State Probes Safety of Marcellus Drilling Sites
Review prompted by W.Va. explosion
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
12 June 2010
By Don Hopey
Pennsylvania is conducting on-site safety reviews at seven Marcellus
Shale gas wells drilled by Union Drilling Inc., the subcontractor on a
well that exploded Monday outside Moundsville, W.Va., burning seven
workers.
The state Department of Environmental Protection announced it was doing
the special review Friday, a day after West Virginia issued violation
notices to AB Resources PA LLC, the permit holder for the West Virginia
well drilled by Union Drilling. AB Resources was ordered to halt
operations at all 19 of its wells in that state until the cause of
Monday's explosion is determined.
"Our focus and purpose is to ensure well control," Tom Rathbun, a
Pennsylvania DEP spokesman said. "We're making sure blowout preventer
protections are in place and all the inspection requirements of the
permit have been met."
Mr. Rathbun said inspections done Thursday at two wells drilled by
Union Drilling for Chief Oil & Gas Co. in Lycoming County and two
more drilled for Rex Energy in Butler County, found no problems. On
Friday, inspectors were scheduled to visit a New Field Exploration well
in Wayne County and two Chief Oil & Gas wells in Bradford County
where Union Drilling rigs worked.
The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection reported
Friday that the fire flaring methane gas from an inactive underground
coal mine for five days at the Chief Oil & Gas well outside
Moundsville had extinguished itself Friday morning. A preliminary
investigation found the casing, which supports the well bore and seals
off oil and gas, was not installed and the depth of the mine
encountered by the drilling was inaccurately reported in the well
application.
Union Drilling, headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, did not return
phone calls requesting comment.
The Pennsylvania DEP is also investigating the cause of a June 3
"blowout" at a Marcellus Shale well near Penfield, Crawford County,
that sent an uncontrolled stream of natural gas and polluted drilling
waste water spouting 75 feet into the air for 16 hours. That well,
owned by EOG Resources Inc., formerly Enron Oil & Gas, was
eventually capped around noon June 4.
The DEP ordered EOG to suspend new well drilling and well completion
operations, including "fracking," which uses millions of gallons of
chemically treated water and sand injected into the well under high
pressure to break up the shale and release the gas it contains. The
order, which EOG agreed to, affects 50 drilled but incomplete wells in
the state but not its 265 active wells.
As his department investigates the Clearfield County blowout accident
and reviews Union Drilling well operations, DEP Secretary John Hanger
Friday visited a new Reserve Environmental Services wastewater
treatment facility in New Stanton, Westmoreland County, that is capable
of treating up to 1 million gallons of well drilling wastewater a day.
That's enough capacity to treat wastewater from about 350 Marcellus
wells, according to the DEP. Approximately 2,500 Marcellus shale gas
well drilling permits were issued in the state from 2007 through 2009,
and another 5,000 permits will be issued this year.
He said the facility's advanced treatment technology has the capability
to meet stronger state water quality discharge standards that were
proposed by the DEP and approved by the state Environmental Quality
Board May 17. On Thursday, the state Independent Regulatory Review
Commission is scheduled to consider the new, tighter standards for
total dissolved solids, known as TDS, which most water treatment
facilities are unable to remove.
"High levels of total dissolved solids population from natural gas
drilling and other sources pose a real threat to Pennsylvania's streams
and rivers, including aquatic life," Mr. Hanger said. "The technology
and resources to recycle, treat and dispose of gas well wastewater are
available here at this RES facility, making it an essential tool for
the oil and gas industry to minimize its impact on the state's
waterways."
High concentrations of TDS, partly caused by drilling wastewater
discharges, fouled the Monongahela River in 2008 and 2009, threatening
public drinking water supplies and creating higher treatment costs for
industrial users.
Don Hopey: dhopey@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1983.