Friday April 29 at 8:30 a.m. residents living along route 819 and intersection of US 22 of Westmoreland County 29 miles from Pittsburgh described the horrible scene when a 30-36 inch natural gas pipeline blew up making the sky look like what was described as "looking into hell." State and federal investigations have begun to learn the cause of the huge fireball reaching hundreds of feet in the air. One man described a piece of metal as large as a SUBARU car blew 500 feet away. Fortunately there were no fatalities but one man badly burned was hospitalized, a newly wed who had surgery before the massive fire of shale gas burned him. Area residents in the area are collecting funds for him, after a motorist saw him running and rescued him. The conflagration lit up the sky and was felt or heard as far away as 38 miles. In this area Marcellus shale fracturing of Earth is active. Fracting wells on map of PA Department Environmental Protection authority show these clusters near the Beaver Run Reservoir where the transmission pipeline gets its water.
The location is near Murrysville where a gas well blew up in the late 1800s which could be seen in Pittsburgh until it was finally capped about a year and half later. Soon carbon for ink was made at the well site devoid of vegetation and birds. The wellspring was longest lasting gas well in America until about fifteen or so years ago. People/s Natural Gas Company documents this history as well as drama, Wellspring of Power by Smith & Swetnam.
There is a debate as to whether shale gas should be left in the ground since its drilling causes earthquakes and a drive is made to pursue renewable energy instead. Perhaps a move to this thinking must entail more thinking and less talk.
Helene, certified historian, World Enlightened News (W.E.N.)
