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Residents Alarmed By 2nd Toxic Gas

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By RAMIT PLUSHNICK-MASTI, The Associated Press

Published: October 20, 2007

Updated: 10/19/2007 03:44 pm

VERSAILLES, Pa. - Residents and officials have known for decades that this small borough sits on hundreds of poorly sealed natural gas wells thought to be emitting methane gas.

The recent discovery of a second toxic gas has renewed alarm in a community where families already have been evicted and homes have been demolished.

The state began drilling into an old natural gas well and monitoring gas levels in Versailles after The Associated Press reported that federal surveyors had found poisonous hydrogen sulfide while seeking solutions to the methane problem - but had not yet alerted local or county officials.

The origin of the hydrogen sulfide has not been determined, though officials are finding it in some of the gas wells and methane venting pipes in this borough of 1,700 about 25 miles southeast of Pittsburgh.

Methane, the odorless primary component of natural gas that is flammable, has been seeping into the soil since the late 1960s. Metal pipes designed to vent the gas jut out of sidewalks and yards across town.

In a public meeting, federal officials overseeing a study of the methane problem said that the hydrogen sulfide detected posed no danger to the community.

The state has hired a private contractor to monitor hydrogen sulfide levels while work is under way this week. The contractor posted a sign near the homes cautioning passers-by of the possible danger of hydrogen sulfide.

As part of a stepped-up remediation effort, a family was temporarily moved out of its home and part of a street closed so crews could drill into an old well and replace a clogged, corroded metal vent with plastic piping.

The vent pipe is one of several where high levels of hydrogen sulfide have been found.

Maggie Ero, who lives across the street from the evacuated houses, recently had a pipe installed on her property to vent methane from her back yard.

'Why didn't they put us up? ... We're human,' said Ero, her front door blocked as crews drilled out front. 'We're sitting in here in my house wondering if we're going to blow up,' she said, breaking down in tears.

Helen Humphreys, a state Department of Environmental Protection spokeswoman, said long-term solutions to the methane and hydrogen sulfide problems will begin after the Energy Department releases its report later this month.

'Solving the problem of stray hydrocarbon gas, primarily methane gas, in Versailles is going to be a very expensive proposition,' she said.

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