Would you build near a gas pipeline?

[tbchick84]

I am looking at a small horse property in Dutchess County, NY. It’s a very nice piece of land, 5 acres with mountain views in a very horsey area. It’s rather cheap in comparison to where I am now. I thought it was due to the schools being not so great. I’ve been looking at the area online using google earth and came across a long, narrow area of open space with no noticeable power lines. Turns out, it’s a natural gas pipeline. It’s less than a mile from the property I am looking at.

Using pro/con facts only please, would you build near a major gas pipeline?

[Boo]

i have. My current property has a minor gasline behind us along the “road” 9its more a overgrown track) and our immediate neighbour has one thru their block. To be honest i wouldnt buy if it had been on our place but being next door we didnt really worry about it. Our house is probably 150m from it. The whole estate is in the same boat.

[tbchick84]

This is one of those huge regional pipelines that runs through several states. I know there’s no way these days to avoid the local ones, but something this big kinda scares the crap out of me.

[Foxglove]

Folks near me have their farm property line right against the right of way. They can use the right of way for pasture and for riding --they call their place “Gas Light Farm” --I’d have no problem building or living on a pipe line –

Foxglove

[Hermein]

It probably won´t blow up or leak, but. . . .you might want to check on how old the pipe is, and how frequently they do maintenance.

[tbchick84]

Crap, there’s a compressor station there too. Nicely disguised as a farm, but I’m liking this less and less.

Is there any danger of ground water contamination? Is there any smell? Hell, I can’t even drive through New Jersey without feeling queasy.

[walkinthewalk]

Walk away and find something else.

Your instincts are already sending up red flags. Even if you were to buy the property, you would never be happy and relaxed.

That property might very well be something that “free” wouldn’t be worth it.

[Bluey]

[QUOTE=tbchick84;8523228]
This is one of those huge regional pipelines that runs through several states. I know there’s no way these days to avoid the local ones, but something this big kinda scares the crap out of me.[/QUOTE]

There is one of those 15 miles from us, a 24" line, that blew up a few years ago in the middle of the night.
Now, I said 15 miles away, but the blast was such a big boom, it woke me up that night, I looked out the window and could see the flames from here.

It was so bad a friend lived about half a mile from that and they had to flee on foot, their garage door was facing the blast and it melted, they could not get to their vehicles.

Luckily that was the closest houses were and no one was hurt, but it damaged the houses that were close.

How about resale, will that affect who may buy if you have to sell?

I am not sure how safe those big lines are.
Probably have more chance of getting hit by lighting than the line exploding right there, but if you already question it, why even buy there?

[S1969]

My farm has a pipeline running through it, and it’s quite close. However, I live near the Capital, so if you want a farm and also want to be able to easily commute to downtown, you’re probably near something undesirable - I am also close to a train track, and some other industrial property. Other farms in the area have power utilities running through, or are near transfer stations, etc.

The issue to consider right now is whether that property is one of the ones that are being looked at for expansion - my property is, and I’m not happy about it. Property owners are trying to block the expansion, and I’m crossing fingers.

You NEED to know before you consider buying; it will widen the easement and put another pipe underground, which would be a big construction zone, plus would potentially rip up fences, outbuildings, etc. if they were built.

Aside from that - no, it’s not a huge problem. The risk for leaks or explosion exist, but is very small. But there are restrictions on what you can do with the property - you can plant it, but you need to realize they have the ability to mow, take down fences, etc. It’s unlikely they would do that, but you just need to be aware. We have a creek running near the pipeline easement, and we considered flooding it and making a pond, and that would be prohibited.

ETA: I guess my feelings would be - I might buy a house with a pipeline, but I’m not sure I’d build one there…if you have other reasonable options.

[clanter]

The compressor station would be of greater bother to me as those things never shut down

[monalisa]

Would not under any circumstances buy that close to a pipeline. How big is the right of way around it? What happens if terrorists decide to start igniting pipelines? Sounds far fetched I know, but then there was the World Trade Center. Find a new parcel.

[trubandloki]

It would not bother me any. I would consider it a great place to go riding.

[QUOTE=tbchick84;8523258]

Is there any smell?[/QUOTE]
Drive over there, get out of your car and walk around. Then you will know if there is a smell that will bother you.

[Bluey]

[QUOTE=trubandloki;8523560]
It would not bother me any. I would consider it a great place to go riding.

Drive over there, get out of your car and walk around. Then you will know if there is a smell that will bother you.[/QUOTE]

If the compressor station has a separator, they may vent some fumes and some of those may have a certain smell to them.

All that is very well regulated, not apt to be too objectionable, unless you are downwind all the time.

Here, some days, we can smell the gas fields a good 100 miles away, but they do vent big time.

