Inside a metal-clad tower at the gas technology Institute in suburban Des Plaines, Ill. sits a narrow, 40-foot steel tube bristling with instrumentation ports and pressurized pipes.

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"It opened up a fissure and allowed gas in from other coal seams outside Tower's control, " he said.

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There in the Prayer Tower, under the eternal gas flame, Mr Roberts prayed for all who asked him to.

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