Chesapeake Energy Is Warning Me To Call Before I Dig

In the picture you are looking over the fence of the industrial complex that was added to my zoned residential/commercial zone about a year ago.

A Chesapeake Energy Barnett Shale Natural Gas Pad Site.

You are sort of looking southwest, in the picture. The building in the background is an Alberstsons, plus some strip mall type businesses.

My neighborhood gas pad was fracked recently. I don't know if this is what caused my bout of respiratory woes, or not. What I do know is the fracking is now completed and my respiratory woes have abated.

Years ago I got myself being all cranky over Chesapeake Energy's bullying tactics regarding pumping non-odorized natural gas under homes on Fort Worth's Carter Avenue. I found myself making an anti-Chesapeake blog and joining a protest at the Tarrant County Courthouse, supporting Steve Doeung's courageous court fight against the Chesapeake Energy bully.

Steve Doeung won that fight. No non-odorized natural gas flows under Carter Avenue.

I can not say the same for the two roads closest to my abode, those being Boca Raton Boulevard and Bridgewood Drive.

In the picture on the left  you are looking at a Chesapeake Energy WARNING, letting you know you are standing above a gas pipeline. No mention is made regarding the non-odorized nature of the natural gas flowing in that pipeline.

There are multiples of these warnings, due to the newly fracked well producing non-odorized natural gas that is being pumped somewhere unknown to me.

Today, for my daily walk, I took a tour of my neighborhood, which is when I made note of the new WARNINGS.

Walking across Miss Puerto Rico's parking lot I saw little round warnings embedded into the asphalt. The pipeline runs under Miss Puerto Rico's parking lot.

In the picture on the left that little yellow round dot in the center foreground is one of the "CALL BEFORE YOU DIG" warnings.

That is the back of the aforementioned Albertsons in the upper right of the picture.

When this pipeline was placed underground at this location the racket the process made was incredibly loud. It vibrated my location quite a distance away, to the point where I felt compelled to exit my abode to find out what was making the racket.

I asked Miss Puerto Rico if the people who park above this non-odorized natural gas pipeline were given any sort of notice as to what was being installed almost in their living quarters.

No notice was given.

I doubt many of the people who live here are aware of what is being pumped beneath them.

Texas has a long history of natural gas explosions, with the most famous explosion being the big bang at the New London School which brought about adding a telltale odor to odorless natural gas.

I have blogged about the exploding natural gas issue a few times...

Stairtown Latest Texas Natural Gas Explosion and Texas Natural Gas Explosion and Carter Avenue & The New London School Explosion.

I guess that whatever it was about non-odorized natural gas that caused disastrous deadly explosions in the past has now been fixed, which would explain why it is safe for non-odorized natural gas to be flowing underground at my location....

Carter Avenue & The New London School Explosion

No, that picture is not the aftermath of a natural gas explosion on Carter Avenue in Fort Worth. The picture shows what remains of the New London School in the town of New London in East Texas.

By March 18, 1937, un-odorized natural gas had accumulated, unbeknownst to anyone, under the school. The gas ignited, with a big explosion, killing over 300 children and teachers, to the horror of the world, including Adolf Hitler, who sent his condolences.

It was this explosion that brought about the mandate that added a strong, detectable odor to natural gas.

However, Texas is back again allowing natural gas to be piped under children without an odor added to it. The natural gas is known to be corrosive to pipelines. It seems fairly sensible and logical that a homeowner would not want non-odorized natural gas piped underneath their home. Or the yard their kids play on.

This issue is what has the people who live on Carter Avenue upset. They don't want Chesapeake Energy piping odor-free gas under them.

Several of the Fort Worth Bloggers have been blogging about Carter Avenue, including the Fort Worth Star Telegraph. A few days ago the Star Telegraph blogged about Carter Avenue, in a blogging titled "Why YOU Should Care."

"Why YOU Should Care" generated several comments. Several of which were of the brain-dead, moronic sort that I often get when I complain about the eminent domain abuse that occurred in Arlington in order for Jerry Jones to build a football stadium. Comments from people with no understanding of what eminent domain is and who actually believe that Jerry Jones could not take people's homes without their consent.

So, the Star-Telegraph empathized with the plight of the Carter Avenue Dwellers. This brought comments from Barnett Shale natural gas drilling shills. They have been known to comment to my blog when I mentioned something scandalous about Chesapeake Energy. Within a short time of posting I'd see the FeedJit stats light up with hits from Oklahoma City (Chesapeake Energy Headquarters). And then the boilerplate comments would come. Soon the Texas bloggers getting the comments figured it out, made fun of the shills, using them for blogging fodder, sort of causing a they-are-shooting-themselves-in the-foot type effect.

And now the shills have found a new target for their shilling. I had intended to copy and paste the best examples of shilling comments that "Why YOU Should Care" generated, and then comment on the comments. But I've pretty much already done that. So, go to the Fort Worth Star Telegraph and read "Why YOU Should Care" and read the comments.

And also read my Texas Natural Gas Explosion blogging about the New London School Explosion and Chesapeake Energy, with videos.

Stairtown Latest Texas Natural Gas Explosion

June 7, 2010 Natural Gas Explosion Kills 3 in Hood County.

Five homeowners on Carter Avenue in East Fort Worth, near Tandy Hills Park, continue to fight to stop Chesapeake Energy from running a natural gas pipeline beneath their property.

Condemnation hearings have begun.

Chesapeake Energy spokespeople and gas industry propaganda touts the safe practices of the modern gas exploitation industry. However, nothing as extensive as the hundreds of miles of pipelines flowing from well over 1000 wells has ever before been attempted in an urban zone.

So, naturally, people have their concerns. Despite claims to the contrary, there have been natural gas explosions in recent times. Just today a town in Texas, Stairtown, had a natural gas explosion.

Simply Google "Texas Natural Gas Explosions" and you'll find quite a long list of Texas explosions. Some recent. With the most deadly one taking place way back in March 18, 1937, killing 100s of students at New London School in New London, Texas. It's at the top of the list.

It seems reasonable that a person would have some reservations about having a large gas pipeline running under their property. Or a gas drilling rig nearby.

Watch the YouTube video below. Survivors of the New London tragedy are interviewed. A couple interesting comments follow, from YouTube, regarding the below video.

"This happened a month before I was born. I had at least 12 cousins killed. I went to school in the new building that's there now. I know everybody in this video."

"My mother's father was a pipeline welder that was hired to construct the heating unit for the school. He thought the design was unsafe in theory and till his death felt terrible guilt for having been involved in the construction. The family was living in Tyler Texas at the time of the tragedy and he raced there to assist in the rescue efforts. My grandfather worked in the construction of the boiler and steam heating at the grade school that I attended in Dallas in 1954."