On an unrelated side-note, in Placerville, CA, one can walk around on a cold Winter or Spring night in the downtown area and smell a natural gas or propane odor that has existed there for ages. It is caused by the natural leaching out of chemicals in the water which is flowing down the creek through the middle of town. Visitors are often tricked into thinking there is a natural gas or propane leak. I was once one of those tourists until I found out the real story. There is actually a plaque located in the eastern half of town along the sidewalk of the main drag that explains this phenomenon.
Kim Patrick Noyes
Paso Robles, CA
On Mon, Aug 22, 2011 at 8:51 AM, Kate Hutton <katehutton@gmail.com> 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.KateOn Sun, Aug 21, 2011 at 10:48 PM, Daithi <dboconnor1@earthlink.net> 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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