The following is interesting.Old news from late 1997.
Well releases sour gas
by Brian Mazza
c 1997, Mountaineer Publishing Co. Ltd.
On Friday, November 7, at 4:00 a.m., a well being drilled by Kaiser Energy Ltd. had an uncontrolled release of gas containing hydrogen sulphide. The well is located in the Strachan District, 28 km southwest of Rocky Mountain House, and approximately five kilometers west of the Gulf Strachan Gas Plant.
The flow of sour gas continued until 2:00 p.m. when Safety Boss personnel were able to close the surface safety valve.
No injuries were reported at the site, according to the Tulsa, Oklahoma-based energy company.
M.D. of Clearwater safety officer Glenn Shanahan said the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board was on the scene and issued an order closing the immediate area to entering traffic while the flow was underway, and monitoring for H2S levels was conducted.
Shanahan said the first reports of sour gas odours were reported at 2:00 p.m. in the Cow Lake area, at the same time the flow was being shut off.
He added the highest recorded level of H2S during the testing was 300 parts per billion (ppb), "which is not in the danger zone."
Cow Lake resident Marjorie Connor told The Mountaineer on Monday she first smelled the sour gas at about 2:00 p.m. on Friday and that the odour was quite strong in her home, even thought the windows and doors were closed. She had been sick for the next two days from the fumes, she said.
Kaiser Energy said that once the flow was under control, they began pumping fluid into the wellbore to balance the reservoir pressures which caused the flow and that monitoring for H2S levels continued. No estimate of the damage had been made, added their spokesman.
Humans can detect hydrogen sulphide at about 100 ppb, and levels of 10,000 ppb (or 10 parts per million) are considered safe to work in for eight hour shifts. At twice that concentration, eye irritation can occur and the sense of smell can be impaired. The gas can be lethal at 600 parts per million if a victim is not treated immediately.
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