Gas Well Leak

I came home from work on December 26th and my husband had been home with our kids all day. The first words out of his mouth were, "They've been bleeding the well today." He had left a message with our Encana contacts, but did not receive a response.

We were kind of expecting this because the pressure builds in the well everytime the temperature dips into the 20s then warms quickly. As they told us the last time, if they don't bleed the pressure off, "it will blow up". Not a comforting thought when the well is about 100 yards from your home, with your barn and horses about 100 feet away. We have always been concerned with what is "bleeding" out of the well since we are breathing it in. It makes your sinuses and nose really sensitive, like you have a sinus infection.

By Monday, the 4th day, we were really getting concerned that it might be more than "bleeding" and be an actual gas leak and began contacting people. We contacted all of our Encana contacts; no one answered and no one returned messages. Then we contacted the Railroad commission, the EPA, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. We finally contacted our fire department and they came right away. On the way into the ranch, the security guard stopped them. He then escorted them to the well at 5mph. The security guard got out and told us we just heard a little air leaking and that we really didn't know what we were talking about. The fireman said, no it was indeed a gas leak. The guard told us not to light any matches and I said, "you know, it has been leaking for 4 days and we could have turned on our BBQ grill. Would we have been blown up? Why aren't you guys checking this well regularly?"

Then he told us to evacuate the area and we did when the fire department moved out of the danger zone. How far back were we supposed to evacuate? No one ever told us. We were in our back pasture, so was back at our barn far enough? We brought our horses up to the barn as they had been at the fence with us, breathing in the natural gas. As we walked out of the back pasture, both of us were feeling kind of light headed. Guess that is what happens when you breathe in natural gas?

The fire department apparently had more clout than we did because workers came out almost immediately and worked on the pipeline for quite a while. The TCEQ followed the fire truck to the well site but had no equipment to measure the air quality. My family and livestock had been breathing in the gas for 4 days. On December 26th, I tied a piece of Christmas garland to the fence behind the well to show the wind direction. Yes, the natural gas was blowing directly over to my house with a wind out of the southwest at about 25-30mph. We have a video that shows the garland with audio with the distinctive hissing sound of a gas leak, which could be heard from my back porch.

I was in tears from the stress of a potential explosion just over my back fence. I upset the TCEQ lady and accused her of not taking our situation seriously. Why in the world would she not have brought out any measurement equipment? Why would no one return calls? Why would the security guard have been so sure we didn't know what we were talking about it? If there is one thing for sure, we live next to that well every single day and know what is and what is not normal noises. Why would no one return calls? The TCEQ said that could not come out until the Railroad Commission told them to. How often are these wells and pipeline junction subject to inspection?


Thank you, Aledo Volunteer Fire Department for your timely, efficient, courteous response to a very scary situation.