Hearings to Spotlight Safety Issues at Gas Wells
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
26 July 2010
By Don Hopey,
As multiple investigations continue into the fatal explosion and fire
that killed two workers on a shallow oil and gas well in Indiana
Township last week, state and federal regulators are also considering
new, stricter regulations for burgeoning Marcellus Shale deep gas
drilling operations.
Two hearings are planned today, one to review emergency response
procedures and another on proposed state regulations.
The state Department of Environmental Protection, Occupational Safety
and Health Administration, Allegheny County fire marshal and Huntley
& Huntley Inc., the Monroeville company that employed the workers,
are investigating the cause of the Friday morning blast and blaze at
the 2-year-old well in a wooded area off Rich Hill Road.
"It's a tragic accident, but we have to know why it happened," said
Helen Humphreys, a DEP spokeswoman. "With these different entities
looking at it from different directions, perhaps such a situation can
be prevented or avoided in the future."
The powerful explosion, which occurred as subcontractor workers were
performing routine maintenance, blew a 12-by-8-foot storage tank about
70 yards from the site of the well.
One of the victims, Kevin Henry, 46, of New Florence, was identified by
authorities Saturday, but the county medical examiner's office said
Sunday that a positive identification of the other victim won't be made
until they receive dental records today. Both men were burned beyond
recognition. A third worker at the well site was uninjured.
"Friday's incident was a tragedy, and I am determined to find out
exactly what went wrong," said County Executive Dan Onorato, who
visited the well explosion site Friday. "I've always said that our
natural gas deposits present an enormous economic opportunity -- but
that we only have one chance to get it right. That is why it's so
important to provide effective state oversight to ensure public safety
and to protect the environment."
Although the well explosion last week was at a shallow oil and gas
well, not a deep Marcellus Shale well, it kept a spotlight on safety
issues in the drilling industry. In June, an explosion and fire burned
seven workers at a Marcellus Shale gas well near Moundsville in West
Virginia's northern panhandle.
A "blowout" also occurred at a Marcellus Shale well in Clearfield
County that spewed gas, brine and "fracking fluid" -- a mixture of
water, sand and toxic chemicals -- into the air for 16 hours.
The Clearfield accident did not cause a fire but could have been
disastrous, according to the DEP, because proper emergency well
shutdown equipment was not at the well site and the department was not
quickly informed of the accident.
Today, U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., will chair a field hearing to review
existing emergency response procedures in the Marcellus Shale gas field
states, including Pennsylvania, New York, West Virginia, Ohio, Maryland
and Virginia.
Testifying at the hearing -- scheduled to take place at 10 a.m. in
Courtroom 6A, on the sixth floor of the U.S. District Courthouse,
Seventh and Grant streets, Downtown -- will be Robert French, director
of the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency, industry leaders and
local residents.
Mr. Casey will also seek comment on legislation he plans to introduce
to improve emergency response at oil and gas wells. The Faster Action
Safety Team Emergency Response Act of 2010 gives OSHA the authority to
draft regulations that would require an emergency response-trained
employee to be present at the well during exploration and drilling,
require a certified emergency response team to be available within a
one-hour travel time of the well site and mandate well operators to
contact emergency first responders no more than 15 minutes after an
emergency situation begins and OSHA and the National Response Center
within an hour.
Other safety issues involving drilling into Marcellus Shale a mile or
more deep under three-fourths of Pennsylvania are addressed in proposed
regulations that are the subject of a DEP and Environmental Quality
Board hearing at 7 p.m., today in the state Department of Environmental
Protection's Waterfront Conference room A and B, 400 Waterfront Drive,
Washington's Landing (formerly Herrs Island).
The proposed regulations would toughen state rules for well casings or
linings, cementing, testing and monitoring for gas migration into
ground water, and plugging of wells after production ends. They would
also update existing rules protecting public and private water supplies.
The complete proposed Oil and Gas Well Casing and Cementing regulations
are available through at:
httP://www.pabulletin.com/secure/data/vol40/40-28/1248.html
Don Hopey: dhopey@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1983.