Leaking Gas Well Causes Flammable Water to Pour from Faucets in Colorado Home

12 by Timothy Hurst on March 19, 2009

A Colorado family is more than a bit concerned with the flammable water that now comes from their taps.

Amee Ellsworth of Hudson can turn on a faucet in her kitchen or bathroom, light a match and watch as flames shoot out because natural gas from nearby wells have seeped into her groundwater supply.

Officials from the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission say the gas is likely leaking from one of the nearby eight wells, but they are not sure which well yet, nor are they even sure which of the two companies—Anadarko Petroleum Corp. and Noble Energy Inc.—operating in the area own it.

Natural gas development along Colorado’s eastern plains has picked up significantly in recent years and even though natural gas is often touted as a cleaner alternative to other fossil fuels (even by yours truly), it is not without its own set of dangers.

As GO colleague and New York Times blogger Nick Chambers said in an IM to me just moments ago, “T. Boone Pickens thinks that the US’ natural gas bounty is the work of God, but this devil sink says otherwise.”

I think Nick may have a point.

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Mr. Dreadful
So, actually, the water is *not* flammable… literally or otherwise. It’s the pockets of gas that are flammable.
http://teekblog.blogspot.com Teek
@ mr. dreadful: yeah, also why the hell would you light a match in the sink anyways…?!
Honest Jim
The idea of turning on the kitchen tap with the cooker hob going could be … interesting.
Frans
I just find it weird that, while they’re affraid that their house might blow up because of all this gas that’s coming in with the water, they’re not affraid to light a lighter near this gas in the sink.
If there was a risk of blowing up my house if this gas would lit, I sure wouldn’t demonstrate it’s flamability.
http://www.whysavewater.com Sheila Guttierrez
Awesome blog you have on water saving.
thawoof
I saw a hour long documentary on this exploitation. I’m sorry for intersted readers that this debacle was/can’t see and know the following:
The problem is caused by “fracking”; forcing substances into old oil wells to ganer more oil. The pressure cause natural gas pockets underground to fracture the earth and the gas seeps into well water:
People and animals are dying.
All potable water is trucked into the area.
There are pockets of small water holes where water has seeped to the surface which bubble under pressure of the gas escaping…they ignite also..no need to light a match under a faucet. A Good lightening bolt might expload miles of terrortory.
Houses/farms held for generations are value-less.
The prepertrating oil conglomerate continually renigs on monitering useless moniters and other so called “mitigating” machcinations.
Problem closely related to lake size dams to hold coal sludge. One dam broke and sludge flows down hill. All life die in it’s wake.
I hope “Mr.don’t light your water faucet”, lives north of the Smokies. He can then continue to humorize the plight of human life and life of the earth at the expense of big greedy oil magnates.
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