Tapwater Catches Fire After Natural Gas Drillers Move In
This Fort Lupton, Colorado couple's water catches fire. It didn't use to catch fire, not until the natural gas drillers moved in and contaminated the groundwater.
The couple says that when they complained to the gas company, the company said they conducted a study and found there was nothing wrong with the water that could be affected by the gas and oil drilling going on in their area.
The video is part of a longer in-progress documentary. More videos and blog posts at WaterUnderAttack.com
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Comments:
Heh. Now you can boil water at the tap!
If you drink enough of this water will you just be walking down the street and spontaneously combust?
The WaterUnderAttack.com link is actually linked to this post, FYI.
Hmm... don't combine this water with Mexican food, the results can be hazardous to your health...
A little gasoline for breakfast never hurt anyone. Bunch of whiner babies.
wow... Kitchen accidents happen. I pity the poor fool that unknowingly throws a burning rag into the sink for safety and sets the whole place on fire.
Gee, no more gas stations! Just fill up with the garden hose!!
Can we get some details on what in going on here? Is this guy connected to a municipal water supply or is it a well he dug himself?
Sorry, that is one of the COOLEST things I have ever seen!!! Though if it happened to me without warning, I think I might need a change of pants!
Now just you wait. The gas company is going to go from saying there is no problem to charging these people for using the natural gas.
Or if not, these folks should capture the gas at the line in to the house and sell it back to the gas company at a profit. Win-win!
This site isn't just about safe drilling practices it's about stopping drilling altogether. I understand that we need to hold companies accountable to keeping our water safe but this environmentalism where everything we do is killing people gets really old. I live in Texas on the barnett shale and haven't seen any of this in Dallas or Fort Worth. It's fun to scare people and all but why don't we get more serious and talk about testing and regulating the companies as opposed to saying no to drilling. Aren't we trying to get off foreign oil still?
Another way to solve the problem is to call the gas company about a leak. They will send a technician with a hydrocarbon sniffer. Then show them the tap. A lot less dramatic, but would likely get the problem solved quicker.
Fire Water out of the tap?
It's a giant hit at AA meetings.
or
Does this mean women can cook with the faucet now?
It was hard for me to decide.
Not to pick nits but this is natural gas coming up from a well, not gasoline coming from the local Chevron station. It's possible that it doesn't even impact the taste of the water.
The greater concern is the drilling fluid getting into the water and contaminating it.
@jjeefff:
That's a residential well. The drillers are using fracture drilling, which as its name implies, fractures the rock with explosions to release the gas. In doing so, the gas mixes with the underground water and you get methane mixed with your drinking water.
It's not the gas company. If you smelled the water, it doesn't have that stinky smell of gas from methyl-mercaptan because this is just methane right outta the ground.
The drilling techniques are fracturing the rock allow gas to turn their well water supply fizzy with explosive gas.
Step 1: buy some tanks and hoses
Step 2: turn your faucet on into lower tanks, connected by hose to the other tanks.
Step 3: seal and sell a bunch of natural gas.
Step 4: use proceed to purchase bottled water.
Step 5: agree with water company - nothing to see here!
@zentec: That wasn't my point. I'd call the gas company because they have a hydrocarbon detector. They also have all the connections to various agencies to find out what is going on.
@yantelope: Dunno about getting off foreign oil but these environmentalists just don't want to drill on American soil. But they like the heat in the winter and travel by air to protest at WTO and G20 meetings.
@yantelope: I live on the Barnett Shale too. No, we're not seeing flammable tap water, but we are seeing earthquakes south of Fort Worth, which may be connected to the heavy drilling going on there (despite what PR flacks from the gas companies say).
If the negative consequences outweigh the positive for a community, they need to take a critical look at what's going on. Not saying they're right, not saying the drilling company's right, but some critical thinking is not a bad thing here.
@yantelope: But due to all the drilling in DFW, they are looking at it as a potential cause for all the trembler earthquakes we have been having since it started. Also to blame for the increased drilling supposedly, is the cryptosporidiosis outbreak a couple years back. The parasite lives underground and the drilling has been blamed for bring it to the surface. It closed many pools and watering holes if you remember.
@The Cheat: Actually what is more concerning is this guy's well is essentially a bomb waiting to explode. If there is a spark from the well pump or the cabeling going to the well pump then there will likely be an underground explosion that will likely destroy a good portion of the neighborhood.
But this could have occured nbaturally. Not to mention it could also occur by digging a well.
@DeadWriter: They might be better off to contact the fire department as they have the connections to the gas and water utilities as well as a direct line to the town or city leadership. One small spark under the right conditions could potentially cause an underground explosion in the well that could destroy a large portion of the town.
When I have had a natural gas leak in my house, I contacted the local fire departmnent because they have the combustible gas detectors, and they also have hoses and lots of water in case there is an explosion. They also come in a matter of minutes, while the gas utility can take an hour or more to respond.
What good are the fire hydrants when the fire dept. needs them?
That's what happens when you let Texans run the nation for eight years.
That moustache is awesome!
Sorry, that was the first thing I thought. :P
@artimas1: You would be the first human acetlyne (sp?) torch!
"I need to heat this pipe up, bend over and fart honey!"
That's probably what they should do, since the gas problem is in their homes I would start my own natural gas company, after all, if all I had to do was seperate the water from the gas, and sell the gas, I would be in business!
If they rebuke I could say "Well you tested my water and told me it was fine! If you are correct then my "water" shouldn't be selling then should it?"
You could break down the whole arguement right back on them and they would have no way to fight back, and you would profit!
@DoktorGoku: That is no simple moustache but rather a force of nature that needs its own channel to monitor it 24 hours a day.
One of the videos shows 2 wells 10 ft. apart. The guy says run off (hydrocarbons) from the wells go into a creek which feeds water supply in Texas somewhere. Run off from the streets and highways is way worse than that of the pad sites of oil wells. There are restrictions on how close wells can be to water surface sources. this is just another micheal moore type flick. Just someone else getting rich off the oil field. Move on nothing to see here. Drilling today is a lot more "cleaner" if you will than 20 years ago.
Ok now I want to see the video of him doing this with sprinklers in his backyard.
$2.00 via PayPal for that video.
"Am I missing... an eyebrow??"
I'm sure the company's not going to admit to anything, even if someone's house burns down as a result of gas in the water.
@magus_melchior: Nice reference. I am surprised the homeowner still has both of his (and his mustache for that matter).
@Rachacha: I'm not sure there's enough oxygen to support that kind of a violent detonation of his well.
@Trai_Dep: While there's some decent humor there, Bush had nothing to do with this. Though, I guess if my well runs dry, I can just blame Obama taxing my water.
@SybilDisobedience: You'll recall that they send out a geologist to study the recent quakes and he said it wasn't the fault of the drilling. Now, granted, they really should have asked a seismologist, but that's just too hard to spell.
Nothing wrong with flammable water...my mind is now blown