Odorant release causes alarm, rumors

BY PAT FARNELLI

A pungent odor wafted through Susquehanna County in mid-November triggering a number of phone calls to 911 and area natural gas companies.

The smell came from a spill of methyl mercaptan at the Cabot CNG fueling station in Springville Twp. The chemical odorant is added to natural gas to give the colorless, odorless gas a distinct and pungent smell.

Cabot spokesman George Stark said, “At 5:45 p.m. on Nov. 14, there was an inadvertent release of mercaptan into the atmosphere at our CNG station in Springville.”

He added that the release posed no public safety concern and there was not a release of natural gas, only mercaptan. Cabot notified the local volunteer fire department and both Susquehanna and Wyoming County 911 Centers informing them of the situation.

“We reiterated there was no public safety concern. As background, natural gas is colorless and odorless, therefore, mercaptin is added to give it a distinct smell,” Stark said.

Susquehanna County Emergency Management Coordinator Paul Johnson investigated and found only one release of the odorant despite rumors of another incident in the Montrose area that same evening.

Initially there was a report that the Leatherstocking Gas Company was odorizing their gas utility lines in the Montrose area that day, and was the source of the odor around that area.

“I spent most of my day Friday (after the spill) chasing down a rumor and it was just a rumor. The spill of methyl mercaptan occurred during planned maintenance (at the CNG station),” Johnson said.

He explained that a single spill of about a half gallon of mercaptan could travel 20 miles with the right wind conditions.

“It’s really potent, and that is one of the reasons it is chosen for use as an odorant,” Johnson said. The chemical methyl mercaptan is so potent that they add three quarters of a pound of mercaptan per one million cubic feet of natural gas. It doesn’t take much at all to go a long way.”

The odor from the Springville Twp. spill was reported in Dimock and the Montrose area.

Colleen Connelly of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection said the Susquehanna County Department of Public Safety notified the agency.

Methyl mercaptan, also known as methanethiol, is a colorless gas with a smell like rotten cabbage. It is a natural substance found in the blood, brain, and other tissues of humans and other animals, and it is released from animal feces. It occurs naturally in certain foods such as some nuts (filberts) and cheese (Beaufort).

Johnson said, “We met with the operators and strongly suggested that they may want to let the public know when there are planned maintenance activities scheduled.”