We’re not sure how this happens, but a new pipeline at a drilling site in Tyler County, West Virginia, burst and burned.  News reports say that the pipe didn’t explode.  That’s a little odd.  So is the fact that it’s a rather new pipe.  The usual reason given for pipeline ruptures is that the pipe corroded and failed.

The fire occurred at the Jay-Bee’s Gorby pad in Big Run to the east of Middlebourne.

We’re all for oil and gas development, but we don’t pretend that there are no risks.  You’ve got to go into this kind of thing with your eyes wide open and ask questions.  Do some research.  Don’t make snap decisions.  Sleep on it at least once.  You’ll be glad you did.  That way when a truck meets you coming around a narrow blind curve, a hill slips, a pipeline bursts, the well is flared off, the compressor station noise keeps you up at night, or there’s natural gas filling your hollow, you can at least say you thought about it.