Drilling Mud in Pa. Stream

Firm cleans up at tributary of Dunkard Creek

Morgantown Dominion Post
13 April 2013
By David Beard

Equitrans — a natural gas subsidiary of Pittsburgh-based EQT — spilled about 500 gallons of drilling mud into a headwater tributary of Dunkard Creek on Wednesday, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).

The spill occurred during drilling for a pipeline under Garrison Fork, off Shough Ridge Road, about 25 miles west of Dunkard Creek, in Gilmore Township, Greene County, Pa., EQT spokeswoman Natalie Cox said.

Equitrans stopped drilling, immediately notified DEP of the spill and began cleanup work, DEP spokesman John Poister said Thursday.

A DEP inspector came to the drilling site and took water samples to determine any impact on the water, Poister said. Results are pending. Inspectors were at the site again Thursday and will return today to check on the cleanup work and conduct a more in-depth inspection of the site.

Equitrans was issued a notice of violation, Poster said. Cox said EQT hadn’t received the notice yet and couldn’t comment on it.

Cox said the work has nothing to do with drilling a gas well. It is part of the Equitrans Sunrise Project, a 45-mile gas pipeline extending from southwestern Pennsylvania into northern West Virginia.

They were engaged in “horizontal directional drilling” to place pipe under the creek. It’s expensive, but more environmentally friendly and 99 percent of the time causes no environmental damage, Cox said.

The drilling mud keeps the hole lubricated and contains the cuttings as it goes under the creek bed, Cox said.

The mud contains Wyoming bentonite — an absorbent clay used for a number of purposes, including as a lubricant in drilling mud, according to various bentonite companies. Because it’s absorbent, it is used — 1 to 4 tablespoons with plenty of water — as an alternative medicine in treating gas and constipation and as a colon cleanser, according to several alternative medicine websites. It’s also used to clarify wine, Cox said.

The spill was caused by an “inadvertent return,” meaning the mud bubbled up out of the hole and entered the creek. EQT is uncertain at this point how it bubbled up. Sometimes, Cox said as an illustration, it can find natural fissures and migrate on its own.

Because bentonite swells up, a reader who lives in the area of the spill and has livestock had expressed concern about the cattle drinking the creek water and suffering harm. Cox said the spill won’t pose a danger to aquatic life or livestock — so little was spilled it was highly diluted.

Cox said the spill occurred between noon and 1 p.m. Wednesday. Cleanup continues, but Equitrans resumed drilling by 10 p.m. Wednesday.

Garrison Fork does not cross into West Virginia, although Dunkard Creek weaves back and forth across the border. Poister said Pennsylvania DEP had not contacted West Virginia DEP about the spill. West Virginia DEP didn’t know about it until The Dominion Post called Thursday afternoon to ask if they had heard.

West Virginia DEP spokeswoman Kathy Cosco said the agency would typically send someone to the area to take a sample if they received word the spill had migrated across the border.

Gilmore Township Supervisor Chuck Wise said he saw the gray creek water when he went to the area to talk to employees. He spoke with an EQT environmental coordinator at the site and learned they had already begun cleanup and informed DEP. EQT was setting up silt fence and straw bales to keep the mud from migrating.

Poister said he expects to receive a progress update by this afternoon.