I've Got Gas... Boom!

So, it's been on national news, while our local news ignores it, but there's over 250,000 gallons of gas saturating the soil about 2 miles from my farm, or what is left of my farm. After this drought took one more year of corn, I sold off a major chunk to pay for some remodeling on the house and studio, which is in town. I've been traveling on the weekends, but today I came back to a funny smell in the air.

If you've not seen it, a pipeline running through the wildlife management area in Alabama started leaking, and it leaked for a whole week before anyone realized. Now, I'm not so sure it's safe to smoke at the farm. Everyone tells us that there's no danger in breathing these gas fumes. But, ha ha, I find that hard to believe. My closest neighbor out there has everyone in their house sick. And, schools have had record absenses since last week, before anyone knew about the leak.

Today, I've let family living on the farm come stay at my house, which is a mile or so further away. So, contractors running about, my yahoo family is camped in every crevasse of the house, and their damned pets, ha ha, and my goat, Jackstraw, is tied up in my backyard throwing a fit.
I'll be taking a walk about town to smoke. And, I may take Jackstraw with me. If you've ever tried to walk a goat, this may just be the most hysterical sight ever in town. All this gas is giving me gas. Ugg!

They keep telling us that there is no seepage into the water table. Hmmm... At least our water treatment and my farm and house are upstream. But, downstream is some of the most impoverished areas of the state. Unfortunately, no one here has their backs.

Thanks Warren, I'll keep the numbers.

Ha ha, no... Walking the goat didn't happen. He tends to want to do exactly the opposite of what I want. Just getting him into my backyard was a chore. I thought that I had a picture on my phone, but I must have lost it in the upgrade. I'll snap one in the daylight. He is the last of my attempts at making a full working farm. In doing so, I learned that sheep die really freaking easily. Cows, you really need quite a few to make any money. And goats are the easiest, but unless you like their milk... Well, they're pointless ha ha. Yearlings were yummy, but goats don't produce fast enough. I still have rabbits, but I keep them here at the house. Pigs... Nope.
The smell is peculiar. It's not like regular gasoline. They must be putting something else out there.

And, I never hear about helium mines.

The irony is that they forced me to spend $4,000 to remove an old oil tank on my property this summer. I had to pay the EPA and have tests run... "because oil and gas will go immediately to the water table and kill everyone."

But, when a quarter of a million gallons of gas leaks out into the ground... "No big deal folks, everything is going to be OK."
They have the road to the farm closed. I'm glad we worked all day yesterday to get everything off there that would need our attention. Sheesh. The mayor said that he would take me on a tour of the mess at some point today. I'm not holding my breath. But, he does smoke a pipe too, so...