North Dakota man reports flammable tap water

[angelburst29]

The movie "Gasland" reported flammable tap water in Pennsylvania. A report has come out of North Dakota with the same experience.

There's been an increase in home explosions around the country, many reported as empty. I wonder if methane and/or radon rising through the plumbing and building up within an enclosed area, might be a reasonable cause in some instances?

Immediate thought is, "What do you do in a case like this - other than reporting it to the authorities?"
How could you reasonably live in a dwelling that could exploded at any given moment?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2531083/Dakota-man-discovers-tap-water-flammable.html

A stunned homeowner has filmed himself setting fire to highly flammable water gushing from his bathroom tap.

In the clip uploaded to YouTube, Jacob Haughney produces a intensely bright yellow fireball to erupt from a flowing tap by putting a lighter flame to the liquid.

Mr Haughney, who works on oil fields near his home in North Dakota, discovered the worrying phenomenon while in the shower.

It has been speculated that the explosive tap water is the result of oil drilling nearby - specifically if it has anything to with hydraulic fracturing, which is popularly known as 'fracking'.

This is the process by which natural gas is extracted by using water, sand and toxic chemicals injected at high pressure into oil of methane gas deposits to fracture the rock above and release the liquid or gas below.

Fracking involves releasing natural gas trapped in shale formations by blasting a mix of water, sand and chemicals into the rock.

It has unlocked reserves that could supply the U.S. for 100 years, although environmentalists say that fracking can contaminate water supplies.

North Dakota, which is home to just 700,000 people, is the centre of a fracking boom.

It is now the second largest oil-producing state in America, producing more than 911,000 barrels a day - largely due to the use of fracking technology.

 

[angelburst29]

Building explosion in Minneapolis - 13 hospitalized
Wednesday January 01, 2014

http://www.ksdk.com/story/news/nation/2014/01/01/building-explosion-in-minneapolis/4276795/

MINNEAPOLIS - Authorities say at least 13 people are hospitalized following a building explosion and fire in Minneapolis Wednesday morning.

The reported address of the incident is 514 Cedar Avenue South. Robert Ball of Hennepin County EMS tells KARE 11 that 13 people have been injured and rushed to a number of local hospitals. He describes the injuries as ranging from burns to trauma suffered while falling or jumping from windows.

MPR reports that 6 of the victims are currently listed in critical condition.

A check on Google Maps indicates that the main floor of the structure houses a business called the Otanga Grocery, with the upper two floors consisting of apartments.

Firefighters are swarming the scene after the call was elevated to three alarms. Unconfirmed reports say the second and third floors of the structure have collapsed. The frigid weather conditions are making things both challenging and dangerous for crews trying to put down the blaze.

 

[Deleted member 8431]

I wonder if methane and/or radon rising through the plumbing and building up within an enclosed area, might be a reasonable cause in some instances?

Possible. Although radon is a non-flammable gas, it is radioactive and has been found to leak around a lot of wells (and unfortunately, it cannot be detected by our senses alone since it colorless and odorless). Methane though is readily flammable and has indeed been found in water supplies near fracking sites.

Another problem is that a shale gas well will generally be sealed after only about 20% of the gas has been sucked up and once done, the pressure will keep building up and leaks are to be expected one way of the other. This has notably been shown here in Quebec when it was found that most of the sealed wells are all leaking appreciable amounts of gas. And this is only on the surface. Only God knows what happens down there over time. There's no way to know. If a tree falls in the forest and nobody is there...