Natural Gas Well Seepage Issue

[A. SANCHEZ]

Personal issue. A family membe has been complaining about an H2S smell just outside her home on the street. After further investigation by AQMD and HazMat it was determined that the smell was coming from cracks in the sidewalk and especially from a hump that had developed in the asphalt. Her home was built on abondoned/capped oil wells. I have learned recently that there is a nearby extraction well sit, which has a cross drill that runs under her property. They extract oil and natural gas. The local residence actually receive a few dollars every once in a while from this company. My question is, is it correct to assume that their activity is resulting in the seepage of natural gas? My understanding is that they may be pressurizing in order to extract the oil (secondary extraction). If so, what steps would they need to take in order to correct this issue?

 

[hacksaw]

If the oil in your area is high sulfer oil, H2S is possible and deadly if it accumulates (fire risk and toxicity). Some oil companies have staff that handles property damage and compensation when drilling.

With producing wells, you'll have to findout who to contact.

 

[Compositepro]

If AQMD and Hazmat are involved, they should be taking care of any safety issues involved.

 

[georgeverghese]

Local, state and federal polies are on the unofficial payroll of most of these large onshore oil gas production companies in most countries. Your neighbor may have an long uphill battle with a poor likelihood of getting compensation. All your neighbor can do is to sell up and move out before it affects her family's health.