Bulls Gap is a small community of just a few hundred people situated on rolling farmland in Hawkins County. A former market town revolving around a vital rail junction, today Bulls Gap is mostly known for its peaceful farmsteads and quiet lifestyle.

But locals say the peace was disrupted for those who live along State Route 66 last year when a $15 million fractionation plant owned by the NGL Supply Company opened up next door. It separates natural gas into pure ethane, propane and butane products, then sells them to the Holston Electric Company to produce electricity for locals.

With it came a pipe towering 45-feet over the community, topped by a brilliant orange flame that blazes 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It’s a gas flare, constantly burning off excess ethane gas that is unfit

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