My Chesapeake Energy Neighbor Put Up A Fence Before Pumping Corrosive Wet Gas

Two weeks ago  tomorrow, that being Thanksgiving morning, I blogged at blogging titled A Thanksgiving Morning Gas Pipeline Warning From Chesapeake Energy about being sort of appalled that a newly installed Chesapeake gasworks in my neighborhood was totally unsecured by any sort of fencing, wall or guard.

Yesterday (or was it the day before?) I noticed a lot of activity around the aforementioned gasworks. And now, as you can see in the picture, a fence surrounds this particular gasworks, with an angled row of barbed wire at the top.

This particular unwanted neighbor seems slightly more safe now.

But.

I finally got around to reading last week's cover article in Fort Worth Weekly, titled What Runs Beneath: More than 700 miles of pipelines carrying corrosive gas run under Fort Worth — but no one’s sure exactly where.

You want a really good example of why Fort Worth's Watchdog, Don Young, calls Fort Worth "Dirty Ol' Town" this article will provide it to you.

I was appalled to learn that this incompetently run backwater of a mismanaged town is so inept it has allowed hundreds upon hundreds of miles of natural gas pipeline to be laid underground with no record made of location, shut off valves, flow direction.

Nothing.

And then to learn, via FW Weekly, that the gas that will flow from my neighborhood Chesapeake Energy gas wells is what is known as "Wet Gas", as in gas that still has fracking liquid mixed in, with no odor added to make a leak detectable, well, I was even more appalled.

Apparently "Wet Gas" is very corrosive. Eventually pipes carrying this gas will rupture, with a potential big boom.

If, or when, Fort Worth gets its big natural gas boom, not in the form of illusive royalties, but in the form of a massive, deadly explosion, in the resulting lawsuits, when it comes out how negligent the city was regarding all the holes poked in its town and all the miles of pipeline laid underground, well, the town may be forced to sell itself to the highest bidder to pay off the enormous damage claims.

I really think Aubrey McClendon should be banned from bidding, all things considered.