Feedline grounding near gas meter

[KG4WKY]

I live in north Florida, where summertime means plenty of thunderstorms.  I'm looking a a modest colleciton of antennas fed with coax.  The coax cables are going to run into a metal box on the wall and through lightning arrestors.

I'm in something of a quandry.  About the only convenient place I have to bring my antenna coax lines into the house would have me driving a ground rod for the lightning protection just a few feet away from the gas meter.  Is there any hazard with having a lightning strike grounded near a gas meter?

[N3ZKP]

Check with your local gas company, but I personally would not want to be anywhere near your house if a lightening strike went to ground 'a few feet' from the gas meter!

[K9KJM]

Call the gas line company and ask for a "locate" of
just where the lines are buried. They should provide
this service for free. So you don't drive a ground
rod thru the gas line........  
The general rule of thumb is to bond any metalic objects together if they are within 6 feet of each
other.......   I would NOT want any ground rods,  wires, etc to be able to arc to each other because they were not bonded together.
See the good advice at the Polyphaser website on
tech notes:
http://www.polyphaser.com/ppc_PEN1016.asp
Also, Only one ground rod is not nearly enough for
a proper lightning ground system. You need a number of
them properly interconnected to be able to survive
direct hits without damage. (Ground rods should be
spaced twice the distance apart as the depth in normal soil. (8 foot deep rods should be spaced 16 feet apart)

[WA4PTZ]

DO NOT EVER ground to or in close proximity to
gas service hardware or lines. I could tell you a
few things that can be done, but they depend on the
soil type in your yard. Sand is a very poor ground
source. You can build a grounding grid, but without
the proper engineering you could, once again,create
a monster. One trick used by some utilities is to
lay out long lengths of solid copper wire and bury
them , like radials. placing the ground rods at the
far ends or in both the mid-range and far ends to
reduce the potential for arcing to such things as
gas lines. But.....remember , the heavier the gauge
the less resistance and the better the ground.
Be sure to get the utilities located and if it
is possible find out if the gas line is metallic.
Some of the new lines used today are plastic .
Good luck ,
Tim