Natural gas migrates up through fractures and strata

On December 16, 2005, rocks the size of trucks blew out of the ground and the glow of flames could be seen 100 miles away when the gas well in Palo Pinto blew up.

Gas patch people know the story well. Images from the video haunt the dreams of mothers who’s children slumber in the gas patch. It’s the nightmare we keep locked in the closet so the charade of normalcy goes on uninterrupted.

A blowout caused the well to blow up. But what the blue blazes does that mean?

Some Texas Forest Service officers have ignited my understanding with their eye witness account, Massive Explosion Jolts North Texas

…the explosion was caused by natural gas escaping from the side walls of a 4,000-foot gas well… During the drilling process, natural gas began escaping from the bottom of the well, which caused an underground cross flow and spread gas through the substratum.

I’m not sure, but I think that means the gas migrated up from 4,000 feet. Are you scratching your head too? If the Big Gas Mafia has told us once, they’ve told us 10,000 times that it is impossible for anything to migrate up from that far down below.

According to the Texas Railroad Commission, high-pressure natural gas migrated to the surrounding subsurface and formed pockets. As the higher pressure gas vented to the surface, something ignited it, creating an explosion. A one-mile radius around the well site displayed evidence of natural gas within the substrate. In that area, plugged, abandoned wells and ground fractures experienced gas venting from the ground.

Are you thinking what I’m thinking? Not only did the gas migrate up through the strata, it spread out for a one-mile radius! And the Texas Railroad Commission said so.

Because natural gas was venting through subsurface fracture layers in the ground, there remained a risk of additional explosions. The best option was to contain the fire to the crater and allow it to continue to burn, essentially flaring the natural gas rather than allowing the unburned gas to accumulate and create further risk of explosion.

I don’t know about you, but the nightmare in my closet just kicked the door down and it might take a while to get him contained again.

Be sure to bookmark this, print it out, carry it with you for the next time the Big Gas Mafia tells us it’s impossible for hydraulic fracturing to contaminate our water because the gas is so far “down there.” If you listen to what they say, sometimes you catch them telling the truth.