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.