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Natural Gas Still Leaking Somewhere Under Hwy 29
April 5, 2012
Over a year after the problem was first publicly revealed as a potential “major public safety issue”, natural gas continues to leak under Highway 29 in Century.
The leak has not gotten any worse, according to Mayor Freddie McCall, as the town continues to jump through hurdles to get a project designed and secure USDA Rural Development loan funding for the project.
McCall said there are ongoing routine checks on the leak to ensure that the problem does not worsen.
About 6,515 feet of 4-inch steel natural gas line was buried beneath the southbound lanes of Highway 29 when the road was widened. Now, 45 years since the almost 1.25 mile long pipe was put into the ground, the town believes the steel is corroding and leaking somewhere between West Highway 4 and McCurdy Street.
The town’s engineer, Dale Long, said this week that funding for the project could come by the end of April, and that it will likely be late this year before actual construction will begin to replace the pipe.
A new 4-inch pipe will be placed on the west side of Highway 29, while a new 2-inch pipe will be installed on the east side of the highway, eliminating the need to install pipes under the road to service natural gas customers.
The pipe will be installed where existing easements exist or can be obtained at no cost, otherwise, it will be installed under existing sidewalks.
Pictured: Traffic flows on Highway 29 in Century Wednesday afternoon. Decades-old natural gas line buried under the southbound lanes of the highway is leaking. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Comments
17 Responses to “Natural Gas Still Leaking Somewhere Under Hwy 29”
I would think the hazard is more with the people that work in the area daily breathing any of the gas or fumes. Rather than an explosion occurring.
Everyone is talking about explosions but nobody is seeing the real problem with this leak. I think the reason they’re not in any hurry to repair this leak is due to the fact that they’re not losing any money. They will just continue to make the people of Century cover any loses they may see from this leak in the people’s utility bills. The bigger the leak gets, the more they will continue to jack everyone’s rates. They’re not seeing any losses and may even be seeing profits. As long as the people of Century continue to pay for their problems and any offset costs without complaint, they’re not gonna get in and hurry to fix it.
yes, BOOM
I wasn’t aware the town was the marketer. If it is as you say, there is really no incentive to plug up the leak, then.
Unless, the leak gets larger and the percentages go up and concentrations get between LEL and UEL ranges…then…BOOM, right?
REGARDING:
“Is the gas company just eating this cost?”
The gas company is the Town of Century.
They buy gas.
They sell gas.
If they sell less than they buy, they have to charge their buyers more to make up the difference. Losses are a business expense, overhead if you will.
This is similar to water. More water is pumped than is sold. Some is lost to flushing of lines, some to fire hydrants for fire suppression, much is lost to unfound leaks. Leaks can go on for years without getting big enough to find.
AND
“When it comes to mines and gas lines it is not “if” the accident happens, it “when””.
Many mines go for decades without explosions due to proper venting. The only mines in Century are strip mines called gravel lakes (other places call them “borrow pits” which makes no sense since they aren’t borrowing). No explosions there.
Natural gas isn’t explosive by itself. It has to be combined with oxygen in some form. Further, it has to be confined with oxygen. Not only that, it has to have the proper percentage of oxygen, too little and nothing happens, too much and nothing happens (about 5% to 15% by volume for methane, but since natural gas has other substances in it, call it 3%-20% to be safe). If it doesn’t get up to three percent, it doesn’t go BOOM.
David for 4th of July fireworks
only on the 4th
It seems to me that if you have known about this “major public safety issue” for over a year and have done nothing to fix it, that is negligence. @ Experience you are absolutely correct. The fact they have been aware of this for over a year and have not pin pointed the problem is unacceptable. It’s somewhere within this 1.25 mile of pipe. (We think) But yeah the water meters, and the use of county equipment for your racetrack or other personal uses is a lot more important than finding and correcting the “major public safety issue”. God speed to ya. Hope everything works out
Aside from the potential fire hazards, I bet this gas is metered somewhere along the line. I wonder who is paying for the lost gas? Is the gas company just eating this cost? Just wondering.
There is a new fangled gadget that can detect all types of gases, commonly called a sniffer, and can be bought commercially. Every industial site, oil field service and even your appliance repair men are all familiar with it. I,myself, have used several different kinds.
The average oil field engineer (or equivelent),with the right equipment, should be able to tell you within 25 feet of where the leak is in a days time.
I think that I would call someone about it at the start of business tomorrow. Waiting a year to fix a gas leak seems a bit irresponsible. Any harm that may be caused by it would be indefensible. But that is just me. I guess that putting a new air conditioning system in an abandoned building or fancy new water meters throughout the town are the real priorities in Century.
The story reads:
Over a year after the problem was first publicly revealed as a potential “major public safety issue”, natural gas continues to leak under Highway 29 in Century.
I say.
There is no such thing as a potential safety issue. It is a real safety issue. Why would Century wait on some kind of funding to fix the problem when they have enough city employees sleeping in work trucks to get it done?
Give the town Engineer and the town Consultant a shovel too.
I believe the smae logic was used by PGE in California…it is just a small leak and it can spread out and not cause damage, we have plenty of time to fix it. Now PGE has a HUGE lawsuit, not to mention all the damage the explosion and fires caused. When it comes to mines and gas lines it is not “if” the accident happens, it “when”.
I saw the aftermath of a gas leak in Ranco Cordova California. Wiped several homes out. The mayor says the leak isn’t any worse than a year ago? Leaks always get worse! Who’s he trying to fool.
a small leak will diffuse and spread out without ever reaching flammable limits. low pressure lines tend toward small leaks and it think that is the kind involved here.
a large leak can be more spectacular.
Besides, how much damage could it do to Century?
David for rerouting
Anyone remember this natural gas explosion from 11 years ago? I do.
http://staugustine.com/stories/061401/sta_0614010023.shtml
Some of you may remember that several years ago a leaking natural gas line in Brewton exploded and heavily damaged a lot of the downtown area.. I hope they can fix this before something like this happens in Century..
the line that blew up in california was huge, not even close to the size in century. the town is doing it the right way trying to get funds. of course if folks in century want a tax increase to cover the cost just speak up.
A YEAR???!!! I see public safety isn’t a high priority there. Have they not heard what happened in California? I bet the natural gas people need to look at a lot of pipelines in this country.
If you just wait untill the right car or truck goes by and get that spark you need ,then you’ll be able to find that leak.It might kill someone,but who cares!? Not the people in charge of Century.Being an independent town has done nothing good for Century,its one screw up after another. Somebody needs to step up and straighten this town out,It’s becoming a bigger and bigger mess and things are probably gonna get worse there.