Kanawha County school officials continued Monday to dispute allegations from Mountaineer Gas concerning Capital High School, where the natural gas company says the current setup to use another company's gas presents a "potentially lethal situation."
Charles Wilson, the school system's executive director of facilities planning, said the gas from a Reserve Oil and Gas well that was drilled on Capital's property in 2014 and had been serving the school has been shut off since Jan. 6, the date Mountaineer alleged that "a fire or explosion could easily have occurred" after a regulator on a Reserve gas line coming from the well froze in an open position. Wilson said the regulator that froze was supposed to bring the gas pressure from pounds per square inch down to ounces per square inch. He said Reserve is prepared to fund safety upgrades.
Mountaineer, which also provides gas to Capital, said the January incident caused a "dangerous overpressurization of the school's internal gas piping," causing a gas leak in the school kitchen when a pilot light blew out and damaged controls on a boiler. Wilson said the controls weren't damaged, although he did say a pilot light didn't come on in the school because of a lack of gas.
Those statements came from Mountaineer Gas attorney Jonathan W. Price in a letter he sent Jan. 12 to the school system saying that Mountaineer intended to turn off its service to the school by Monday, to cease its own involvement in the situation. The school system opened a case Thursday with the Public Service Commission, trying to stop Mountaineer from cutting off service.
Leading up to a scheduled hearing on the matter Wednesday, the PSC has ordered Mountaineer to continue to provide the high school with gas as long as the lines from Reserve's well - located 400 yards from the school - are shut off. Wilson said the school system is meeting with Mountaineer today.
"I don't think we're far apart on the issues, I think we'll resolve it, and life will go on," he said. "We are implementing every recommendation that Mountaineer Gas suggested at our last meeting, and we're not going to turn the well gas on until all that's in place and Mountaineer Gas has had a chance to inspect it, as well as our plumbers."
He said these suggestions came from a meeting among Kanawha plumbers, Reserve and Mountaineer Gas right after the incident occurred, and Reserve, pending the PSC's ruling, will pay for the upgrades.
Wilson said those upgrades include a different type of regulator, an odorizer that will help people smell the gas and a better dryer to remove the moisture that Mountaineer said caused the regulator to freeze. He said he didn't expect any controversy to ensue after Jan. 6 because all parties agreed.
"We all thought we were on the same page," he said.
Few people showed up at Monday's school board meeting, and only one Capital High parent spoke about the issue. Wilson spoke briefly to the board after board member Ryan White asked for information.
Wilson said Reserve has permission in its lease to drill two more wells. He said Capital had been using all Reserve gas since some time after July, even though the school was hooked up to both Reserve and Mountaineer Gas service.
White said he'd heard from several parents about the issue, which the Gazette-Mail first publicized Sunday. He said he'd support turning the Reserve well's gas back on, as long as safety is assured.
Reach Ryan Quinn at ryan.quinn@wvgazettemail.com, facebook.com/ryanedwinquinn, 304-348-1254 or follow @RyanEQuinn on Twitter.