Fire at Gas Site Quickly Contained
Washington
PA Observer
Reporter
2 March 2011
By Christie Campbell, Staff writer
chriscam@observer-reporter.com
HICKORY - A small fire that erupted with a loud bang in a tank outside
a MarkWest Liberty Midstream and Resources LLC gas compressing station
shook nearby residents from their beds early Tuesday.
The fire was quickly extinguished by a MarkWest employee using a fire
extinguisher, but its occurrence six days after a flash fire in a
storage tank at an Avella drilling site renewed safety concerns about
the growing Marcellus Shale gas drilling industry.
The fire broke out at the Stewart compressing facility, which is
operated by MarkWest on Caldwell Avenue in Mt. Pleasant Township. The
fire is believed to have started when a heater malfunctioned. The fire
was extinguished before firefighters from Mt. Pleasant arrived. The
Washington County Department of Public Safety also responded.
MarkWest processes natural gas for Range Resources Inc. The company
operates 10 compressing stations in Washington County and has proposed
placing one on Route 980 near Coleman Road in Cecil Township.
Becky Skirpan, who lives about a half-mile from the site, said there
was a loud boom about 5 a.m. that shook her house. Then, she saw fire
trucks speeding down the road with their lights on but without sirens.
"We didn't know what was going on," she said.
About five hours later, a representative from Range Resources and two
from MarkWest stopped at her home to inform her of what had happened.
Dan Campbell, spokesman for MarkWest at its Denver, Colo., office, said
15 minutes after the report was made to 911, a compressor technician
arrived on-site and used an extinguisher to put out the fire.
He said there was no explosion but an eruption that probably created "a
significant amount of noise," enough to frighten local residents.
The station is not operating while the company continues its
investigation into the cause, Campbell said.
Katy Gresh, state Department of Environmental Protection spokeswoman,
said there are three 400-barrel tanks used to catch hydrocarbons
between the stages of gas compression. One tank had water in it, and
the other two were empty. A heater malfunctioned and ignited a fire
from residual vapors that blew the hatch off a second tank.
A DEP inspector reported no evidence of environmental damage or a
discharge of liquids.
Range employees also responded to the site. Range spokesman Matt
Pitzarella said given the heightened sensitivity related to last week's
natural gas storage tank fire at Chesapeake-Appalachia's Powers well
pad in Independence Township, the response "was appropriate." That
incident resulted in the injury of three workers.
Larry Grimm, a Mt. Pleasant Township supervisor, fielded a call from a
resident who has a natural gas pipeline about 25 feet from her house
and is now concerned for her safety.
"There's a lot of people afraid about this and what's happening all
over the country. And they have reason for concern," Grimm said.