Drilling Wastewater Spills in Doddridge County
Charleston Gazette
14 June 2011
By Ken Ward Jr.
This just in from the West Virginia Department of Environmental
Protection:
On June 9, the Department of Environmental Protection’s Office of Oil
and Gas issued three notices of violation and an order to cease
operations to Hall Drilling, LLC, based in Ellenboro, W.Va., for an
incident in which a storage tank overflowed into England’s Run in
Doddridge County.
This incident occurred at a centralized storage tank maintained by Hall
Drilling for the purpose of temporarily storing wastewater and oil from
well sites. The company was cited for causing the storage tank to
overflow; failing to have appropriate containment and or diversionary
structures to prevent discharged oil or other pollutants from reaching
the waters of the state; and for allowing pollutants to flow into
waters of the state.
While the agency first believed the spill to be primarily produced
water, further investigation has led inspectors to believe that the
discharge was primarily, if not totally, crude oil.
As a result of these violations, the agency ordered the company to
cease operations at the Swiger 1 well pad and the storage tank facility.
The company contained the discharge downstream and nearby water intakes
were properly notified through the agency’s spill notification system.