Company Says Clearfield Gas Well Blowout Under Control

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
4 June 2010

Natural gas and drilling fluids escaped for hours from an out-of-control well in a remote area of Clearfield County, but the company says the flow is now under control.

Elizabeth Ivers, a spokeswoman for driller EOG Resources, said the well was brought under control just after noon today, about 16 hours after it started spewing gas.

State Department of Environmental Protection spokesman Dan Spadoni says no one was injured and that there are no homes within a mile of the well, which is about 90 miles northeast of Pittsburgh in northern Clearfield County near Interstate 80. He says polluted drilling water hasn't reached a waterway.

At approximately 8 p.m. on Thursday, June 3, the operators of the well, which is owned by EOG Resources, Inc., lost control of it while preparing to extract gas after hydrofracturing the shale. As a result, the well released natural gas and flowback frack fluid onto the ground and 75 feet into the air. The well was eventually capped around noon on June 4.

"The event at the well site could have been a catastrophic incident that endangered life and property," DEP Secretary John Hanger said in a news release today. "This was not a minor accident, but a serious incident that will be fully investigated by this agency with the appropriate and necessary actions taken quickly.

"When we arrived on scene, natural gas and frack fluid was flowing off the well pad and heading toward tributaries to Little Laurel Run and gas was shooting into the sky, creating a significant fire hazard. That's why emergency responders acted quickly to cut off electric service to the area," Mr. Hanger continued.

The gas and water shot 75 feet into the air, the DEP said.

"Right now, we're focused on limiting any further environmental damage, but once that work is complete, we plan to aggressively look at this situation and see where things went wrong and what enforcement action is necessary" Mr. Hanger said. "If mistakes were made, we will be certain to take steps to prevent similar errors from happening again."