Leaking gas found near site of earlier Plumcreek explosion

Another gas leak has been detected from an unused water well in the same area of Plumcreek Township where last month one ignited and blew up a home where a family of four was living.

State inspectors and oil and gas officials discovered the methane leak this week while checking neighboring properties close to where Mark and Angela Anthony had lived with their two sons at 12213 Route 422.

Inspectors from the state Department of Environmental Protection and EQT Corp. detected gas leaking up through a 185-feet-deep abandoned well in the yard of Harold Boarts' residence at 12221 Route 422, said John Poister, DEP spokesman.

“Gas was coming out of the well casing there,” Poister said. “We plugged the conduit from the well, which took care of the problem.”

But officials continue to monitor both properties while they work to uncover the origin of the stray gas.

Boarts lives about 100 feet away from the Anthony home. No other leaks have been found in any other nearby homes.

“Methane came up that darn well,” Boarts said. “I think it's coming from the mine.”

He and the Anthonys each have separate, abandoned water wells on their property. Boarts, unlike the Anthonys, has a natural gas well on his property, which heats and powers his home. Both households are hooked up to Manor Township waterlines. Both sit on top of the former R & P coal mine.

However, Poister said it is too early in the investigation to tell where the gas is coming from. Inspectors have taken samples from the water well on Boarts' property and from the well under the cellar of the Anthony home.

Gas is believed to have traveled through an open waterline into the Anthony home cellar, exploding when the hot water tank ignited. None of the family members who were home that night was injured.

Damage to the home far exceeded the mortgage, and the family has been living next door with relatives since the blast.

“Methane is everywhere below us. By its very nature it's constantly seeking a way up,” Poister said. “Our initial feeling is it is not coming from the mines.”

In the meantime, inspectors are checking to see if there are any old gas wells in the area which might have been abandoned before safety regulations for closing wells were required. Poister said before procedures for capping gas wells were put in place, closing a well might have been as crudely done as plugging it with a tree trunk.

Poister could not estimate how long it will take to complete the investigation of the area.

“A lot of work has yet to be done,” Poister said. “With the exception of the two houses, everyone seems to be OK.”

Brigid Beatty is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. She can be reached at 724-543-1303 or bbeatty@tribweb.com.