down for wanting monitors for this kind of shit put in place because it was unnecessary. Hah. Drilling is dangerous. 6 or 7 siimple monitoring systems would help out everyone.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by bob boone on April 21, 2010 at 7:22

The problem with the well bowing out in caddo parish was durig the drilling phase for the surface csg. It was unexpected. This charged sand could have happened through natural fractures in the formation and gas percolated up to the sand and charged it up over time. I have seen it happen in GOM in the early 80's.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Jeff Faber on April 21, 2010 at 15:09

Hello tootin'. You a geologist ? Source of your info ?

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Land Rover on April 21, 2010 at 11:04

Yeah, figures it would be EXCO. But tell me, just how are these "gas vapors" detected, and by whom?

• ▶ Reply

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5
• Next ›
• Page