DEP: Gas Drilling Linked to Creek Contamination
Charleston Gazette
11 May 2011
By The Associated Press
WELLSBURG, W.Va. -- West Virginia regulators say a contaminant that
Brooke County fishermen spotted in Buffalo Creek is a clay-like
substance used in natural gas drilling.
Department of Environmental Protection spokeswoman Kathy Cosco says the
bentonite also was found this week in the Ohio River. She says it may
have come from a western Pennsylvania gas well.
The Intelligencer says exposure to bentonite may cause skin, eye,
gastrointestinal or respiratory irritation. The DEP will test samples
to see what other chemicals might be present.
Water departments along the river are taking precautions.
Wheeling Public Works Director Russell Jebbia says the amount of
bentonite seems to be so small that it's unlikely to have any impact.
Spokesman Kevin Sunday says the Pennsylvania Department of
Environmental Protection was unable to find the substance.