Environmental Effects of a Natural Gas Well Eruption
Gábor Kovács, Ilona Szalay, Beáta Lovrity, Borbála Szeles, and József Gyapjas
Environmental Protection Inspectorate of the Lower-Tisza Region, Szeged, Hungary
Corresponding author: Gábor Kovács
Environmental Protection Inspectorate of the Lower-Tisza Region
Felső Tisza-part 17.
H-6721 Szeged, Hungary
Telephone: +36-62-553-033
Fax number: +36-62-553-038
E-mail address: kovacsg@sol.cc.u-szeged.hu
CEJOEM 2002, Vol.8. No.2–3.:90–98
Key words:
Air pollution, environmental load, Geographical Information System
Abstract:
A natural gas well on the Great Hungarian Plain erupted on 18 August 2000 during replacing the
sand filter. Soon the gas was ignited. The blowout was put out on 16 November 2000. During these
3 months, a number of air quality indicators and several aerophysical parameters were detected in
the surroundings of the well. The blowout influenced mostly the quality of the air and water and
the level of noise. In detail, the effects on the quality of air are treated. From the point of view
of environmental load, the most critical periods were when the natural gas exhausted into the
atmosphere without burning. In these short periods, the concentration of methane exceeded its
30-minute and daily threshold values and the amounts of other hydrocarbon components increased
as well. These periods did not last more than half an hour, thus peaks did not cause health damage
on the population of the neighboring village. The results of the atmospheric measurements showed
that there was no harmful accumulation of hazardous materials during the eruption.
Received: 3 July 2002
Accepted: 28 October 2002
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