Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Your Water Is Burning

You may be surprised that methane gas could cause your well to begin burning or even explode. It can also enable you to perform a trick of lighting a match as water comes out of your faucet and burn the water. These things have happened in some places in the United States. It tends to happen when the water well is as "close" as 3,000 feet (.6 mile) to a natural gas well.

A study by Duke scientists seems to place the blame for the burning water capability on the "hydraulic fracturing" which is used in 90% of natural gas wells; the fracturing, which involves pumping sand and chemicals into the natural gas well, breaks rocks so that gas can be released and enter the marketing chain. The amount of methane in the affected water wells is considered dangerous by the Interior Department and requires urgent “hazard mitigation” action.

One good thing coming from the study was that the wells were not contaminated.

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