Answers Few in Fraccing Fluid Spill
Clarksburg, WV Exponent-Telegram
23 October 2009
by Billy Wolfe, Staff Writer
SMITHBURG — Nearly two months after a large fraccing fluid spill was
discovered in a Doddridge County stream, state environmental inspectors
still say they don’t know what caused the contamination.
Colorado resident Louanne Fatora discovered the spill in Buckeye Run
while visiting her family home Aug. 24.
Fatora said she was taking her son to college in Ohio, where he had
just been accepted at the Oberlin Music Conservatory.
The two decided to spend the night at the property. Fatora said she
wanted to catch up with some old friends and her son wanted to go
fishing in the creek, which runs right behind the house.
But soon after he headed down to the creek with his fishing pole,
Fatora’s son came back to the house and said to his mother, “Something
is wrong with the water.”
It isn’t easy for her to talk about the incident. The self-described
“tree hugger” has to fight back tears when she describes the scene she
and her son discovered.
“We were blown away by what we saw,” she said.
The water Fatora had played in as a child had been turned bright red. A
skin of “orange gel” about 2-3 inches thick was floating on top of the
water and clinging to rocks, trees and the creek bank.
The smell of fuel was thick in the air, and everything the substance
had touched was stained red.
They found ducks on the riverbank that were unable to fly because their
wings had been soaked in oily residue. Fatora saw no fish in the area,
but found dead muskrats floating outside their dens. She doesn’t know
for sure if the muskrats had been killed by the contaminant, but
suspects it played a role.
She supplied photographs of the dead and injured animals to The
Exponent Telegram.
She said the property, which has been in her family name for five
generations, holds a sacred place in her heart.
Every Sunday, groups of people would come to Buckeye Creek to be
baptized. Fatora and her sister would hide behind the barn and watch
the baptisms. She fondly recalls exploring the creek banks with her
sister in search of arrowheads.
Her grandfather also owned a mill in the area, and the iron posts from
the structure are still visible today.
The Cleanup
Fatora called the state Department of Environmental Protection the
next day to report the incident.
The DEP since has issued a notice of violation to West Union-based Tapo
Energy, which operates a fracking pond about a mile up the road.
The notice states that Tapo allowed “pollutants, or the effluent
therefrom, produced by or emanating from any point source, to flow into
the water of this state.”
The company was ordered to “abate” the violation, and Fatora said that
a clean-up crew was quickly dispatched to the area. The crew vacuumed
more than 2,500 gallons of the orange gel from the water and also
helped install containment booms in the water to absorb the pollutant.
The company was not fined for the incident and DEP inspectors have said
that, while they don’t know how the spill occurred, they also have no
evidence that contaminants were released intentionally.
Fatora remains skeptical of the DEP’s findings.
“If they don’t even know what happened, then how can they say for sure
it was an accident?” she said.
In fact, the DEP won’t even say what exactly was spilled in Buckeye
Creek.
When reached for comment, DEP Oil and Gas Chief James Martin said the
spill likely contained frack fluids, and “whatever else was in the
drilling pit — frack fluids or other fluids used in the process.”
Martin said DEP inspectors found no evidence that any animals had been
harmed as a result of the spill.
He remains unsure as to the cause of the spill.
“The last time we talked to them (Tapo), they weren’t sure how the
spill occurred. At that time, they were focusing more on getting it
cleaned up,” he said.
An internal memo written by DEP inspector David Scranage commends Tapo
for its efforts to clean up the site.
The frack pond sits just a few feet from the creek. Recent photos show
that landscaping work was recently conducted with bulldozers around the
edges of the pond.
There is no law in West Virginia restricting how close a frack pond may
be built to a surface water supply.
Test Results
Fatora set out on a fact-finding mission after the incident, and
contacted the Surface Owners Rights Association and the Sierra Club for
advice. She also paid Morgantown-based Downstream Strategies to conduct
further water quality testing.
The tests found some troubling results.
Although there is no state standard for sodium, the concentration of
sodium was shown to be 13 times higher than water samples taken
upstream from the contamination source. Total dissolved solids were
found to be at 914 parts per million. Some standards consider more than
500 parts per million a problem.
Chloride levels, while still considered acceptable, went up by a factor
of 15.
The tests were conducted in September, said Downstream Strategies
President Evan Hansen.
Hansen said he has not been to the property in recent weeks, but said
Tapo had a lot of work ahead of it when Downstream Strategies paid its
last visit.
“I cannot speak to what has happened since. But certainly when we were
there, it had not been fully abated,” he said.
“The question to me is, what is the DEP going to do about this?”
The notice of violation gave Tapo until Sept. 16 to restore the stream
to “pre-spill conditions.”
Martin said he is awaiting the most recent round of test results before
he determines if the area has been sufficiently cleaned.
Two Months Later
The Exponent Telegram recently paid a visit to the property. While
most of the orange contaminant is now gone from the area, isolated
pools remain in pockets along the embankment.
No fish or any other aquatic wildlife was observed in the area. A
metallic smell still lingers in places.
Water levels in Buckeye were quite low, with the deepest portions
appearing to be no more than a foot deep.
Containment booms still stretch across the creek in several places.
Felled and uprooted trees litter the creek banks. Yellow caution tape
still hangs near the entrance to the family home.
Fatora said she feels lied to about the incident, and is still waiting
for answers.
Buckeye Creek is a tributary of Middle Island Creek, which supplies the
town of West Union with drinking water, and eventually leads into the
Ohio River.
Staff writer Billy Wolfe can be reached at (304) 626-1404 or by e-mail
at bwolfe@exponent-telegram.com