Killer Leaking Gas Mains
- Thread starter Rickytree
- Start date
- Location
- Orange, MA
Would that show up on a soil test? If so, what would it appear as?
RopeShield
Carpal tunnel level member
- Location
- Ontario, Canada
From what i can remember over 15 yrs ago it looks similar to girdling/j-roots.
Dwarf stunted growth.
Gas displaces oxygen in the soil and has a sour odour. i referenced Pirone
Dwarf stunted growth.
Gas displaces oxygen in the soil and has a sour odour. i referenced Pirone
guymayor
Branched out member
- Location
- East US, Earth
Light a match and find out?
Daniel
Carpal tunnel level member
- Location
- Suburban Philadelphia (Wayne)
now that's scientific..
tomthetreeman
Participating member
- Location
- Rhode Island
Natural gas kills trees pretty quickly in the soil. I've seen mature Pin Oaks die in about a year from gas leaks. The soil smells somewhat septic, I think because the organic matter in the soil dies and begins to decay. There was a pretty large lawsuit against a major utility from multiple municipalities up here in the Northeast, not sure how it ended.
-Tom
-Tom
tomthetreeman
Participating member
- Location
- Rhode Island
No, I would usually smell it when we would dig to replace a tree that had been removed. Then we would find a new location for the tree LOL.
-Tom
-Tom
tomthetreeman
Participating member
- Location
- Rhode Island
Necrotic twigs, shriveled buds, shriveling and scaly bark. All in a year or two usually. Total tree death from the first outward signs was usually not more than two years. Most times I would see the stressed tree in Spring or Summer, and the next year it was dead. The actual process was probably longer, I'm just going by what I could see.
When it was this obvious I would never consider planting in that site. Moving planting locations always occurred when there was no visible history of a gas leak, and the first sign was the smell upon digging or grinding an old stump. We had contractors prep the sites before our volunteers would go in to plant, so many times we would get an early warning before the actual day of planting, which helped.
-Tom
When it was this obvious I would never consider planting in that site. Moving planting locations always occurred when there was no visible history of a gas leak, and the first sign was the smell upon digging or grinding an old stump. We had contractors prep the sites before our volunteers would go in to plant, so many times we would get an early warning before the actual day of planting, which helped.
-Tom
- Location
- Retired in Minneapolis
Call your local gas utility. They'll bring their bloodhounds or basset hounds out to do a sniff test...kidding 
They have electronic sniffers that can determine if there's a leak.
YOu can call 811 in the US to get connected with your local underground locating service. If you're planting you would have already called them for line locates. Add in a sniffer if you're suspicious. Doing that could prevent an explosion or emergency evacuation later on.
They have electronic sniffers that can determine if there's a leak. YOu can call 811 in the US to get connected with your local underground locating service. If you're planting you would have already called them for line locates. Add in a sniffer if you're suspicious. Doing that could prevent an explosion or emergency evacuation later on.
tomthetreeman
Participating member
- Location
- Rhode Island
Ironically, Tom, all of our planting sites were ALWAYS marked. The guys that do the marking were never there long enough to smell the roses, never mind a gas leak LOL.
-Tom
-Tom