[S1969]

[QUOTE=monalisa;8523545]
Would not under any circumstances buy that close to a pipeline. How big is the right of way around it? What happens if terrorists decide to start igniting pipelines? Sounds far fetched I know, but then there was the World Trade Center. Find a new parcel.[/QUOTE]

That would not be one of my first concerns. There are thousands of miles of natural gas pipeline in the US. I don’t imagine that an empty field in upstate NY is one of the primary terrorist targets if they would like to take out our power grid. Lots of other big targets.

There is a compressor station about a mile from me; I’m not aware that it has any vent/smell, but it is useful to check.

But trubandloki’s post brings up another point - other people DO think a pipeline is a great place to go riding or, in NY, snowmobiling. I had someone riding within 200’ of my house thinking that she had every right to trailride on the pipeline…that it was “owned” by the gas company, and I had an easement. But it’s the other way around - I own the property, and they have an easement. So I can post the property to everyone except Tennessee Gas (in my case).

But it is a nuisance to continually patrol. There are apparently miles of networked snowmobile and ATV trails through NY (not sure about your area specifically) and I’ve heard that they can get pretty aggressive about it. Growing up I can remember seeing 50 snowmobiles cruise by at about 11pm. If you do buy the property, you may have more issues with trespassing than other farms.

[Timex]

we have one that runs through the back of our farm. yes, we have morons that think they can go ripping through on atvs and snowmobiles, but our local encon officers do a great job of keeping on top of them, ticketing the unregistered riders, which helps keep them away. it’s not exactly my preference, but it was here before I was, and it does make for some nice riding

[fordtraktor]

we have a 16 inch buried pipeline running through our farm. You can’t even tell. The only thing is that there is a yellow pipe that sticks up on the front corner of the farm. It never bothers me at all though of course before I do any digging I have to make sure I know exactly where the line is. Not that I can bust through a pipe that size with a fencepost driver, pretty sure I can’t but I don’t want to try.

Nobody ever gets near my farm with ATVs, I have it fenced off and posted. Not an issue. Only the pipeline company has a right of way, no one else. They have been good to deal with, too – they cleared some trees off last year, and they approached me beforehand and were respectful about coming on the farm, not making a mess and otherwise being good citizens about it. MUCH better than the electric company which did a line clear and decimated a number of my trees in a disgusting way and left a huge mess. however this varies with the company, I have a friend who had a poor experience with another gasline company overstepping their right of way and clearing too much and making a mess.

Mine is not a great place to go riding particularly because, again, I don’t have the right to ride on other people’s property just because the pipe goes there! it ONLY extends to the pipeline company unless you get permission so don’t assume you will have that right. My pipeline goes from my place right through a development on one end, the other end is woodland and I can traipse around there if I want. It’s not rideable except the piece on my farm, because I have it fenced off and I can’t go over the fence with my horses. My kids and I like to walk on the trail and our neighbor permits us to do it, we can easily get over the fence on foot but it’s wire and there’s no way I’d step a horse over it.

In your particular plot though, the issue would be the compressor station. That might well bother me, it sounds noisy. I don’t have anything like that. Mine is basically invisible.

I have zero concerns about anyone blowing up my pipeline in suburban Indiana. If the terrorists come to that, well, that’s just God deciding it’s my time to go. I would not turn down an otherwise suitable farm based on such a remote possibility.

[SmartAlex]

The pipeline would bother me less than the compressor station but because of noise not contamination or odor. There are strict laws regarding containment areas. Are the compressors in buildings or out in the open?

It is hard to predict how much noise you are going to get because you would have to be there when all the compressors are running and the wind is right to truly know what sort of noise “pollution” you are going to get.

[SmartAlex]

[QUOTE=Bluey;8523576]
If the compressor station has a separator, they may vent some fumes and some of those may have a certain smell to them.[/QUOTE]

And it will vary. For instance if they are pigging lines or doing other maintenance.
Again, the EPA has strict guidelines for fumes and even visible emissions.
Around here the local micro-brewery smells worse than the oil/gas industry.

[NoSuchPerson]

[QUOTE=walkinthewalk;8523493]
Walk away and find something else.

Your instincts are already sending up red flags. Even if you were to buy the property, you would never be happy and relaxed.[/QUOTE]

This. It’s pretty clear that the idea of this concerns you. That makes any rational discussion of objective risks and benefits moot. If you let the rational side of your brain convince you to buy this property, the emotional side of your brain will make you miserable.

If you worry that something might be a problem, it ends up being a self-fulfilling prophecy and it becomes a problem for you.

[Field_of_Dreams_Mini]

We have a minor pipeline that runs through our mare field, and they just put in a major one down the street. It’s never given us a moments worry, either of them.

We also had a natural gas well on our property back in PA. THAT thing freaked me out, but free gas is an awesome perk. And if we had any issues the man would come immediately and fix it, and then go around and light all the pilot lights in the houses.