Gas Driller Resumes Work Three Weeks After Accident
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
14 May 2011
By Laura Olson, Harrisburg Bureau
HARRISBURG -- Three weeks after the gas-well blowout at one of its
Bradford County sites, Chesapeake Energy announced it will resume
well-completion operations in Pennsylvania.
The company had voluntarily halted hydraulic fracturing and other
procedures to prepare a well for production following an April 19
accident. As workers attempted to seal that well, briny wastewater
spilled for several hours into a nearby creek tributary.
Chesapeake's well-completion work resumed in late April at its West
Virginia and Ohio sites, but sites here remained idle as state
Department of Environmental Protection officials sorted through company
paperwork detailing what happened.
DEP spokeswoman Katy Gresh said the agency also was waiting on
"assurances" from Chesapeake that they would use local well-control
specialists if the company has an accident requiring such assistance.
In the Bradford incident, the company called the Houston-based company
Boots and Coots, who did not arrive on the scene for 12 hours.
Ms. Gresh said Chesapeake agreed to local well-control specialists in
the future, which the company also noted in its statement.
The company attributed the accident's cause to a faulty connection at
the wellhead, which allowed fluid to be released. They described the
valve failure as "extremely rare," adding that they have since
inspected their wellheads and updated how the equipment is assembled.
"We understand that operating in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a
privilege," said John Reinhart, Chesapeake's vice president of
operations for its eastern division. "We have learned from this and
have taken steps to mitigate the risk of this type of event happening
in the future."
Of the wastewater that spilled off the well pad, Chesapeake officials
said about 240 barrels of "a mixture of well fluid and rain water"
flowed onto nearby land and into a small tributary. They estimated that
figure included one barrel's worth of highly diluted chemical additives
used in hydraulic fracturing.
The spill caused "minimal and localized impact" to the environment,
according to the company. They said a small farm pond near the well was
drained, and the water treated at a Chesapeake wastewater recycling
facility. DEP officials also have reported that an unknown number of
amphibians died in the pond.
State environmental officials have not yet issued any fines or
violations in response to the incident. Ms. Gresh said the DEP
investigation is ongoing.
Laura Olson: lolson@post-gazette.com or 1-717-787-4254.