Anyone else have any natural gas leaks in their neighborhood?

[NNN0LHI]

Man I got a bad one in the front yard of the house two doors down.

I reported it 5 years ago. The gas company came out in a big honking trunk with a full crew pulling a backhoe behind it.

They got out with their little sniffer gizmo and said "Yep, you got a good sized gas leak here mister."

They got back in their truck and they haven't been back since.

I bet more gas is going into the atmosphere from that leak than all the houses in this subdivision use.

Don

[texastoast]

1. Austin office building shut down now

with "dead birds" found and (reportedly by some locals but nothing official I can find) the smell of gas. Hmm.

http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/blotter/entries/2007/01/08/drivers_should_avoid_congress.html

[flamin lib]

2. Gas leaks are very serious and a huge danger.

Natural gas is heavier than air and will collect in any low areas. When the correct air to fuel ratio is reached any spark, regardless of how small, can cause a really big explosion. Two examples from Texas: downtown Ft Worth a vacant car dealership exploded when gas collected in the basement. Fortunately it was in an area of town without occupied buildings nearby. It collapsed the dealership and broke windows several blocks away. Second incident was in rural East Texas. Gas pipeline leaked on a windless night filling a low lying valley. It destroyed several farm houses and killed a number of people.

If the Gas company hasn't fixed it, call the fire department.

[NNN0LHI]

3. Don't think the fire dept. would help? My neighbor is a fireman

Thank you for taking the time to provide that info.

Don

[negativenihil]

4. 5 years?!

why haven't you done/said anything sooner?!? that's a risk to everyone on your street. and more importantly why haven't you filed some sort of complaint that the gas company shrugged this off?

I'm sorry, but there has to be more to this story. i can't imagine you veing able to watch that area for the entire 5 years - maybe it's been fixed while you weren't looking.

first I'd call the owner of the home with the leak and ask them if it was ever fixed.

if it hasn't, call the gas company and (as a fellow poster said) the fire dept ASAP.

[NNN0LHI]

10. What do you mean why didn't I say something sooner?

I am not trying to be a smart aleck but isn't 5 years ago sooner? Thats when I called them. As soon as I noticed the leak.

I just talked to Nicor again before posting this and they said they would have someone out within an hour. So I will let you know what happens.

Don

[Ilsa]

5. NYC has a shutdown they say is related to gas leaks or something.

Wow. Alot of stuff happening along these lines right now. I suspect Fox Fact Free News will claim it is a terrorist attack.

[Tesha]

6. You must have a different gas company than we do. ;-)

You must have a different gas company than we do. ;-)

At our house, near the meter (which is, thankfully, outside),
we *HEARD* a leak one day, called the gas company, and they
very promptly sent out a guy to take a look. He diagnosed it
to the union on the gas pipe that connects from the ground
up to the regulator, took out his big pipe wrenches, de-
torqued it (with a very noticeable sssssing of high-pressure
leaking gas) and re-torqued it, and said "Yeah, that's pretty
common after a few decades".

It is alway amusing to me, though, how cavalier the gas guys
can be with their fuel; an extinguished pilot light alway made
me nervous but these guys have no problem purging out a new
gas line but simply opening it to the air (and in my house
yet) until they smell the gas escaping! It's a wonder they
don't have a cig dangling from their lips as they do it. ;)

Tesha

[shance]

7. They never fixed it?

That's interesting.

Have other neighbors called as well?

The local paper if you have one, should be interested in such a story.

[NNN0LHI]

9. I walked the dogs an hour ago and smelled it very strong

After reading some posts here I think I am going to call them again and see whats up.

Don

[booksenkatz]

8. This thread has actually been helpful to me

About 2 years ago, I called the gas company because when I was doing some outdoor work near our gas meter, I detected a gas odor and was very concerned, obviously. They sent a guy out who said that his equipment didn't detect anything and that it must have been my imagination. I admit that you had to be within 12-18" of the meter to smell it, but I know it wasn't just my imagination. I figured that he's the expert and if he says what I'm smelling is ok, then it must be ok. Maybe it's normal for a meter to have a bit of odor around it, hell, I dunno.

I've detected that odor from time to time and it still bothers me, but if it is a genuine leak, I would think that it would be constant and would expand throughout the area and grow, so I really don't know what it is I'm smelling over there. However, it's nice to know that I am entitled to a second opinion from the fire department if the next gas company guy tells me not to worry my pretty little head over it.

At any rate, thanks for this thread.