Thanks, Daithi. That clears up a mystery I have long wondered about!
Kate
On Mon, Aug 22, 2011 at 12:27 PM, Daithi <dboconnor1@earthlink.net> wrote:
@Kate:
Funny you should mention that as I was EMA director in Cambridge for 27 years. retired 18 months ago.
There were a couple of places in Cambridge where there were chronic leaks large enough to smell but small enough that they presented no hazard according to FD and gas company.
Quite different from the incident I described earlier where there was a very strong odor of gas. In that incident they were able to track the odor by times from Chelsea (just north of Boston) to Framingham (20+ miles west of Boston) Those towns and towns in between had crazy times for the FD people for a few hours.
A note re odor of gas. I would urge all to call the Fire Dept and NOT the gas company to report odors. The gas company is far too casual. I live in Scituate, MA (pron. SIT chewit). In December of '08 I was at home on a day off and heard a sound like a shotgun outside my house, looked outside and no problems. Then got a call from the Mass. EMA saying all MEMA staff from the region were in western MA for a bad ice storm, explosion in Scituate could I respond and report. The explosion was actually 2-3 miles from my house. One house totally blown into little pieces, 3 houses so badly damaged they were eventually torn down and several others with a lot of damage.
About 45 minutes before the explosion people in the neighborhood had started calling the gas company who said they would send a crew. Neither neighbors or the gas company had called the Scituate fire department. It turns out that the former boyfriend of the lady who owned the house had gone into the basement, disconnected the gas pipes to ensure fast flow, went outside for a while and them apparently went back in to the basement and flicked his lighter. Odd suicide method but happily no one else was killed. 15 minutes later the school a 1/4 mile away would have dismissed and kids would have been walking down the street. (debris was found in the schoolyard)
I know this is not a California disaster but I will post a few of my pics in an album here (Kim, if this is too off topic feel free to delete them) (in pics, please note the picture of the large dresser about 35-40 feet up in a big tree)
Lesson: ALWAYS call the FD for an odor of gas.
--- In californiadisasters@yahoogroups.com, Kate Hutton <katehutton@...> wrote:
>
> I'm not so sure I believe this business about Massachusetts, since I
> experienced it myself.
>
> I was at an extended meeting in Cambridge. Every day I walked a few blocks
> from my hotel to the conference & I passed a place on the street that
> smelled strongly of gas. I asked someone on the staff at the office where
> the conference was to call it in, which they did, but it was sort of taken
> lightly. I also asked at a restaurant that was VERY nearby. They told me
> it is always like that, the customers continually report it & the gas
> company says there is no problem.
>
> They have not blown up yet.
>
> But it didn't sound like an isolated spill from a truck.
>
> Kate
>
> On Sun, Aug 21, 2011 at 10:48 PM, Daithi <dboconnor1@...> wrote:
>
> > Natural Gas is methane, sometimes with a percentage of ethane occuring
> > naturally. The odorant added is usually ethyl mercaptan, methyl mercaptan
> > or butyl mercaptan. Gas in high pressure mains has somewhat less odorant
> > added with additional mercaptans added at the regulating stations where
> > pressure is reduced for local mains.
> >
> > Several years ago in Massachusetts there were a number a large number of
> > reported "gas leaks" in eastern Massachusetts near Boston. Fire
> > departments were testing for natural gas all over the area and finding no
> > measurable levels of natural gas. As I recall the final opinion was that a
> > truck carrying one of the mercaptans had a leaking tank but that the
> > truck/company was never identified.
> >
> > When I first read this story about San Diego my first thought was could it
> > be a truck carrying something bad smelling traveling through the area.
> >
> > Note re mercaptans: once in my city we had a lab spill of less than an
> > ounce and the entire neighborhood smelled as if there was a high
> > concentration of natural gas.
> >
> > --- In californiadisasters@yahoogroups.com, newnethboy <kef413@> wrote:
> > >
> > > Does methane have a smell? Or is it like natural gas (which as a chemical
> > > added to make it stink, as a safety feature)?
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > From: "Kim Noyes" <kimnoyes@>
> > > To: "CaliforniaDisasters" <californiadisasters@yahoogroups.com>;
> > > "California's Earthquake Forum"
> > > <californiasearthquakeforum@yahoogroups.com>; "Geology2"
> > > <geology2@yahoogroups.com>
> > > Sent: Sunday, August 21, 2011 9:16 PM
> > > Subject: [californiadisasters] Earthquake Didn't Cause Mystery Stink in
> > San
> > > Diego Area
> > >
> > >
> > > > Earthquake didn't cause mystery stink in San Diego areaBy Gary Robbins
> > > > San Diego Union Tribune
> > > > August 18, 2011
> > > :
> > > :
> > > :
> > > Some readers suggested that
> > > > methane could be the cause of the mystery. "There are no significant
> > known
> > > > deposits of methane in San Diego," Rockwell said.
> > >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > ------------------------------------
> >
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> > but extended discussions started here or for less topical but nonetheless
> > relevant messages.Yahoo! Groups Links
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
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