Methane gas has town living on the edge

VERSAILLES, Pa. - Maggie Ero has a ghost in her home.

It is mostly odorless but sometimes smells like rotten eggs. It is invisible but is seeping through the soil in her backyard. It can't be felt but it can kill her and her family in an instant.

The ghost is methane gas, and it has seeped into the soil on Ero's property, making her the latest in a long line of victims of a nearly century-old problem in Versailles (ver-SALES), a small borough about 20 miles east of Pittsburgh.

The problem stems from the nearly 660 wells that were drilled after the town discovered in 1919 that it was sitting on a natural gas reserve. Many were never properly capped.

Every few years, methane is found on private property. Homeowners and businesses have been forced to put $10,000 vents on their land. In the worst cases, families have been evicted and houses demolished.

The borough of 1,700 along the Youghiogheny River has been designated by the state Department of Environmental Protection as having one of the highest concentrations of methane gas in the country.

Recently, a $1 million federal grant paid for a survey of the wells. The findings, including recommended solutions, are to be released Friday. The borough, however, does not have money to implement them, Council President Walt Winkler said. A state of emergency declared this month is intended to help round up grant money.

Today, white pipes stick out of sidewalks and yards. The vents, some peeping out from behind stop signs, others with birds nesting at the top, are there to help draw the deadly gas out of the ground.

Records show that 10 to 12 wells would have been sufficient to remove the entire natural gas supply, but people put up derricks haphazardly, apparently thinking it was their chance to get rich quick.

Within two years, the wells had dried up. During World War II, residents reopened them to sell or donate the pipes as scrap metal for the war cause. Many were not properly capped. Some were sealed only with wooden covers.

Ero's problems began Aug. 8 when borough officials called to say methane had been found on her property. While she was out of the house, a neighbor called to tell her that Equitable Gas, the town's provider, had already begun drilling in her backyard.

Gas officials checked the house to ensure gas hadn't seeped into the walls and installed a temporary vent, giving the Eros 60 days to install a permanent fixture on the property or have their utilities cut off. In the meantime, Equitable officials come every few days to ensure that the leak hasn't spread.